Genre Romance, slice-of-life | ||
Developer Windows, Nintendo 3DS
Honeybee
PlayStation Portable
HuneX Publisher Windows, Nintendo 3DS
Honeybee
PlayStation Portable
Asgard Genre Role-playing video game, life simulation game, visual novel, otome game Platform Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS Released Windows
JP: March 27, 2009 (Spring)
JP: June 26, 2009 (Summer)
JP: September 25, 2009 (Autumn)
JP: December 25, 2009 (Winter)
PlayStation Portable
JP: June 24, 2010 (Spring)
JP: September 30, 2010 (Summer)
JP: December 22, 2010 (Autumn)
JP: April 28, 2011 (Winter)
Nintendo 3DS
JP: April 25, 2013 (Spring)
JP: June 27, 2013 (Summer)
JP: August 29, 2013 (Autumn)
JP: October 31, 2013 (Winter)
PlayStation Vita
JP: November 23, 2016 (Spring)
JP: May 11, 2017 (Summer)
JP: TBA (Autumn)
JP: TBA (Winter) |
Starry☆Sky (スターリースカイ, Sutārī Sukai), known as Sta☆Ska (スタ☆スカ, Suta Suka) for short in Japan, is a series of Japanese otome game visual novels created and developed by the software company Honeybee. It was separated into four games, the first released in 2009, with three love interests in each, making a total of twelve possible love interests. It was well received in Japan, having Drama CDs, countless manga adaptations and a 26 episode anime adaptation. In addition, sequels of the four original games were created for both Windows and PlayStation Portable in 2010 and 2012 respectively.
Contents
Gameplay
The player takes control of Tsukiko Yahisa, the heroine of the Starry☆Sky games, although her name can be changed by the player. The games are primarily told in visual novel format, where the player's decisions inadvertently affects the relationships she has with potential love interests in the game.
Plot
Tsukiko Yahisa is the first female student to enroll at Seigetsu Academy, a former all-boys school specializing in astronomy. She is closely watched over by her childhood friends, Kanata Nanami and Suzuya Tohzuki, who often protect her from the male student body. Throughout the games, she befriends other young men whose personalities are based on the Western zodiac constellations.
In the first game, Starry☆Sky~in Spring~, not long after Tsukiko transfers to Seigetsu Academy, a half-French boy named Yoh Tomoe follows suit to pursue her. This action stirs up emotions from Kanata and Suzuya, both of whom had long loved Tsukiko.
In the second game, Starry☆Sky~in Summer~, Tsukiko has joined the academy's archery club. As she practices for the summer competition, she simultaneously solves the problems between her teammates (Homare Kanakubo, Ryunosuke Miyaji, and Azusa Kinose).
In the third game, Starry☆Sky~in Autumn~, Tsukiko becomes involved with three teachers at her school (Iku Mizushima, Naoshi Haruki, and Kotarou Hoshizuki).
The last game, Starry☆Sky~in Winter~, details Tsukiko's involvement with the student council, which includes Tsubasa Amaha, Kazuki Shiranui, and Hayato Aozora.
Characters
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Special character
Represents Ophiuchus, the 13th constellation. Special "13th Character" that was introduced in the 13th secret date CD. Not much information is given. His Greek name translates to “serpent-bearer” and he is often seen holding an albino snake in many official illustrations. In the fourth game Starry Sky in Winter it's mentioned that he has greater, stranger power than Kazuki Shiranui.
Minor characters
Family
Development
All character designs, covers, and background art were digitally painted by Kazuaki. However, in October 2010, Japanese netizens accused her of using copyrighted stock images as references without permission. As a result, both Honeybee and Kazuaki issued formal apologies on their websites and the release of the first spinoff game, Starry☆Sky~After Spring~, was pushed back.
In 2011, JAST USA announced it was considering licensing the Starry Sky series for an English release. However, the plans were later dropped due to the high cost of fees that would have had to be paid to the voice actors, according to JAST USA's Peter Payne. "We could of course release the games without voice, but that would defeat their commercial value since fans would not be cool with a move like this... We are absolutely open to doing otome games, but from what I understand any game is liable to have this issue, e.g. voice actor studios looking to profit from any secondary use of their voices and unwilling to negotiate."
Game
Starry☆Sky was separated into four games, each one taking place in a different season with three possible love interests, for the PC. The first game, Starry☆Sky~in Spring~, was released on March 27, 2009. The opening theme song was titled Starry Sky and was performed by Hikaru Midorikawa, the voice of Yoh Tomoe. Following its release, the second installment, Starry☆Sky~in Summer~ was released on June 26, 2009. The opening theme song was titled Shoot High and was performed by Hiroshi Kamiya, the voice of Ryunosuke Miyaji. The third game, Starry☆Sky~in Autumn~, was released on September 25, 2009, and its theme song was Lies, Truth, and Our Destiny performed by Daisuke Kishio, the voice of Naoshi Haruki. The last game, Starry☆Sky~in Winter~, was released on December 25, 2009, and the opening theme song was Grayed Out performed by Yuichi Nakamura, the voice of Kazuki Shiranui. Starting in 2010, all four games were ported onto the PlayStation Portable.
The original games were followed by a spin-off, which takes place between the epilogue and the original time of the game. Starry☆Sky~After Spring~ was the first of the spin-off games to release onto the PC, but its release was postponed from November 26, 2010 to December 10, 2010 due to accusations of character art designer Kazuaki plagiarizing.
CDs
The limited edition of all the games were bundled with a CD with the full version of the opening theme and a separate drama CD featuring the male characters in the game. A full-length drama CD for the spring characters was released on August 28, 2009. In addition, a soundtrack for the game's music was released on September 25, 2009.
Throughout 2009, twelve date CDs were released monthly, starting with Yoh Tomoe (the Capricorn) on January 30, 2009, to Azusa Kinose (the Sagittarius) on December 25, 2009. The date CDs feature the voice actors for each of the twelve possible love interests in the game and simulate a date and a romance between the listener and the character. Each CD came with a special coupon. If the coupons from all twelve CDs were submitted to Honeybee at the end of the year, one would receive a secret date CD featuring a 13th character, Shiki Kagurazaka (voiced by Mamoru Miyano), who represents the Ophiuchus, the 13th constellation.
Manga
Short manga stories about the characters of each game have been collected into anthologies by DNA Media Comics. Starry☆Sky~in Spring~ Comic Anthology was released on October 24, 2009, and features all the characters from the spring game. Similarly, Starry☆Sky~in Summer~ Comic Anthology was released on December 25, 2009.
Anime
An anime adaptation was distributed through Animate.tv's website and Sun TV. It was directed by Kiyoko Sayama.
There are 26 episodes lasting 11 minutes each. First airing of the episodes was on Animate.tv in late December 2010. In February 2011, Sun TV started also simulcasting this series, airing two parts episodes of this series as a whole episode (meaning 13 episodes by 22 minutes each). They are done in an episodic format, with each episode (or two parts of the episode) focusing on one character or subset of characters from the storyline.
Reception
The game was well-received upon its release in Japan. The Spring game was featured in magazines such as Dengeki Girls'Style.