A new anime series, "Starmyu: High School Star Musical," will begin airing in the summer of 2019. The first and second seasons of the series attracted many fans with their unique and charming characters and spirited musical scenes. In this article, we'll take a look back at the first season of the anime series ahead of the third season. Let's recap the moving story of the characters, from when they enrolled in high school to how they, through trial and error, arrived at their own unique style of performance.
Introducing Starmyu's Main Characters!
Before recapping the first season, let's introduce the main characters of Starmyu!
Hoshitani Yuuta
The protagonist and team leader of Team Otori. He's a bright, positive, and energetic mood-maker. He's a complete beginner when it comes to acting, but one day, seeing a high school student he admires inspired him to enter the world of music. He's pure and devoted, and the other members can't help but love him.
Nayuki Toru
A member of Team Otori. She has a warm and soothing personality and is always smiling. However, she has a negative outlook and tends to be nervous, which makes her weak in real situations. She always makes lunch for the whole team and is like a mother to them.
Tsukigami Kaito
He was born into an elite musical family, but he feels inferior about it. He is usually calm and has considerable acting ability. Although he often argues with Tengenji, they seem to make a good pair.
Tenngenji Sho
He is the heir to a Kabuki family and has a great deal of pride. He often calls people who do unrefined things "unsophisticated." He hasn't had many friends until now, but he cares deeply for Team Otori. He loves cats.
Sutamyu Kuga
He has a tough, taciturn appearance, but a kind personality. He's a struggling student, and works part-time jobs every day to make ends meet. He's grateful to his mother for raising him in a single-parent household, and his mother's love of musicals inspired him to pursue acting.
Starmyu Season 1 Review ① Entering High School! Auditioning for the Musical Department
The protagonist, Yuuta Hoshitani, enrolls in Ayanagi Academy, a prestigious music school. He was a regular high school student until junior high school, but after encountering a stranger dancing on an empty outdoor stage, he developed a crush on him and decided to pursue this path, driven solely by the desire to perform on the same stage. It's clear that Hoshitani is a pure-hearted boy.
Meeting Nayuki
At the entrance ceremony, Hoshitani becomes friends with Nayuki, a fellow student and later his roommate. There, he learns that the "high school student he admires" is in the school's star department, the Musical Arts Department. Despite being told that the audition is rigorous, the straightforward Hoshitani decides to follow in his footsteps and take the entrance audition held soon after enrolling.
Team Otori Members Gather
The entrance audition is conducted by the school's top third-year students, the "Kaokai." Naturally, the judging is rigorous, and Hoshitani, an amateur in music and acting, is harshly judged. While he would have failed, he is picked up by Otori Itsuki, a maverick member of the Kaokai, and is granted a spot in the "Star Slot," where he can receive direct instruction from the selected members of the Kaokai. The members of "Team Otori" that Otori gathered, besides Hoshitani, were Nayuki Tooru, Tengenji Kakeru, Tsukigami Kaito, and Kuga Shuu. All of them had been deemed unqualified for one reason or another. Thus, the unique group of "Team Otori" was formed.
Starmyu Season 1 Review Part 2: From Meeting Tengenji Kakeru to Becoming Friends
Team practice began immediately, but Hoshitani, of course, was practically an amateur. Tengenji Kakeru, a man of great pride who has been dubbed the "Prince of the Kabuki World," was extremely angry. He even asked Hoshitani to "leave the team so that the team can survive." He even went so far as to appeal to Otori directly. Hoshitani was positive and brushed off the words, but he took them seriously and continued practicing.
My beloved cat goes missing...
One day, Tengeji's beloved cat, Tavian, goes missing. Hoshitani, who doesn't like cats, screamed when he saw Tengeji's cat, causing the frightened cat to run away. Feeling responsible, Hoshitani spent the early hours of the morning searching for Tavian. He was eventually found safely, and the incident led Tengeji to open up to Hoshitani. At first, Tengeji was the one who disliked Hoshitani the most on the team, even treating him like an assistant. However, it was actually Hoshitani who became close with Hoshitani shortly after Nayuki.
Starmyu Season 1 Review ③ Kaito Tsukimi, who couldn't see what was going on around him...
As Tengenji and Hoshitani became closer, the atmosphere on Team Otori gradually improved. However, Kaito Tsukimi still refused to open up. Tsukimi was born into a top-tier musical family: his father was a famous director, his mother a musical actress, and his older brother, a top-class actor who was once the top student at Ayanagi Academy and is now known as the "Prince of the Musical World." Tsukimi felt a great deal of inferiority and pressure from his older brother, and he had no time to think about the team.
She also disliked Hoshitani.
When Hoshitani said, "It's amazing that you have a famous older brother," as a pure compliment, Tsukigami became enraged. In fact, Tsukigami was so talented that he was the top student in his middle school class. However, when asked about his brother during the audition for the star selection, he became enraged and was deemed a failure. The mere mention of his brother seems to be a landmine for Tsukigami, as he becomes angry when it's even mentioned.
A clash with Team Hiiragi, later...
Meanwhile, an incident occurs between rivals from Team Hiiragi, who are also aspiring to become musical candidates and share the same star category. A member of Team Hiiragi talks to Tsukigami about his brother, provoking his inferiority complex. Enraged, Tsukigami raises his hand to punch, but Hoshitani blocks his fist. The commotion somehow subsided, but this incident made Tsukigami realize that Hoshitani had accepted him as Kaito Tsukigami, regardless of his brother. From this point on, Tsukigami gradually began to open up.
Starmyu Season 1 Review #4: The Newcomer Debut Performance is Coming! And Team Otori...
Everyone's hearts were finally united. The once-disjointed "Team Otori" has formed into a team, with Hoshitani as team leader. From here, they began practicing for the first hurdle: the "Newcomer Debut Performance." This performance is quite a tough test; depending on the results, half of the Musical Department candidates will be eliminated.
Team Otori Begins to Be Accepted
With the inexperienced Hoshitani, Team Otori's path to success seemed daunting. However, Hoshitani's casual words provided a hint, leading them to adopt a strategy that incorporated a twist on traditional performances. Team Otori presented a completely new performance unlike anything seen at Ayanagi Academy before, and they were crowned with a splendid pass. Their completely innovative approach, breaking away from tradition, attracted the attention of the entire student body. At first, Team Otori was criticized as a group of mavericks and a ragtag group of members who were sure to fail, but their debut performance marked a turning point for the group.
Starmyu Season 1 Review ⑤ Summer Training Camp Begins!
Riding on a high, Team Otori holds their summer training camp in preparation for their next challenge, the Ayanagi Festival Performance. The camp was supposed to be held at Otori-senpai's mansion, but for some reason, the members of Team Hiiragi were also there. Otori-senpai and Hiiragi-senpai are relatives, and both wanted to use the mansion. Despite various issues, such as breaking the Hiiragi family's treasured jar, the training camp somehow ended safely. The fact that the two teams were training at the same location made them even stronger and led to a mutual rivalry.
Starmyu Season 1 Review ⑥ Preparing for the Ayanagi Festival Performance! But...
After summer vacation, preparations for the second hurdle, the "Ayanagi Festival Performance," begin in earnest. The Ayanagi Festival performance features a free-form program, allowing the members to create their own unique stage performance. The members were excited, as this was a perfect fit for the unique team of Team Otori. But then, an incident occurred.
Team Otori Under Fire
Team Otori suddenly attracted attention at school during the "Newcomer Debut Performance," but one person who wasn't happy about it was Akatsuki, a member of the Kaokai. Akatsuki believes that a culture of accepting heresy is undesirable and could tarnish the dignity of the prestigious Ayanagi Academy. He therefore decides to bar Team Otori from performing. However, in order to protect Team Otori, their mentor, Otori-senpai decides to withdraw from Kao-kai himself. As a result, Team Otori is able to perform, but is demoted to the general admissions category.
Starmyu Season 1 Review #7: Team Otori's Sudden Disappearance...
In exchange for withdrawing from Kao-kai, Akatsuki leaves Team Otori with a chance to become Musical Department candidates. However, Otori-senpai suddenly disappears without telling the team anything important. When Akatsuki asks Hiiragi-senpai about it, all they learn is that he has submitted a leave of absence. Having been demoted to the general admissions category and losing their precious senpai, Team Otori is overcome with anxiety.
Their acting falls apart
The more Team Otori tries to hide their anxiety, the more they fail, and the more they gradually fall apart. They initially act cheerful, but eventually they reach their limits. Hoshitani is particularly affected. At this point, he doesn't realize that Otori is the high school student he admires, but he unconsciously harbors a strong admiration for Otori-senpai.
Starmyu Season 1 Review 8: The Truth is Revealed by Haruto Tsukimi
With team leader Hoshitani's emotions wavering, Team Ootori was also confused. Meanwhile, Kaito Tsukimi's older brother, Haruto Tsukimi, revealed the truth about Ootori-senpai. Speaking of Tsukimi, he was Ootori-senpai's former mentor. Hoshitani's awakening came when he realized that Ootori-senpai had left Kaoukai to make the most of his teammates. He became more positive, wanting to have a large audience see their musical, which Ootori-senpai had taught him. With renewed determination, he and his teammates set out to tackle the school festival.
Starmyu Season 1 Review 9: The Stage Was Cancelled, But...
And then, the day of the school festival arrived. A typhoon caused Team Otori's outdoor stage performance to be canceled. However, rather than just a test for the Musical Department candidates, Team Otori felt a strong desire to have as many people as possible see the stage they had created with Otori-senpai. To that end, they sought help to somehow complete the performance.
The Stage Was Completed!
After asking for help, help poured in from all over the school. Team Otori received support not only from the regular students who had supported them up until now, but also from their rival team Hiiragi, and even some members of the Kaoukai. It was a moment that culminated their efforts. With the cooperation of various parties, Team Otori was able to complete the culmination of their activities at the school festival.
Summary of a Starmyu Season 1 Review!
That concludes our review of the first season of "Starmyu: High School Star Musical"! Season 1 covers the characters' journey from enrolling in high school to auditioning for the musical department and their actual performance. We get to see the growth of each team member, including the protagonist Hoshitani. We can't wait to see what kind of growth we'll see in Season 3!
