Twinkle Stars | |
星は歌う (Hoshi wa Utau) | |
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Genre | Drama,[1] romance[2] |
Manga | |
Written by | Natsuki Takaya |
Published by | Hakusensha |
English publisher | |
Imprint | Hana to Yume Comics |
Magazine | Hana to Yume |
Demographic | Shōjo |
Original run | 5 June 2007 – 20 January 2011 |
Volumes | 11 |
Twinkle Stars (Japanese: 星は歌う, Hepburn: Hoshi wa Utau, lit. "Stars Sing"), also known as Twinkle Stars Like Singing a Song, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya, the author of Fruits Basket. It was serialized by Hakusensha from 5 June 2007 to 20 January 2011 in the manga magazine Hana to Yume, with serial chapters collected in eleven tankōbon volumes under the Hana to Yume Comics imprint. The manga is licensed for an English-language release in North America by Yen Press. An audio drama CD based on the series was released in Japan on 24 February 2010.
Sakuya Shiina is the president of a star-gazing club at her high school. On her eighteenth birthday, she receives a pink dress from Chihiro, a handsome and mysterious boy around her age who suddenly appears at her birthday party. She initially believes that Chihiro is a friend of Kanade, her guardian, but she later learns that Kanade had invited him to the party thinking that he was her boyfriend. Kanade then becomes offended for being deceived, but Sakuya becomes even more intrigued by Chihiro. She finally gets her chance to meet Chihiro again, and during a discussion about the stars (in which Sakuya says that the star Alphard, the brightest star in the constellation Hydra, is her favorite), Chihiro suddenly exclaims that he hates Sakuya and disappears once again. Sakuya becomes even more troubled when, a few days later, Chihiro suddenly enrolls at her school and becomes a classmate. As the story goes on, Sakuya's feelings towards Chihiro grows, and Chihiro starts warming up to her.
Twinkle Stars was written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. It was serialized by Hakusensha in the shōjo (aimed at teenage girls) manga magazine Hana to Yume from 5 June 2007[4] to 20 January 2011.[5] Its sixty-five untitled chapters have been collected in eleven tankōbon volumes in Japan, published by Hakusensha under the Hana to Yume Comics imprint.[6]
The series was originally licensed for an English-language release in Singapore by Chuang Yi;[7] this edition was distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.[8] It went out-of-print when Chuang Yi ceased operations in 2014.[9] Yen Press announced they licensed the series for an English-language release in North America in 2015;[10] the company published five omnibus volumes from 2016[11] to 2018.[12] Twinkle Stars is also licensed in France by Delcourt,[13] in Germany by Carlsen Comics,[14] in Italy by Panini Comics,[15] in Spain by Norma Editorial,[16] in Brazil by Panini Comics,[17] and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.[18]
No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English (Singapore / Australia, New Zealand / North America) release date | English (Singapore / Australia, New Zealand / North America) ISBN | |
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1 | 18 January 2008[19] | 978-4-592-18601-4 | 7 September 2009 (SG)[7] 10 January 2011 (AUS/NZ)[8] 22 November 2016 (NA)[2] | 978-981-276-939-8 (SG) 978-981-276-940-4 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36023-4 (NA) | |
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2 | 19 May 2008[20] | 978-4-592-18602-1 | 2 December 2009 (SG)[7] 10 March 2011 (AUS/NZ)[21] 22 November 2016 (NA)[2] | 978-981-276-972-5 (SG) 978-981-276-971-8 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36023-4 (NA) | |
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3 | 19 September 2008[22] | 978-4-592-18603-8 | 6 January 2010 (SG)[7] 10 May 2011 (AUS/NZ)[23] 21 March 2017 (NA)[24] | 978-981-276-996-1 (SG) 978-981-276-997-8 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36024-1 (NA) | |
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4 | 19 January 2009[25] | 978-4-592-18604-5 | 4 May 2010 (SG)[7] 10 July 2011 (AUS/NZ)[26] 21 March 2017 (NA)[24] | 978-981-4297-36-3 (SG) 978-981-4297-36-3 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36024-1 (NA) | |
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5 | 19 May 2009[27] | 978-4-592-18605-2 | 21 December 2010 (SG)[7] 10 September 2011 (AUS/NZ)[28] 1 August 2017 (NA)[29] | 978-981-4297-97-4 (SG) 978-981-4297-97-4 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36095-1 (NA) | |
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6 | 18 September 2009[30] | 978-4-592-18606-9 | 5 September 2011 (SG)[7] 10 November 2011 (AUS/NZ)[31] 1 August 2017 (NA)[29] | 978-981-4306-50-8 (SG) 978-981-4306-50-8 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36095-1 (NA) | |
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7 | 19 January 2010[32] | 978-4-592-18607-6 | 7 February 2012 (SG)[7] 10 March 2012 (AUS/NZ)[33] 7 November 2017 (NA)[34] | 978-981-4306-51-5 (SG) 978-981-4306-51-5 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36096-8 (NA) | |
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8 | 19 May 2010[35] | 978-4-592-18608-3 | 10 May 2012 (AUS/NZ)[36] 7 November 2017 (NA)[34] | 978-981-4372-43-5 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36096-8 (NA) | |
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9 | 17 September 2010[37] | 978-4-592-18609-0 | 10 January 2013 (AUS/NZ)[38] 20 March 2018 (NA)[39] | 978-981-4372-55-8 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36098-2 (NA) | |
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10 | 19 January 2011[40] | 978-4-592-18610-6 | 10 July 2013 (AUS/NZ)[41] 20 March 2018 (NA)[39] | 978-981-4372-87-9 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36098-2 (NA) | |
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11 | 19 April 2011[42] | 978-4-592-18037-1 | 10 November 2013 (AUS/NZ)[43] 20 March 2018 (NA)[39] | 978-981-4372-88-6 (AUS/NZ) 978-0-316-36098-2 (NA) | |
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A Twinkle Stars audio drama CD, produced by Marine Entertainment, was released in Japan on 24 February 2010. The story follows Sakuya and her friends during their last summer vacation together as high school students. It was based on an original scenario written by Takaya.[44][3]
In his review of the series for Otaku USA, Che Gilson praised Twinkle Stars as a "solid shojo romantic drama" with "charming girls, cute guys, a good sense of pacing, and pathos." He further praised Takaya's ability to portray her characters' "inner and outer emotional states with art." However, he noted that Twinkle Stars contains "many of the same elements" as Takaya's previous series, Fruits Basket, including "a frustrating penchant for passive heroines."[1]