Hoshikuzu Telepath

Since childhood, 15-year-old Umika Konohoshi has been fascinated by aliens, hoping to one day voyage to outer space and befriend them. Unfortunately, this fixation has caused her peers to label her as odd, intensifying her struggle with severe social anxiety. Nevertheless, Umika's passion for the extraterrestrial persists, and she deeply believes that her true purpose is outside the confines of Earth.

On her first day of high school, Umika's wish of meeting an alien seems to have finally come true when she encounters Yuu Akeuchi—a classmate who claims to have crash-landed on Earth with no recollections of her past. Umika tries to seize this opportunity to make friends with Yuu, but her lack of confidence hinders her. Sensing Umika's distress, Yuu suddenly uses a strange power to delve deep into her mind, thus sparking a friendship that may just help Umika reach her dreams.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Konohoshi, Umika Main

Funato, Yurie Japanese

Akeuchi, Yuu Main

Fukagawa, Seria Japanese

Raimon, Matataki Main

Aoki, Shiki Japanese

Takaragi, Haruno Main

Nagamuta, Moe Japanese

Konohoshi, Honami Supporting

Youmiya, Hina Japanese

Akizuki, Kei Supporting

Shirasu, Saho Japanese

Emihara-sensei Supporting

Takamori, Natsumi Japanese

Yuugumo, Michiru Supporting

Itou, Miku Japanese

Kagami, Saya Supporting

Oono, Yuuko Japanese

Teruya, Neon Supporting

Kawaida, Natsumi Japanese

Sotokawa, Akihiro Producer

Isogai, Noritomo Producer

Ozawa, Fumihiro Producer

Kondou, Chiaki Producer

Reviews

Dec 25, 2023

lumjulian

Recommended

“Bonavu,”

If you don't know much about this exclamation, it will inevitably become part of your greeting ritual after watching this anime.
Hoshikuzu Telepath is the definition of cute-ness and an anime like no other.

The series follows shy, space-loving high school student Umika Konohosi, who has difficulty communicating with others. As a result, she sees space as her true home and wants to befriend an alien. One day the joyful exchange student Yuu Akeuchi comes into her class and promptly claims to be a real alien. Although other classmates quickly take this as a joke, Umika sees this as a chance to finally make her dream come ... true and befriend the mysterious and enchanting alien.

Unfortunately, Yuu has no memories of her home planet and the reason why she was stranded on Earth. Umika and the friendly vice-class speaker Haruno Taragaki (in whose late grandfather's lighthouse Yuu has taken up residence) now want to help her reconstruct her memories and build a rocket with which they can fly into space.
However, since their mathematical skills, which are necessary for building rockets, are developable, they decide to start small and build model rockets ("Moderu roketto"). The unequal quartet is completed by the explosive but technically gifted mechanic Raimon Matataki, who is conspicuous by her absence at school but has a very loose mouth.
Together they want to fulfill their dream and fly to the stars.

That's it. If you are looking for an anime with a dense plot, action, a complex story and multiple tricky plot twists, this is not the one for you. However, if you like quiet, heartwarming slice of life anime, Hoshikuzu Telepath is a goldmine.
The anime is so wonderfully relaxing that it's a real treat to watch. If you look up “Cute” in the dictionary, there should definitely be a picture of Hoshikuzu Telepath in the future. Just Umika mentally talking to her pink mini aliens is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. For example, one episode largely consists of watching the characters shopping for materials to build rockets - which was very entertaining. For me, it's a great art to use those unspectuacular settings and tell such great and beautiful little stories from it.

This anime is definitely carried by its characters. The relationship between Umika and Yuu is particularly captivating. You really notice from the first second that the two are made for each other. But also the other characters. It's one of the few anime where every character can be a potential Best Girl. There isn't a single one where you think, "Uh, she's getting on my nerves."

My secret star of the series, however, is Raimon Matataki. Not only does she provide one or the other laughs with her lines, but she is also constantly responsible for explaining the physical background in the series. As a physics student, I am particularly fascinated that in this show, a rocket is not just builit casually during the lunch break in a SciFi-way and that technical details such as trajectories, angles and modeling are discussed in detail.
The characters are confronted with realistic hurdles of building model rockets and it is incredibly inspiring to watch them continue to believe in themselves and achieve their dreams.
It's an anime that not only promises a lot of yuri cuteness, but from which you can also learn a lot about yourself.
The art style is very attractive. In particular, Umika's purple hair and everything that has to do with space and sunsets is particularly beautifully implemented.
The seiyuu are mostly newcomers who have been lightly cast in the past - with the exception of Natsumi Takamori, who appropriately plays a teacher who looks after the newcomers. By the way, these are welcome to be filled more often.
Miku Itu's OP invites you to dream of distant stars, before SoundOrion's ED sends you off into the night. The background music also brings out the space-theme very well at times.

The anime really takes you away. You get excited about the characters, to see their development and you can take a lot with you. Umika and her friends teach us to believe in our dreams. This show will always have a special place in my heart. Hoshikuzu Telepath is our Monday dose of cuteness for the fall season and the characters grow on you so quickly that you feel like you're part of the model rocket club yourself.

"Mativuu".

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Dec 25, 2023

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

Stardust Telepath - Reach for the stars...(erm, ahem) aliens in the sky...through some rocket building and good ol' tried-and-true friendship tropes.

The ever-so-popular Manga Time Kirara's CGDCT-themed anime adaptation has once again struck this season, and it should be a no-brainer that if you've watched one show before of that premise, the rest will be the same no matter what. The differential, however, lies with the plot, and in this fall, brought to you by mangaka Rasuko Ookuma, this is Hoshikuzu Telepath a.k.a Stardust Telepath, a take on the ever-so-loving theme by combining the one element that makes it magical: the Yuri genre.

I'm sure that just ... by the show alone, you would think that this is the first kind of CGDCT show to focus on the outer space side of things while having a "plot" that supports it by shooting rockets into space. But did you know that a similar formula has already been done, and it's by a long landslide of time forgotten? That would be mangaka Quro's Koisuru Asteroid a.k.a Asteroid in Love, which had Doga Kobo's Winter 2020 anime adaptation. For those old enough like me to have watched the latter back in the day, you can tell the inept similarities between both shows almost to the point of uncanniness (despite Koisuru Asteroid's manga coming out much earlier than Hoshikuzu Telepath) in pretty much everything, from the usual cute moe fluffiness to the deep character development moments, which to me, sadly, is almost like a carbon copy when put up in comparison.

But there is a silver lining, and that Rasuko Ookuma's plot is derived from a Hitori "Bocchi" Gotou-like character meeting her support soulmate Nijika Ijichi, if she literally came from outer space. That's the story of Umika Konohoshi, the young girl who has a fascination with outer space and aliens, who became shy and introverted and finds it difficult to communicate her true feelings to others when that same fascination was ridiculed by others to the point of being very closed off. Like Bocchi, Umika develops social anxiety that's only further exacerbated by the amount of social isolation deriving from her liking of the supernatural, and she believes that she can only communicate with aliens and dreams of travelling to space in a rocket to visit them. That's where Yu Akeuchi comes in: the supposed alien character who somehow finds herself crashing on Earth, not knowing how it was ever done, and other than this causal effect that she now suffers from amnesia, she still desires to return home to space. This is where the worlds of both Umika and Yu collide as classmates, where, as much as the latter proclaims that she literally came from outer space, the class chooses not to believe it and takes it as a joke. Not so much for Umika, as she believes that this meeting marks a monumental moment in her life having an extraterrestrial as a dear friend whom she can talk to with her outer space aspirations. That's where the Yuri genre comes in with the tint of Yu's "foreheadpathy": the linking of foreheads with a person (similar to a kiss) that allows her to read their emotions.

For the most part, Umika is a rather tame version of Bocchi, being a lot more quiet, timid, and petit-feeling as compared to the latter's social anxiety that warrants her not wanting to mingle and socialize with people. But what she makes up for in her weaknesses is the "faith as little as a mustard seed" level of confidence that grows over time of her conviction to want to travel to outer space, which Yu fervently supports because that's her only one-way ticket back to her home planet. And both Umika and Yu are never alone in this regard, as their class vice president Haruno Takaragi soon joins them in the same endeavour, aside from the fact that the small town's lighthouse that Yu has designated as her temporary dormitory just so happens to belong to her family, being a "lighthouse connoisseur". Together, the trio starts thinking about how they're going to send Yu back home in space and decides that they're going to start from scratch with the humble bottle rocket. But with their inept knowledge of experimenting with typical bottle rockets, they soon hit their stride and need someone with better expertise at helping them achieve their goal. This is where Matataki Raimon comes in as the mecha robot connoisseur, who has a penchant for mechanics and a passion for robots. However, Raimon is also a character who, like Umika, has her hobbies belittled by people, so much so that she engages in people-warfare by developing an aggressive and solitary disposition, aside from being the class dropout, being bitter, and not wanting to trust people ever again. It took Umika as many times as she could to convince the annoyingly persistent Raimon to help them build better bottle rockets, though this comes at the usual cost, which she has her own ego boost to fulfill while getting alienated by her own peers. And as par for the course of the "usual CGDCT group of 4 girls", their character developments, especially Umika and Raimon, who are peas in a pod, do work their usual charm, which is elevated by Yu's forehead "kiss" that provides that subtle distinction to stand out from the rest. Together with their class teacher, Akane Emihara, the Rocket Research hobby group gets its start in the rocket building mix.

Director Kaori and Studio Gokumi are once again back on the CGDCT train after almost 5 years since Winter 2019's Endro~!, which is still my all-time favourite CGDCT show to ever exist. And I think they each did a decent job on bringing Rasuko Ookuma's story to life, full of its "not-so-much-Koisuru Asteroid" astronomy symbolism that it's as ever delightful to watch from a CGDCT perspective. Even the music can be aesthetically whimsical, from Miku Itou's rather surprisingly good OP song (which definitely fits the show to a T) to SoundOrion's ED song...which sounds rather meh-ish, but does contribute to the show's CGDCT-targeted theme.

Most people would tell you that Hoshizuku Telepath is better than Koisuru Asteroid in terms of the story, plot, and characters. Heck, even to its subtle use of the Yuri elements, which I definitely agree with and found to be more enjoyable. But from a personal perspective, between both shows, I feel more for the latter, thanks to its musicality, which I still fondly remember after almost 4 years, that gives it the touch that edges better than this show.

Still, don't take my word for it: Hoshikuzu Telepath is a good show with little to no problems at all; you might like it even more than I did.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jan 22, 2024

PixelB

Not Recommended

Preliminary (6/12 eps)

Hoshikuzu Telepath is about Umika, whose defensive mechanism while going through her adolescence regarding her social anxiety is to perform escapism. She believes that going to space is the only option for her to make friends, as she clams up when trying to interact with regular people. Surely, she thought, aliens would be much easier to talk to and make friends with.

And of course, rather than dealing with her issues or problems, the story rather just presents an actual, living alien in front of Umika! I exaggerate a little. In reality, Akeuchi's appearance in Umika's life has little to do with her alien identity. This ... show could have been just about Akeuchi, an energetic girl that becomes good friends with Umika. What Umika needed, as it turns out, wasn't alien friends or going to space, but rather encouragement and a space in where she is accepted for who she is, while also trying to self-improve as a person.

That being said, is this show good? No. Bocchi the Rock has very similar synopsis and character regarding a girl with extreme social anxiety that eventually starts to open up her shell a little. The show features comedy, good characters, all the while also being focused on progressing as a band. Each character is distinct, the dialogue being vibrant with the inclusion of Bocchi's erratic behavior, and the characters themselves have their own quirks.

Going back to Hoshikuzu Telepath, you kind of just have moe-blobs that are unconfrontational and rather boring. Umika herself is quite boring, and none of the supporting cast develop beyond their boring archetype. Haruno especially makes me feel like she contributes nothing to all conversations and her introductory episode similarly feels like fille. Finally, a hobby club regarding building model rockets is fine, but the execution and actual progression of the club can only be seen as monotonous and lacking any engagement.

If there was any salvation for the show, it would have been in the yuri content but there's no actual development there; just bait between Umika and Akeuchi. Either that, or focus more on the supernatural aspect of the show. Akeuchi is basically the only character that's remotely interesting to watch, so having her at the forefront similar to Kyouko from Yuru Yuri, where she sets the tempo with her energetic and whimsical personality. Instead, Akeuchi acts more of an emotional support for Umika, who is the "star" of the show.

It's just a purely boring CGDCT show that other shows have completely dominated in every aspect. There is no niche that this show fulfills that other shows haven't done better.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Hoshikuzu Telepath Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) KANLen09 - Oct 9, 2023	85 replies	by Mayu_jamir »» Jun 24, 9:10 AM
	Poll: Hoshikuzu Telepath Episode 12 Discussion KANLen09 - Dec 25, 2023	46 replies	by Gippy »» Jun 19, 6:24 AM
	Thoughts about Akeuchi and Umika's situation? Phantom_373 - May 24	6 replies	by CheliosX »» May 24, 12:10 PM
	Poll: Hoshikuzu Telepath Episode 3 Discussion KANLen09 - Oct 23, 2023	48 replies	by Julyking59 »» May 20, 10:55 AM
	Poll: Hoshikuzu Telepath Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 ) cuhoangdk - Oct 16, 2023	50 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Mar 24, 5:54 AM