While the school/soft tennis club part is there to help expose and alleviate their true natures of the sufferings going through with parental disabilities, or expectations as simply you would call it, all kinds of nature are laid in bare sight. Being grown-ups, the world that they know is never a bed of roses, so the harsh reality of families growing through the different pangs and uncertainties must know how to counteract on their very own. You must be wondering why the title literally says 'Stars Align', but it's Kazuki Akane's way of foreshadowing that no human is ever perfect, and we're like the stars of the sky, when life beats us down harsh, the common interest in question (soft tennis) aligns us in the thread of fate, that is adolescent trauma (which happens to be his favourite theme). Akane-san wanted out of it, he truly accomplished it to its feet with his unorthodox method of storytelling. And knowing director Kazuki Akane on this show's influence taken mostly from his creation of 'Noein' and planning this original story for over a decade, I'd say that while this has caused A HELL LOT of backlash, like Satoshi Mizukani's Planet With, the end result is truly the icing on the cake, whether you'd decide to take it literally or not, I believe that what This show truly has the definition of 'don't judge a book by its cover', because it ain't just a sports anime, but one that is rife with the daily affluences of family drama and matters that's spread all over it.

Although this gives rise to conflict among the boys, Maki challenges and pushes his fellow team members to not only keep up with his seemingly natural talent, but also drive them to devote themselves to the game they once neglected.Īs the members of the boys' soft tennis club discover their own capabilities, they endure personal hardships and deal with the darker side of growing up in middle school.

Maki joins the team, and his incredible form and quick learning allow him to immediately outshine the rest of the team. Touma refuses to back down and ends up persuading Maki-only under the condition that Touma will pay him for his participation and cover other club expenses. With his interest piqued, Touma ambitiously asks Maki to join the boys' team but is quickly rejected, as Maki doesn't wish to join any clubs. Enter Maki Katsuragi, a new transfer student who demonstrates great reflexes when he catches a stray cat in his classroom, instantly capturing Touma's attention. In desperate need of members, Touma Shinjou is looking to recruit capable players, but he fails to scout anyone.

Constantly outperformed by the girls' club, the boys' soft tennis club faces disbandment due to their poor skills and lack of positive results in matches.

Stars align crunchyroll