Voices of a Distant Star

What would you do if the person you love goes into space? Would you be able to love that person even it means to possibly never see that person again? How will you face that dilemma? Will you be able to move on with your life? Hoshi no Koe tries to explain these issues to the reader, which was successfully done in my opinion, though it may lack some depth for other readers. Hoshi no Koe revolves around two teenagers in love, Noboru and Mikako; Mikako goes into space to fight extraterrestrial creatures, the tarsians, while Noboru stays on Earth. These two will communicate with eachotheronly by cellphone, a difficult medium to really maintain contact with each other. From here on the story moves on. As the manga only has 10 chapters, it is difficult to explain the problems these two encounter in-depth. However, while it may seem short, the author manages to convey the situation of the two main characters well by adding short and meaningful dialogues that helps the reader to understand their situations. This may make the reader to consider what he/she would do in such a situation, which I personally found enjoyable. One thing that bothered me a bit in the beginning was the fact of using the usual mecha machines, though as the story moved on, it didn't bother me anymore. Hoshi no Koe doesn't have a lot of characters to offer, as its main focus lays between the relationship of Noboru and Mikako. These two characters are represented well, with enough character development for the story to be coherent and enjoyable to read. The amount of secondary characters are limited, but fulfill their purpose of shaping the lead characters, while at the same time helping to explain some situations and providing some diversity to the story. The art of the manga fits well with story; the use of shading the characters and shading the panels partly, helps convey the gloominess of the story. Not too many details are put into the background, which may bother some readers, as it is simplistic. This doesn't mean that it impacts the story. Hoshi no Koe was overall a good read. It was a well executed romance which implemented the difficulties people may encounter in the near future when humanity is able to travel to other planets. Would you be able to keep loving a person, if you could only receive messages every 8 years or so? Overall I would recommend this manga to anyone who enjoys reading a romance or just is on the outlook for something new to read, though be warned, it is not like the romance/school manga we are accustomed to read. For some people it may be too short to really explain the story, though I wouldn't personally bother about it. Thank you for reading.

I came to read this after the anime movie, left me with mixed feelings, the setting was very different and interesting for your usual romantic story, but the pacing of the movie didnt let the story get the needed development for it to become something more. Enters the manga, 2 years after the movie was released. The plotline didnt change much from the movie, but was extend enough, there is alot more development for the beggining, before Mikako goes into space, there are some new faces and situations, but all in all it follows the anime story, uses its potential to the fullest and manages to givean ending, that was way more meaningfull for the romance. It expands from where the original ended, going further, to give a much better sense of conclusion than the original ever managed to. If you are new to the story, with the manga, I believe it wont be as meaningfull, as if you had seen the movie, but it will definitly be very much worthy if those hours you put on reading it. Also I enjoyed the cast way more with the manga, they felt more developed and well based, as humans, they were more believeable, so you kinda connect to their personal stories and the romance, much better. Thus there were some really emotional scenes, to which the art of the manga really helps to delvier The art was also a good improvement!! The designs look way better. It is simple, yet powerfully conveys the message the story pretend to transmit. So I came to read it biased from what I thought of the movie, and I did enjoyed it greatly. (I still think you will enjoy the manga, you dont need to see the movie first for that) It is kinda rare to find an adaptation that surpasses the original material, but here, it happened, and I am really glad for that! The mangaka picked the series and gave it its final touch, soo much needed to fulfill the potential the anime had left to be explored. Truly a good example of how great, adaptations can be. An unpolished gem, that now shines much brighter!

Voices of a Distant Star – Spoiler Free – Mixed Feelings TLDR Story – 5/10 – 5 x 0.275 = 1,375 Art – 5/10 – 5 x 0.2 = 1 Characters – 4/10 – 4 x 0.225 = 0,9 Enjoyment – 5/10 – 5 x 0.3 = 1,5 Total: 4,775 -> 5 Story – 5/10 Voices of a Distant Star is a manga written by Makoto Shinkai and drawn by Sumomo Yumeka. It is a very simple story that stands on an even simpler premise: two lovers are inevitably separated by interstellar distance due to her duties in the army. In time, the time messages take to reach the other becomes unbearable, althoughthey still love each other. It delves deep into the distressing effect of two lovers cruelly separated and the pain that arises from that. In all fairness, this sums up the entirety of this one-volume manga. It mostly works as a gedankenexperiment (thought experiment), but not much else, as there is no plot, nor any story, nor narrative per se. It is just average. It is, nevertheless, a saddening manga. Art – 5/10 The art style in Voices of a Distant Star is absolutely average; it is not unique and does not possess a personality of its own. The character design is also average, but since there aren't that many characters to follow along, it doesn't become a burden. The cadence of the panels and the page flow are also average. Characters – 4/10 There are only two characters involved: the two lovers, and they are anything but complex. They could have had another name or another personality altogether. What's important in this story is that there are two lovers separated by distance, and that is painful to live through. In this sense, the characters have no personality of their own and are just placeholders for the action to happen. Enjoyment – 5/10 Voices of a Distant Star is definitely a manga that can only be categorised as average. For this reason, one cannot fully recommend it as a work of art but also cannot state that it is necessarily bad. It is a quick read with a mediocre story and even worse characters; for these reasons, it deserves more of a mixed feeling stamp, although it is very close to a not recommended.