Gazing at the Star Next Door Volume 1 Review

Some of you may recognise mangaka Ammitsu as the mind behind Ran the Peerless Beauty, a shojo series Kodansha released digitally. Now the creator returns to the West with their new series Gazing at the Star Next Door, which has been lucky enough to get a print release! Does it prove interesting? Let’s find out. 

The story follows Chiaki and her childhood friend Subaru. As young children, the two were inseparable but now their paths have diverged somewhat as Chiaki is a normal high-school girl and Subaru has become a very attractive model, as well as the most popular boy at school. Subaru’s mother has a busy work schedule and because her son is terrible at getting up in the morning, it’s left to Chiaki to take charge and wake him up. He often comes over for dinner with Chiaki and her little sister (who’s a big fan of his) too. 

At school, the pair keep their distance as Subaru is always surrounded by the girls in his fan club and Chiaki stubbornly tells her friends that she doesn’t care about him at all. In truth, Chiaki is in love with Subaru and has been since they were young children. Unfortunately, at their elementary graduation someone told Chiaki that her head was huge compared to Subaru’s and as they got older, Subaru only got more delicate and refined while Chiaki (in her opinion) was getting further and further away from being able to stand by his side.

And now with Subaru becoming even more popular and his career progressing into acting (when we begin the story he’s just been given his first role), Chiaki reasons that she shouldn’t even spend time with him for fear it becomes a scandal. So she tries to distance herself from him, but that only causes Subaru to become confused and although Chiaki might be incapable of seeing it, it’s obvious to us readers that she’s someone very special to him. 

Gazing at the Star Next Door doesn’t sound like anything original. It’s a story of childhood friends who are in love and incapable of admitting their feelings and changing the relationship they’re so used to. In fact, VIZ Media are currently releasing Momoko Kouda’s My Special One which, while not about childhood friends,  does have the same kind of themes when it comes to the love interest working in the entertainment industry. 

While there’s nothing new here in particular, I still think Ammitsu has created something special. Both Chiaki and Subaru are likeable characters who are easy to empathise with and you can understand why neither has made a move to admit their feelings. We can tell from how they interact with one another outside of school and compared to how they speak to their friends that they’re incredibly close and that kind of relationship isn’t easy to change.

Plus, Subaru only started modelling in middle school. His popularity has exploded so quickly that it’s understandable that Chiaki would be feeling unease about imposing on him, becoming the cause of problems for his career – or simply worrying that he may soon be out of her reach entirely as he becomes more in demand for work.

Ammitsu’s artwork also makes this an attractive read. Pages are filled with detail giving you plenty to take in and the characters are very expressive. I think the mangaka does a great job of showing them in different situations too; how they express themselves at school or work is very different to at home and there’s a lot of information to be gained from watching out for these subtle changes. It’s very polished, which I think is one of Ammitsu’s strengths. Even if the story may not be that original, the strength of the writing and the art certainly elevate it above what it otherwise could have been. 

Gazing at the Star Next Door Volume 1 comes to the West thanks to Kodansha who have released it in one of their bigger paperback formats. This release has been translated by Nicole Frasik with lettering by Lys Blakeslee and reads well with no issues. Included as extras are a few pages of translation notes, colour opening pages and a special Ran the Peerless Beauty chapter but be warned, as that is set after the end of the main series! 

The series is ongoing in Japan with 5 volumes currently published. Here in English Kodansha has #2 scheduled for a release in May with #3 following in August. This is slower than some of their other titles, but with less material to get through before we’re caught up, I can see the value in spacing it out appropriately. 

Overall, Gazing at the Star Next Door Volume 1 offers an inviting read with characters you want to root for. The premise may not be all that original, but I think Ammitsu is doing a good job of justifying going down this direction and developing something fans of the shojo series will want to follow long-term. If you enjoyed Ran the Peerless Beauty especially, this is a must-read! 

A free preview can be read on Kodansha’s website here. 

Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by DIamond Book Distributors UK.