Having watched it, I feel a bit... disappointed. The main problem is that it's just too short. Due to all the hype, I was expecting a lot more. Though in some places "Hoshi no Koe" does succeed in generating a certain special atmosphere, the amount of stuff you can pack into a half an hour show is simply not enough for it to solidify into something more substantial. The dialogue/monologue heavy format reminds me a little of "Seikai no Danshou", as that is also a short OVA that relies more on words than flashiness, But "Seikai no Danshou" has an extremely strong background already provided for it by its parent franchise whereas this did not, and as a result this feels a bit more empty.
Set in the future, the main story of "Hoshi no Koe" revolves around two friends texting each other across increasingly long distances as one of them goes off to fight a long military campaign in a distant part of the galaxy. Even though this may sound like the gimmicky outline for a cheesey mobile phone advert, the idea is used remarkably well. As the distance between the two main characters increase, the text messages takes longer and longer to get to the other person. There's a profound sadness as we see the seconds and minutes turning into hours, the hours turning into days, and the days eventually turning into months and years - can you imagine sending a message to a close friend, knowing they won't get it for several years, or receiving a message that's several years out of date, and this is the only way you are able to communicate? Admittedly, it seems rather strange to me that texting still works when they're fighting a war light years away from civilization (again, it's the kind of exaggeration of the power of mobile phones you'd expect from a mobile phone ad :P), but the feelings generated as a result is so heart wrenching that I can almost forgive the contrived scenario.
What's remarkable about "Hoshi no Koe" is that it's all made by one man... I kid you not! It's a colossal effort considering how well it turned out. Still, the fact that it's made by one man means that though the production values are surprisingly good, you're not gonna be getting shiny, adrenaline pumping mecha battles scenes the caliber of "Gundam Seed", in fact the battle scenes of "Hoshi no Koe" are confusing to the extent that I am reminded of those from "Vandread", which is not a good thing. Speaking of mechas, they feel like a tack on because I find it a bit seeing them in this kind of anime which really doesn't have much to do with flashy battles. I also thought the character designs are pretty bad.
But despite its flaws, the emotions it is able to invoke means that it's still a good anime. Considering all the stella praise I've been hearing though, I was expecting a lot more from this, and in the end it simply feels too short for me to become totally engrossed in it.
