MY HEART FEELS LIKE IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE WITH JOY!!
After how heartbreaking the previous volume was, I never expected for me to be absolutely giddy when reading this volume! It was utter perfection and everything I wanted, happened, PLUS MORE!!
Honestly, I feel like I read wayyyyy too fast but I couldn't get enough and felt like I was riding on a personal high because of the happiness these chapters were bringing me! It was beautiful, heartfelt, emotional, and oh-so good!
I'm not even sure if I can go into details of all that happens because everything I want to say would be spoilers but Subaru AND Chi's smiles resonated deep in my heart and were my absolute favorite thing! I love them so much and I'm trying not to worry that their happiness and my own will be short-lived because they are much happier, and I am definitely a VERY happy reader.
Please please please watch over their happiness, Ammitsu!! Let this be the beginning of something that continues to be more and more beautiful as it goes on!
next volume looks to have some second lead drama so I'll read that one, but it'll really need to wow me for me to continue.
RECAP: she plans to just be friends, he confesses, she freaks bc the video of them was leaked, he calms her, they do their first date at his place as a movie night and kiss.
Oh, this was good. It was so freaking good. This was one of the best pure shojo manga I’ve read in a while. If last volume really set the jump up, this one goes flying off it into horizon on its back.
The simple reason is this - they don’t wait. They do not prolong. They do not just brush it under the rug. Things happened last time. Important things.
Now? Even more important things happen. Chiaki has resolved to herself that being friends was more important than her love and made up with Subaru. It took effort, but the baseline has been restored. For about ten pages.
When she finds out that she was spotted with him by social media, courtesy of another appearance by Ha-chan, Chiaki decides that it’s time to cut back on her relationship even further and support Subaru as a fan and nothing more. For his own good, of course.
And if you read the last part of the last volume? You know how well that’s going to go over with our boy.
Look, spoilers, I guess, but there’s a confession in thirty pages (and it’s a really great scene, like so good) and they’re dating by the end of the book and it’s amazing. After realizing just how badly hurt everybody was by everything last time, it’s cathartic to see these two get together.
Oh, the road ahead is not going to be easy. That dang rival who wasn’t is clearly about to go for it anyway, curse you, trope that the story already called out! Not to mention the hardships of Subaru’s job, plus how ridiculously hard on herself Chiaki is, are also going to be a hurdle.
But that’s a problem for another tankobon, frankly. This one is too busy being so flipping romantic and warmhearted; enough to let those concerns simmer until they crop up. They even deal with his being an idol and how that might be a problem with his agency. It deftly skips through all the things you’re thinking will crop up with laser focus.
In their place we have lots of good stuff to enjoy. That stupid shampoo ad that pays off in the most delicious fashion. Subaru’s very cute date idea, plus all the things that involves. Especially Chiaki’s demand for him to get things right.
I also enjoyed pretty much every second Ha-chan is anywhere to be seen. She steals every scene she shows up in and is the perfect type of best friend. She could not hold down a series as a lead, but she is perfect at her role.
Or maybe I just wanted somebody to call Subaru out for being a moron last time. Maybe both.
This is the sort of volume that adheres to the basic rules of shojo while being so wildly enjoyable that it reminds you of why those rules exist in the first place. It executes every single thing it’s trying to do this volume and it does it without a single misstep. Not one.
5 stars - perfect shojo mush in a single volume. It is a shockingly good payoff for everything in the series so far and it could have ended this volume and it would have felt entirely worthwhile.
This series keeps making good steady progress. Would I have liked Subaru to work harder to make it up to Chiaki because he has kinda been a huge jerk. Yes. Am I glad however we have forward progress and no back tracking. Also yes. They seem happy, I am holding out that he will work the hardest in the relationship as he is the one that needs to make up ground but I am willing to keep reading to see where that goes.
OMG!!!! This volume was SOOO good! So sweet, so wholesome—this is how you do shoujo at its absolute best. From start to finish, this entire volume had me grinning from ear to ear, and I couldn't stop smiling at the adorable moments between the two protagonists. Subaru has finally come to terms with his feelings, and the way he stops holding back is just perfection. The way he expresses himself and shows his love is everything!
Chiaki and Subaru? They deserve ALL the hugs. Seriously, I could watch them fall asleep in each other's arms a million more times and still melt. I loved the sweet secret date idea Subaru came up with—he really nailed it. One million percent.
And then there's Takahashi... Man, I feel bad for him because he's such a nice guy, but after seeing Subaru and Chiaki together, I can't imagine Chiaki with anyone else, and the same goes for Subaru. They're just meant to be!
This volume? All the stars in the universe—if I could give it more, I absolutely would. But since that’s not possible, I’m giving it a full 5 stars, which it completely, entirely deserves. Just amazing!
[3.75] Saw that the next volume starts tossing extra drama at the couple and honestly I’m not signing up for that emotional rollercoaster. They finally got together, the energy feels right and it just gives off that “this is the ending I choose” vibe. I’m fully pretending the story wraps up at this point.
I’m so happy! It’s finally happening and they’re the cutest, honestly we all knew why Subaru did what he did to push Chiaki away, it’s very sad that he had to hurt her. But after being her friend again, he realized that he wants to mean more to her and be her boyfriend.
Genuinely, I did cry from how cute these two were. Nothing sad inherently happened, in fact I'd say this was a perfect light-hearted manga, but I was just so emotional at that point in time that I couldn't even discern how I felt.
Also, I ended up reading Gazing at the Star Next Door Volume 1-5 in less than 12 hours so if you're looking for a manga series to binge I would recommend this every single time!!
OMG!!!! This volume was SOOO good! So sweet, so wholesome—this is how you do shoujo at its absolute best. From start to finish, this entire volume had me grinning from ear to ear, and I couldn't stop smiling at the adorable moments between the two protagonists. Subaru has finally come to terms with his feelings, and the way he stops holding back is just perfection. The way he expresses himself and shows his love is everything!
Chiaki and Subaru? They deserve ALL the hugs. Seriously, I could watch them fall asleep in each other's arms a million more times and still melt. I loved the sweet secret date idea Subaru came up with—he really nailed it. One million percent.
And then there's Takahashi... Man, I feel bad for him because he's such a nice guy, but after seeing Subaru and Chiaki together, I can't imagine Chiaki with anyone else, and the same goes for Subaru. They're just meant to be!
This volume? All the stars in the universe—if I could give it more, I absolutely would. But since that’s not possible, I’m giving it a full 5 stars, which it completely, entirely deserves. Just amazing!