More Starlight To Your Heart Vol. #01

By Megan Lavey     November 12, 2004
Release Date: November 30, 2004



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Hiro Matsuba
Translated by:Kay Bertrand
Adapted by:

What They Say
After living an enchanting life as a princess, Akane is tossing her tiara aside for her one true love! Playing the part of a service to the inner palace is the only chance she'll have to see her beloved Aogi, a guard who remains confined within the palace walls. But scrubbing pots and pans won't bring her any closer to her boyfriend, so these star-crossed lovers will have to break all the old rules, and perhaps make a few new ones of their own!

The Review
Packaging:
Since this is an uncorrected galley proof, we get Xeroxed copies of the front and back of the book. The front features most of the main cast with Akane being the prominent figure. The book information, which looks like it'll appear in the inside cover, is extremely misleading. More Starlight to Your Heart is set in the Heian Era and features a Japanese princess - who does not wear a tiara. Akane's role also does not have her scrubbing out pots and pans. I think this will throw off some of the potential readers, especially younger ones who might be expecting Akane to show up in a tiara, then get reduced to a Cinderella-type role where she's scrubbing pots in rags. This doesn't happen in the book at all, and I hope that ADV changes the book summary to more accurately reflect its contents.

However, when I went to go get the artwork for the book, I did notice a different summary that was more accurate on ADV Manga's Website. I hope that one is the final one that makes it into the book and not the one printed in the galley proof.

Artwork:
This is typical shoujo artwork and it's extremely pretty. The men remind me somewhat of male leads in CLAMP series with Aogi reminding me a lot of Touya from Cardcaptor Sakura. What impresses me here is the attention to detail that Matsuba makes in regards to the period clothing, the castle and the settings. There's a shot of Akane from the beginning of the third chapter when she presents a flower arrangement that she's made which shows off just how much Matsuba has put into this.

Text:
Kay Bertrand is the translator I'm most familiar with reading ADV works and this is another solid translation from her. Once again, the SFX is subtitled along with any kana and kanji not contained within a character's speech, leading to a somewhat confusing read. I'm finding though as I read more works from ADV Manga that I'm getting used to it and it's not bothering me quite as much. Still, it does clutter the page. A nice overlay job would more than do justice to this work.

Content (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS):
As with Kagerou Nostaglia and Peacemaker Kurogane, More Starlight to Your Heart is a sequel work that is being released without its predecessor coming out first. I looked for information on the original Starlight to Your Heart, or Kokoro ni Hoshi no Kagayaki o. It appeared to be two volumes long and started running back in 2000. Motto Kokoro ni Hoshi no Kagayaki o, or More Starlight to Your Heart, began its run in 2002 and is currently at six volumes as of August 2004 and appears to be running still.

But even though you don't have the back story, the basics of it are recounted in the first chapter so you know what's going on. Akane, daughter of the Nashinokami of the Inner Palace and the High Councilor of Japan, decides to give up her status as a princess and goes to work as a servant in the Inner Palace with the help of her mother in order to see Aogi, a palace guard who is in love with her and saved her life. However, Akane's father is displeased with the match and sends Aogi off to become a minor captain in the inner palace guard and prohibits the two from being together - causing Akane to launch her servant scheme.

The series takes place against the backdrop of the Heian era, and it's really enjoyable. Hiro Matsuba did a lot of research into the era and it comes across in the elaborate clothing and the activities that go on inside the inner palace. This appealed to the history nut immensely. We've gotten series set in the Sengoku Jidai (Inuyasha), the Tokugawa Era (Samurai Deeper Kyo), the Bakumatsu (Peacemaker Kurogane) and the Meiji Era (Rurouni Kenshin.) This is the farthest back in history I've gone before with a manga series, and it's interesting to compare and contrast with other historic works.

Throughout the book, Matsuba gives the reader easy insight into what life was like in the Heian Era and helps to explain the activities of the servants and the soldiers. During the second chapter, when seeing Aogi and Tou seperated from Akane and her mother by wooden blinds helps to drive home the vast differences between this period and later ones.

But interwoven into the history is the traditional shoujo story. This volume brings most of our main players into place and gives them their initial contact after the events in the first series. Despite her father forbidding her to see Aogi, Akane retains a pretty sweet and optimistic attitude. Because she's been sheltered for so much of her life, she's pretty naive and is convinced that love will enable her to be by Aogi's side.

Meanwhile, Aogi struggles with wanting to see her, but knowing the consequences if her identity is discovered. They do have a loyal core of supporters surrounding them including Akane's mother, who in charge of the palace's administrative affairs, and Middle Captain Tou, who is Akane's older brother and Aogi's boss in the guard. Akane also has the most adorable kitten, Hikoboshi.

After Akane and Aogi are reunited, things don't go easy for Akane as she and Hikoboshi both manage to really screw things up. I kept laughing as poor Akane tries to deal with one task after another while Hikoboshi gets in trouble for simply being a kitten. But it leads to the servants believing that Hikoboshi is the cause of a spirit doing damage to the storehouse, causing Akane and Aogi to head to the rescue to clear her and her cat's names. Then, rumors of another servant having an affair with Aogi causes Akane to rush to find the truth before it tears the couple apart.

Comments
This is a historical shoujo story that has all of the right things going on in it. It keeps true to the era that it's set in and enables the reader to learn about a different time - especially useful if you must read the Tale of Genji if you're in school. It's also the classic love story of two people from different classes who must work hard in order to be together. There's just something about that classic fairytale that appeals to me and makes this an enjoyable read.