Hoshi no Koe
Voices of a Distant Star

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It was ok, a very melencholic manga. I also watched the anime and anime was kind of better but i liked the character designs of manga better. I was lost at some panels because of the change at characters' hair color... I was like, is this still the same character talking or what... It should also have pointed out the locasion, like now we are at earth, now we are at space ship whatever etc, that would be helpful, but not a big problem. Oh... the melencholy... two young people who actually in love with each other had to be seperated. The girl was chosen ... for a space military operation to pilot a mecha at the last year of Junior high... She went light years away in space, and her and boy's only communication was cellphone messages, as she went away the message arrivel time got longer like half a year, one year and even more... So they were trying to communicate and misarable and missing each other the whole manga. If you like to pour some missery on yourself time to time, this is the stuff for you..

Hoshi no Koe - also known as Voices of a Distant Star - is a manga about time and space, told through the perspective of a delicate romance between two separated lovers. It is a manga that, despite its short length, manages to capture deep subject matter regarding life and love. Even with all of its melancholy, it clings to the power of hope and patience, giving a bittersweet ending that is hopeful and optimistic but still fitting naturally into the manga's pensive story.

"We are two lovers... separated by time and space."

Hoshi no Koe details the delicate romance between two lovers, Mikako and Noboru, while ... also being wrapped around a sci-fi premise. Despite this, the manga chooses to approach its story in a realistic manner, focusing more on its human characteristics with the emotions and thoughts of its two central characters. Both Mikako and Noboru are interesting individuals that are easy to sympathise and relate to, and it is fairly easy to put yourself in the shoes of both of them as they deal with their own issues. Their inner conflicts, concerning problems with being forgotten, thinking about the future, and being aimless in life, are nuanced issues that are delivered excellently and given a layer of realism that makes this manga tug even deeper into your emotional heartstrings. The manga does a great job at creating characters alongside a story you can invest easily and deeply in, and it does not make that investment a disappointment as its ending is a perfect way to conclude its melancholic story. The ending brings a more hopeful and optimistic light onto the table, and it fits well as a natural conclusion.

Despite the manga focusing more on its human characteristics, its own sci-fi premise does a lot to picture interesting thoughts surrounding the pursuit of space and knowledge. Many of the people participating in the space mission are young and have their future seemingly taken away from them because of the pursuit of the beyond. While ten chapters is not enough to fully delve into these aspects of the story, they are still wonderfully told and are given a lot of intricate thought to them. They are merely short musings, but they capture the state of the members onboard, giving the manga an even stronger sense of personality and life.

The manga's art style reflects perfectly the melancholic tone of this romance story, giving way to beautiful illustrations that do its job at conveying the emotional weight of the topics it touches on. Characters are drawn nicely, and their issues and struggles are portrayed clearly and smoothly by subtle gestures of behavior. Things such as gazing into the painful and fleeting moments of the past or being drifted away into a never-ending melancholic state are conveyed such that it makes this manga a captivating read as it perfectly illustrates the emotional weight of its themes.

Hoshi no Koe is a short manga that manages to do so much despite its length. Its themes surrounding life and love through the lens of a sci-fi premise - and its delicate and perfect execution of these themes through its story and characters - manages to pave the way for a manga that leaves an outstanding lasting impression, an impression that makes it nothing short of amazing. It is a short yet thoughtful work of fiction that leaves you gazing at the sky above, distant and detached from the world around you.

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 eachother ... only 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.