Visual Novel / A Sky Full of Stars

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Akito Sorami, Hikari Houkiboshi, and Saya Amanogawa are three childhood friends who once stargazed together when they were kids. As they grow up and somehow drift apart from one another, the stars will find a way for the three to reunite, with friends old and new by their side.

A Sky Full of Stars (originally titled Miagete Goran, Yozora no Hoshi wo) is a romance Visual Novel released in 2015 by Pulltop. It was given an official all-ages English release on December 15, 2017. It also has two fandiscs, Miagete Goran, Yozora no Hoshi wo: FINE DAYS, which features fanservicey content and extra routes for secondary characters; and Miagete Goran, Yozora no Hoshi wo: INTERSTELLAR FOCUS, which is a follow-up story focusing on both Hikari and Saya.

See also If My Heart Had Wings, another Pulltop title taking place in the same continuity and written by Asta Konno.

Not to be confused with the Coldplay song.

This visual novel provides examples of the following:

• All for Nothing: Akito's efforts to save Mikazuki Village from being erased off the map were for nothing, which were encapsulated in the planetary observation journal he, Hikari, and Saya made as a form of appeal to the mayor. The reason? Hikari made the sin of omission of not telling him that the efforts to stop the building of the dam (which would lead to the erasure of said town) and the efforts to rebuild the train line her father was responsible for were unrelated things. To begin with, the train line was blocked off by landslides, and the dam was being built to prevent further landslides. As they gave in to their own anger born of failure, Akito and Hikari tore the journal in half as they argued, and Saya fixed it with tape later on.
• Ascended Extra: FINE DAYS gives routes to both Miharu and Honoka.
• The Big Damn Kiss: Surprise surprise, a romance visual novel wouldn't be one without this.
  • In the climax of Saya's route, Akito finally finds Saya's lost charm that contains the Love Letter she sent to him. The two then consummate their feelings once more and kiss after five years' worth of waiting and misunderstanding, under the sky lit by the Geminid meteor shower.
  • In Hikari's route, once he realizes Hikari is stuck at the abandoned train station in the midst of heavy rain while trying to avoid him and Saya due to her repeated rejections of his confession towards her, Akito visits her and finds her in a pathetic state. As Hikari tries to avoid Akito again, he confesses one more time with a kiss underneath the pouring rain, and Hikari now accepts it, knowing she also developed her own feelings for him.
• Bitch Slap: In Hikari's route, she slaps Akito after he forcefully kisses her inside the bus, signifying that she indeed rejects his confession. The slap is so intense that it persists for a few days.
• Bust-Contrast Duo: Displayed with Hikari and Saya, Akito's childhood friends. Hikari, the bustier one, is cheerful and enthusiastic. Saya, the one who's not as blessed in the bust department, is shy and genteel.
• The Cavalry: In Hikari's route, Keifuu Academy's Astronomy Club comes to the rescue just as both Project Starlight and the 6 Stars Club are in great danger. They are willing to offer their expertise to help the project and save the 6 Stars Club from being disbanded. Soon enough, other astronomy clubs throughout Japan also offer their support.
• Celestial Theme Naming: Just as If My Heart Had Wings is jam-packed with references to the sky, flight, and the weather in the names of the characters and other entities, this visual novel is jam-packed with references to the stars, constellations, celestial bodies, and other astronomical concepts.
  • Hoshinonaka City, the City of Adventure, can be translated as "within the star".
  • The former Mikazuki Village, which is now absorbed into the city, means "crescent moon".
  • The first kanji for Akito's name means "dawn"; and his surname, Sorami, means "looking up at the sky", which is ironic at the beginning of the story since he's known as "the astronomer who doesn't look at the stars".
  • Hikari means "light", and Houkiboshi means "comet", which lends credence to one of her In-Series Nicknames, "Comet Girl".
  • The second kanji in Saya's name means "night", and Amanogawa is the Japanese term for the Milky Way galaxy.
  • Orihime is the Japanese term for the star Vega (in turn borrowed from the Chinese Zhinü), and Shiratori is the kun-yomi reading of "Hakuchou", the Japanese name for the Cygnus constellation.
  • Korona, of course, is derived from the Corona Borealis constellation.
  • The 6 Stars Club is a reference to the Pleiades star cluster, which is known in the Kojiki as "Mutsuraboshi", but is now known in Japan as "Subaru" (which means "to cluster together", and is reflected in the logo for Subaru, the auto maker).
• City of Adventure: The story takes place in Hoshinonaka City, which is formed from the merging of Hoshino and Amanonaka Cities.
• Club Stub: At the start of the story, the astronomy clubs in the schools within Hoshinonaka City are facing a drought of members. For instance, Akito is the sole member of his own school's astronomy club, since the former president graduated and thus handed the leadership to him by default. This forces the astronomy clubs to form an alliance called the "6 Stars Club", with Orihime leading the charge. At the start of the heroine routes, this drought recurs as many of the seniors in the 6 Stars Club already graduated, and Amanonaka High's astronomy club is dissolved because there were no replacements upon Noriko's graduation. Until Hikari's return, that is.
• Continuity Nod: In Hikari's route, just as Project Starlight's status is in jeopardy and the status of the 6 Stars Club is uncertain, an uplifting email from Keifuu Academy's Astronomy Club states that the club intends to help Project Starlight in their own way. Keifuu Academy is a major focus in Pulltop's previous visual novel, If My Heart Had Wings.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Certain members of the female cast have eyes the same color as their hair, such as blue for Orihime, brown for Miharu, magenta for Honoka, and pink for Hikari.
• Distant Finale: The Stingers of Saya's and Hikari's routes are basically this.
  • In the case of Saya's, Akito, Hikari, and Saya are now adults; Akito and Saya are engaged (with Hikari being away from them due to her job manning the railways); and Saya becomes a teacher, fulfilling her childhood dream. Akito and Saya now overlook the next generation of amateur astronomers.
  • In the case of Hikari's, the story skips to 2034. Akito and Hikari tied the knot and now have two children, Tsukino and Youta. They all witness the Leonid meteor shower, which is made possible thanks to the revival of Project Starlight by the successors of the 6 Stars Club.
• Dragged into Drag: In the second common route, while Honoka shows Korona around Meikou Academy to help her get accustomed to its customs as the latter plans to enroll there next school year, Orihime forces Akito to dress up like Maia, one of the Pleiades sisters, while they're both in the astronomy clubroom. Of course, Orihime posts the pictures (and even a video!) she took of him to the 6 Stars Club group chat, resulting in much embarrassment on his part and amusement on the part of the rest of the club.
• Dumped via Text Message: In Saya's route, after some time running away from home due to the complications she had with her mother regarding herself dating Akito, she decides to break up with him via a text message. Later averted when Akito brings back the charm containing the love letter Saya sent to him on the night of the Geminid meteor shower, and the two consummate their feelings once more.
• Education Mama: Korona is on the receiving end of this, which is more pronounced in her route. As Mrs. Kusakabe basically gave up on Takeichi (despite him being a Reformed Bully), she counts on Korona to do what he doesn't: excel academically, even keeping an eye on her via curfews and such.
• Evolving Title Screen: Once you've completed all routes, the background of the title screen changes to a much more dynamic one featuring a looping video of the starry night sky.
• First Kiss: Akito and Saya have their first kiss on the break of dawn of January 5, after they have already sorted out their misunderstandings regarding the love letter she sent to him four years ago. Note that this happens near the end of the first common route.
• Flashback: This visual novel makes heavy use of flashbacks, with indicators on the bottom-right of the screen that tell where in the story's timeline the scene occurs (the characters' elementary days, middle school days, and then the present time).
• Full-Name Ultimatum: In Hikari's route, Saya uses this on her as she calls her out on her callousness to Akito's confession. Hikari also pulls this on both Saya and Akito in return.
• Gray Rain of Depression: In Hikari's route, after she willingly distances herself from both Akito and Saya due to the former's Forceful Kiss, the afternoon is headlined by a massive downpour, leaving her stuck in the abandoned train station. As she grows depressed in the midst of the rain, she remembers that in the process of pairing up Akito and Saya, she also developed her own feelings for him in the process. Until Akito swoops in, notices her pathetic look, and decides to confess to her one more time, which she finally accepts.
• Hero Stole My Bike: In Hikari's route, after Akito finally confesses his feelings for her, she quickly takes his bike and speeds away. Fortunately, she parks it at the front of the convenience store minutes later.
• Hot Springs Episode: Once Akito, Hikari, and Saya reunite at their old hangout (the abandoned train station), they all decide to take a dip in the nearby hot springs, which were left abandoned once the town Akito was born and raised in was decommissioned to give way to the dam. The trio went to the springs before as kids; and now, as adolescents, they relive doing stupid tricks such as goading one another to show their own... yeah, sensitive parts. This scene also confirms that Hikari is much more stacked when compared to Saya in the chest department.
• I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: In Hikari's route, she says "I'll pretend like I didn't hear anything" after Akito finally confesses his feelings for her. This indicates that Hikari, despite her own feelings towards him, still wants to see him and Saya together.
• Indirect Kiss:
  • When the three were young, Hikari goaded Akito and Saya to drink from the same cup, which led to this (and a Spit Take from Akito). Hikari also drank from the same cup, which makes it a three-way indirect kiss. This was one of the ways Hikari tried to play The Matchmaker for Akito and Saya, which led to the Love Letter conundrum a few years later.
  • In Korona's route, Akito bites a portion of the pork bun where she had taken a bite in. She acknowledges that this act resembles an indirect kiss.
  • In Orihime's route, Akito takes a piece of a churro she already had a bite in. He acknowledges that it's an indirect kiss, but doesn't want to bring it up to her.
• Infodump: Much like If My Heart Had Wings and its focus on gliders and principles of flight in general, this visual novel wastes no time explaining constellations and other principles of astronomy.
• Instant Web Hit: A video where Hikari quickly dashes to save a cat from a speeding vehicle becomes viral, dubbing her the "Comet Girl". Later in Hikari's route, the video regains traction as Hikari's running is edited into several other videos, creating an in-universe meme. Much later in her route, the video is reshot, this time depicting her grabbing a meteor bound for impact, to help drum up support for Project Starlight, revitalizing the meme.
• K-I-S-S-I-N-G in a Tree: When they were all young, Takeichi teased Akito and Hikari, who held hands for the first time ever, with the familiar ditty.
  Takeichi: Ooooh, Hikari and Akito, sitting in a tree...
  Takeichi's underlings: K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
• Love Letter: One particular love letter Hikari gave to Akito before they and Saya drifted apart is the linchpin for the branching of the four heroine routes in the base game. If Akito keeps the letter, the game will either lock into the Saya or Hikari routes; if he gives it back to Hikari, the game will lock into the Korona or Orihime routes. And as for the contents of the letter, it's actually Saya's love confession to Akito, which she planned to send to him via Hikari. In Saya's route, she transferred the contents of the letter to a charm, serving it as a lifeline for her feelings for Akito. She unknowingly misplaced the charm while she was running away from her school's curfew marshals who caught her stargazing very late at night; and that was the main reason she ran away from home after arguing with her mom and briefly broke up with Akito shortly after.
• Masquerading As the Unseen: At the start of the story, Akito has an online friend who calls herself "Komako" and introduces herself as an office lady. "Komako" turns out to be Hikari all along, as Akito notices their similar interests in astronomy, and also notices their bountiful chests, which "Komako" shows in a private message (the cleavage picture actually shows her dad's chest, and she sent it to fool him).
• Named Possession: After completing the Dobsonian telescope, the 6 Stars Club decides to name it "Pleiades 1", in honor of the six schools' astronomy clubs that comprise the club, plus honorary member Korona.
• Not What It Looks Like: Once Akito moves into Miharu's place in the first common route, Hikari enters his newly-furnished room, snatches the love letter she sent to him years ago, and stuffs it inside her bra. This prompts him to grope her chest to wrest back the love letter from her, which then forces her to cry for help, and Miharu enters the scene seconds later. Akito then tells Miharu this trope verbatim.
• Passing the Torch: While it's briefly mentioned in the other routes, Orihime has to pass down the position of president of the astronomy club of her school to her underclassman, Honoka, upon her graduation in her own route. This is symbolized by her handing down the master key to the clubroom to Honoka, having the latter wear it like a necklace.
• Polyamory: Interstellar Focus features a scenario where Akito dates both Hikari and Saya.
• Porn Stash: Takeichi has his own collection of spicy publications in his room, but it was later discovered by his mom. And in Korona's route, she accidentally discovers a lewd magazine in Akito's room while she is taking a break from studying, proving that he has his own smut stash — digitally, that is — since the magazine is meant for Old Man Champ.
• Post-Kiss Catatonia: The night after the planetarium performance in Orihime's route, she quickly kisses Akito in the cheek as an answer to his confession before she leaves the scene. Akito is stunned by that act, to the point where he can't sleep that night. Orihime also feels embarrassed about that kiss, that even Honoka takes notice the following day. Good thing Honoka makes a pragmatic measure and convinces the two to formally straighten out their feelings towards each other and declare themselves lovers.
• Progressive Instrumentation: In Hikari's route, to drum up support for Project Starlight, she and Akito come up with an impromptu parade in Harbor Town Mall, where she begins by playing the first notes of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on her recorder. Soon after, other participants, including marching bands and other students who can play their own preferred instruments, gradually join in.
• The Promise: At the end of Saya's route, after the success of Project Starlight and a hectic new year, Akito, Saya, and Hikari go back to the place where they all met for the first time, the bridge in the former Mikazuki Village (which is now Hoshino Dam), and vow to meet again in the exact same spot in 2034 for the Leonid meteor shower, where an extremely high rate of meteors can be seen per hour.
• Self-Censored Release: It was redone for an all-ages release with the offensive content removed, subtitled LIGHT SIGNAL in Japan.
• Shared Universe: Set in the same continuity as If My Heart Had Wings.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend:
  • When the 6 Stars Club finally builds the Dobsonian telescope, two girls from Hoshino Dai-ichi notice the growing closeness between Akito and Saya, to the extent that they call the latter "commuter wife" (due to her always giving a bowl of oden to Akito whenever he's in the clubroom). Honoka, Narue, and Noriko also notice this closeness, which prompts Akito and Saya to quickly deny their apparent romantic relationship.
  • When Miharu notices Korona, Orihime, and Honoka visiting Akito's room on New Year's Day in the second common route, she teases him that any of those three girls is his girlfriend. Furthermore, she also insinuates that the three girls are searching for his Porn Stash, which Korona discovers in her own route.
• The Stars Are Going Out: The main trio notice the dwindling number of visible stars in the night sky as Hoshinonaka City quickly urbanizes in a span of a few years. In real life, light pollution does affect the visibility of the stars and other celestial bodies in the night sky. In her route, Saya's detailed astronomical records for the past five years were useful in convincing the higher-ups of Harbor Town Mall to turn off the lights in the entire city on December 14, the day of the Geminid meteor shower.
• Stargazing Scene: As par for the course in this astronomy-themed visual novel, stargazing is a main focus. It starts with the trio (Akito, Saya, and Hikari), then to the astronomy clubs of the schools in Hoshinonaka City that form the 6 Stars Club, and then to the rest of the city and the country as they witness the Geminid meteor shower on December 14.
• Sweetie Graffiti: In Korona's route, during the Eta Aquariid meteor shower, she guides Akito to the abandoned train station, and shows him her own name (written in full hiragana) she carved on a wall of the train's interior. She encourages him to write his own name next to hers, which he does (also written in full hiragana), and then caps it off with an Umbrella of Togetherness to solidify their romantic relationship.
• Title Drop: Done at The Stingers of Saya's and Hikari's routes, as the former narrates the true nature of the stars and the latter narrates how the ritual of stargazing can be passed down to future generations.
  Saya: The stars you see are from a long time before you or I were born. This is how the stars looked hundred, thousands, even million of years ago. Even though we are here in the present, we're looking at the past. And so, everyone... Just look up at the night sky — to a sky full of stars.
  Hikari: Looking up at the silent, shining meteors raining down, I wondered. I wondered how such an incredible night could exist in the universe. That sense of wonder, thinking about the mysteries of the universe or taking the galactic journey on an imagined train... I wanted these children to experience what we experienced that day. And so, just look up at the night sky, a sky full of stars. Those countless lights you see are the infinite possibilities of your future.
• Wall Pin of Love: In Hikari's route, Akito attempts this on her to profess his feelings to her, only to get kicked in the shin in response.
• Waxing Lyrical: Once the 6 Stars Club agrees to formally launch their Dobsonian telescope on Christmas Eve, Orihime states a variation of the first line of "O Holy Night".
  Orihime: O holy night, with stars hung brightly shining...
• Weather Saves the Day: In Orihime's route, everyone in the 6 Stars Club (including the alumni but excluding Hikari) goes to a resort located in the snowy north and owned by Meikou Academy for a two-day stargazing trip. While the first day, which is also Orihime's birthday and White Day, is marred by weather conditions that are unfavorable for stargazing, the entire club hopes for a better night the following day by shouting at the sky. Luckily, fate has been kind to them, as a gust of wind blows away the snow clouds, paving the way for a clear sky perfect for stargazing.
• What Were You Thinking?:
  • Akito asks himself "What was I thinking?" when he obliviously plans to use the condoms Miharu gave him on the first day of moving into her place on either Hikari or Saya.
  • In Saya's route, Hikari asks Saya this as the latter plans to escape by jumping off the window in Korona's room, where she has been hiding for the past few days after breaking up with Akito.
  • In Hikari's route, when she notices the pack of condoms Miharu gave him that was spilled on the floor after she and Akito accidentally fell over due to a minor playful scuffle, she asks him this because she thought they would go frisky in the clubroom on the night before the day of the Geminid meteor shower.
• Where It All Began: Done with the abandoned train station at the tail-end of Hikari's route. She, Akito, and Saya go back to this childhood hangout of theirs at the start of the new year, signifying their renewed friendship and resolve to see the stars beyond the Milky Way. She even repeats the words she spoke years ago.
  Hikari: This train is the Milky Way Railroad Observatory, headed for the sky!
• World of Technicolor Hair: While some hair colors are realistic such as brown and black, there are also colors like magenta, blue, and pink.
• You Didn't See That: Akito tells Korona this as the other members of the 6 Stars Club are amused at Orihime's Dragged into Drag treatment of him in the second common route.