Twinkle Stars by Natsuki Takaya

Twinkle Stars by Natsuki Takaya

As a fan of the amazing Fruits Basket, I have been slowly working my way through other works of Natsuki Takaya. Today's pick is Twinkle Stars.  This story is contained within 5 omnibus volumes. These are put out by Yen Press, and the quality is fair. The flexible spines were really nice, (particularly on the 5th volume, which is the largest,) and the color panels beautiful. 

In Twinkle Stars, we follow high schooler Sakuya, who loves to look at the stars. On her birthday, she comes home from work to find a gorgeous boy in her home. She thinks he is a friend of her house mate and family member, Kanade.  Kanade has been led to believe that he is Sakuya's boyfriend. He gives her a present, which contains a beautiful dress, and then leaves. Once these two realize there was a stranger in their home, Sakuya becomes curious about the beautiful Chihiro, and why he was in her home. As she looks all over for him, she discovers that he is a new classmate.  They don't get off on the best foot, and our story begins.

Both of these teenagers have toxic family relationships with their biological parents. This series is definitely about finding your purpose in life, and the importance of found family.  Dealing with feelings of worthlessness, there is also an underlying theme addressing suicide, including a suicide attempt.  I don't want to hide that piece of information from you, as I know it can be triggering to some readers. 

To me, Sakuya ended up having some elements of Tohru Honda, the heroine from Fruits Basket. They both have over optomistic outlooks despite tragic pasts, and they seem to inadvertently draw people to them. I love this kind of character, so that didn't particularly bother me.  I think it was lovely to find another character like Tohru.

On that same note, Chihiro feels like a blend of Kyo and Yuki. He's a blushing Tsundere, who is also a good student, and has a more quiet personality. Chihiro's story made me tear up multiple times throughout the story, and I just wanted to hug him so much. 

Sakuya has 2 great friends. Yuuri, the bigger personality more like Kyo, was actually cruel to Saku when they first met. after a set of circumstances, they become friends. He discovers through the story that he really does in fact have feelings for Saku, and becomes part of the love triangle in this story.  Thankfully this love triangle isn't cringey.

Her childhood best friend Sei is a good blend of Tohru's friends in Fruits Basket. Dark, cruel, and fiercely loyal, Sei makes for a lovely counterpart to Saku, doing everything in her power to protect Saku from all hurt, after not being able to protect her from the turmoil of her parents.

Kanade makes for a great housemate for Saku, with his own lovely story arc.  He goes from a bum making pottery to a full time worker, and I loved watching him grow.

Though this story had some elements that made it feel like Fruits Basket, it really was its own story. A beautiful story about growing up, learning what love means, how to love, and what you want to do with your life, Twinkle Stars is a great choice. There is a particular moment in this story that made it very distinctly NOT Fruits Basket, that really made me happy and sad at the same time. 

I hope with all of my heart, that if you find this interesting sounding at all, that you will check out this lovely series!

Love,