Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was a very sweet start to this series! Chiaki is a regular high school girl, until her best friend since childhood, Subaru, starts his journey to becoming a famous model and actor! She's always had a crush on Subaru, but after becoming a rising star, she tries her best to ignore any romantic feelings she may hold for him. The chemistry between the two leads is so cute, and it's pretty easy to tell how this series is going to end. But there's something so endearing seeing Chiaki trying her best to support Subaru's endeavors as an actor and model, while Subaru tries his best to support her as her friend. The art style is also so pretty, it's one of the things that drew me to read this manga. I look forward to the next volume!

This digital ARC was obtainable via NetGalley for an honest review!

What if your childhood friend was your crush and a popular model/actor? “Gazing at the Star Next Door vol 1” gives us a glimpse of how that scenario would go. I find this manga sweet & cute. ☺️

I'm a fan of the childhood friends turning into more trope in manga, so this was perfect for me! Beautiful art and a lively story made for a fast and enjoyable read.

”Gazing At The Star Next Door, Vol 1” by Ammitsu is a sweet story about watching your childhood friend grow away from you because of new interests and new people, and that fear that comes along with it when you are scared of being left behind.

Chiaki, female MC, and Subaru, male MC, have this sweet, but teasing, constantly bickering brother-sister relationship, and even though it's all fun and games to them (they have after all known each other forever) they each have a sudden panel in the bickering, where you can see that the joke and the half-truth in the joke is bothering them.

Subaru has to witness Chiaki downtalking herself, and at times she even downtalks Subaru too – I am not entirely sure if it's part of the friendly bickering, but there is no doubt that she supports him with her whole heart!
But this not-so-kind side of hers comes from her insecurities regarding her bond to Subaru, her best friend, who is becoming Japan's new super star. It doesn't help that she's crushing on him too.

The first volume was great at establishing their close friendship and the warm home feeling when they are together.
Looking forward to the next volume!

this is such a cute story, and i love the art so much. :) i’m a sucker for the childhood best friends trope. and i really like how it depicts the mmc’s rise to stardom!

however, i don’t really like tsundere characters, so the fmc is a little much for me. but i realize that will change eventually — she’s just trying to make it seem like she doesn’t have feelings for subaru.

there aren’t really any triggers here except a scene with a pushy college guy. but nothing bad happens to the fmc! :)

thank you for the free copy, netgalley!

Ho letto questo manga tutto d'un fiato e l'ho adorato.
Sebbene sia una situazione già vista e rivista, ho apprezzato quell'aura di ingenuità e confort che questa storia trasmette. Certo la protagonista è alquanto cieca di fronte alle palesi attenzioni del suo amico d'infanzia, ma è questo dopotutto che rende queste storie interessanti.
Come si fa a non avere le farfalle nello stomaco quando hai qualcuno accanto che ti guarda in quel modo?
Spero seriamente che questa storia avrà un lieto fine, perchè spesso storie d'amore fra modello-attore e persona qualsiasi, non vanno a finire bene.
Inoltre spero seriamente venga portata in Italia, voglio assolutamente averlo cartaceo!

Grazie Netgalley per avermi concesso di leggerlo in anteprima.

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I read this manga in one sitting and loved it.
Although it is a situation I have already seen, I appreciated the aura of naivety and comfort that this story conveys. Of course the protagonist is somewhat blind to the obvious attentions of her childhood friend, but this is what makes these stories interesting after all.
How can you not get butterflies in your stomach when you have someone next to you who looks at you like that?
I seriously hope that this story will have a happy ending, because often love stories between a model-actor and a nobody person don't end well.
I also seriously hope it is published in Italy, I absolutely want to have a physical copy!

Thanks Netgalley for letting me preview it.

4 stars — I loved this!!!!!!
This story about two childhood friends stole my heart. The art is so so pretty and I can't get enough of it. The story is keeping me hooked and I can not wait to read vol.2.

It's the typical story of the popular famous boy and the girl who is secretly in love with him, with the added bonus that they've been friends since childhood. Overall, is a cute and chill manga; I'm curious how the plot will progress.

It's cute! I'd probably read more volumes. ..................................................................................................................................................................................................

I am a sucker for the famous/popular boy - regular girl trope in any medium. This one comes with adorable artwork. I can't wait to read more of this and see Chiaki come into her own.

Definitely recommended.

Loved it! Super cute high school romance about Chi, a girl who is in love with her next store neighbor and long time friend Subaru, who just happens to be super famous! Chi and Subaru met as children and have a very close bond. As Subaru starts to become famous, Chi feels him drifting away from her and knows she will never have a chance to be with someone so famous. But yet, Subaru constantly treats her well and hints at how much he cares for her. Could a romance be in store for such a star crossed couple?

This manga was just so sweet. I think it really shows the depths of how much the 2 characters care for each other. The art style was very pleasing to the eye and well drawn with many details. The characters were so cute! I would definitely read the next volume, and recommend this to anyone looking for a sweet high school romance.

5/5 stars

I AM OBSESSED! I am a big fan of Ammitsu's previous works, so I had great expectations coming into Gazing at the Star Next Door. Friends to lovers, Chiaki's crush on Subaru is realistic and beautiful, touching to the reader the inner turmoil she feels for their friendship if she were to take a step forward. The series so far has all your typical shoujo elements, and the FMC's character navigating these roadblocks thus far is elegantly portrayed through the beautiful art as well. Excited to read what comes next!

OMG, this gave me all the feels!! Firstly, I am in love with Subaru and every moment that him and Chiaki have together just makes me swoon and kick my feet in the air out of giddiness. This is the sort of manga that will rekindle your love for that cheesy, sugar sweet and extremely addicting shoujo high school romance. What Inlove most about the story is that fact that we get two characters who are childhood best friends, which I think gives a really fresh feel to the story because I don’t actually think we get a lot of this in shoujo mangas as most of the time there is no shared history between the couple so I was really happy with this change. I thought it made for quite a tantalising and super sweet story that I honestly just absolutely fell in love with, so much so that I read this within like 2 hours?! I just want more!! I want to gobble up this manga but alas, I must be patient and sadly wait for the next instalments. Overall, this first book is superb and really shows you an insight into the connection between the two best friends and how they navigate this journey in their life where they’re perhaps moving towards adolescence and all the challenges that come with it. I loved the dialogue and artwork - both aspects were really impressive and brought out the best in the characters within its pages. I need more of this manga, and will be impatiently awaiting the next book!!

I saw it on netgalley and decided to request it. It was cute teen romance manga with childhood friends. Its interesting to see further on how their dynamic will change with the main male love interedt working in the entertainment business. Overall, its cute

I am reading this series and I was happy to see it pop up here with its official title! I got interested in it thanks to other galleys and the art style is what pulled me in, because it is very pretty and it reminded me shojo titles I used to read when I was younger.

The story is quite simple, it's about Chiaki and her childhood best friend Subaru, who is in the entertainment industry and has been gaining a lot of attention and popularity, and how that changes their relationship and dynamic. I think that at the age of the characters, a lot of teens dream or think about what it would be like to be an actor or singer, and probably nowadays, influencer, so it is fun to see the author's take on that. We have a lot of stories that deal with fame, and the famous/non-famous trope is quite popular for a reason.

A lot of shojo mangas have a similar dynamic or play on one of the leads being more popular, in some way or another, so it is not that different from other titles in that regard, but actually having the male lead be an actor adds more to it.

In the blurb it is being compared to In the Clear Moonlit Dusk and Kimi ni Todoke and though I haven't read the last one and it does have a different story and tropes as the first one, it has the same feeling and cute art as the first one.

If you're interested in the entertainment industry or like romance stories with the characteristics I have mentioned, give it a try, the art style is very cute and the story is easy to follow.