I’ve been a fan of Ammitsu since I read Ran the Peerless Beauty, so I was excited when I saw that their latest manga was available on NetGalley!

I really enjoy shoujo manga, and I felt that Gazing at the Star Next Door captured the cute, wholesome feeling you get when you read shoujo perfectly. I also liked the dynamic between the main characters. Childhood friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes! And it was so cute to see their interactions as children and compare them to their current interactions as teenagers.

The art was really well done and it felt like such a quick read! I appreciated the bonus chapter featuring Ran the Peerless Beauty, which gave me good closure for the series. Definitely looking forward to the next volume.

A trope filled shoujo set in high school. I didn’t feel like the plot or characters had anything that stood out from the genre.

I had heard about Gazing at the Star Next Door by Ammitsu on an X (formally known as Twitter) thread in October and immediately preordered it. When I saw the chance to access Gazing early on NetGalley, I jumped at the opportunity. I'm always rereading manga anyway so I had zero issues reading it before I got my physical copy.

Like many of the girlies of my age, Shojo raised me. Tohru, Duck, Himeno, and Sakura defined my outlook on love and romance. Even as I navigate towards Josie and Seinen now, Shojo is always top of mind. So a new Shojo in print and it mixes the childhood friend trop with the idol/fame trope? Sign me up!

Gazing at the Star Next Door is about a high school student Chiaki who has a crush on her best friend Subaru. The catch? Subaru is on his way to fame as he's becoming a model and actor. Navigating high school is hard enough, but now everyone wants a piece of Subaru all while Chiaki is trying to get over him.

Immediately, Chiaki felt relatable to a teenage me. First of all, Chiaki seems all over the place. She's flustered around Subaru, due to her feelings for him. In other moments she's interacting with him like any childhood best friend would. She wants to act normal and chill about his budding stardom in front of him and others, but secretly she's as starstruck as everyone else. Chiaki wants to get over Subaru and find her great high school love but she also isn't ready to let him go.

In typical shojo boy fashion, Subaru is unreadable. He comes off chill and aloof, but some of his actions seem a little bit on the "I like you as more than a friend" side. He cares about Chiaki but it doesn't feel too special yet. I can see exactly why Chiaki is trying not to read too into his actions and leave her crush behind.

Volume one is just three chapters but it does a great job at setting the scene of what we can expect from this journey Chiaki and Subaru are about to embark on. While having a crush on your childhood friend is not a new story, I love the additional layer of Subaru's impending stardom. Instead of a possible rival in school, you have to essentially fight out a bunch of fan girls? Chiaki get behind me!!

I feel a lot of misunderstanding, tears, and laughter on the path ahead and I can't wait. Ammitsu's art style is a beautiful combination of that familiar 1990s/2000s Shojo with a more modern approach. It makes reading this new take on an old trope all that more exciting. I'm looking forward to cheering Chiaki on and seeing where this childhood crush takes her.

Gazing at the Star Next Door
Mangaka: Ammitsu
Publisher: Kodansha

Available Now on Kodansha

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

This was so cute! The storyline is interesting, the art was beautiful and I liked the characters and their interactions -Subaru's interactions with Chiaki's little sister were so cute!-
It was really enjoyable and I can't wait to see what's to come next!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love the stars everywhere throughout the manga, it made it seem so magical when reading which for a high school romance makes it really stand out along with the gorgeous art. The mangaka draws hair and eyes so prettily. The characters were so cute!! I loved both Chiaki and Subaru and their dynamic. I feel like there's so many routes the storyline could take and I want to read on and see where it goes!!

I want to start by saying the artwork is beautiful.

I really enjoyed the story. The combination of childhood best friend and celebrity romance is intriguing. I appreciate that Chiaki struggles with her feelings for Subaru as he is slowly becoming famous, and she realizes that she might lose him. It was mentioned before that writing romance between an idol and a fan is extremely challenging without it seeming parasocial, but I think it was handled very well in this manga.

This story is sooo cute! It made me giggling and kicking over their interactions. The trope in this story is actually very cliche. Chiaki harbors an unrequited love to Subaru, her childhood friend that happen to be a star. I love their interactions, it’s so fresh and youthful. I also adore both of Chiaki and Subaru personality. I’m glad that Subaru isn’t the type of jerk childhood friend, he’s kind, I love that about him. I’m hoping to see their relationship progress into something on the next volume. <3

5 Stars out of 5

I really really enjoyed this! Kodansha hasn't let me down at all recently, it's just hit after hit! The plot of a girl liking her best friend who is famous wasn't that unique but I don't think I've ever seen a story like this done with such a mature main character and that wasn't very heavily focused on high school life. It has been a while since I've enjoyed a shojo story this much but this took me back to my preteen self just absolutely devouring whatever romance series I got ahold of. I definitely recommend this to shojo readers and it is a series I will immediately start collecting physically the moment I am able to!

Disclaimer: I received an arc copy of this via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Also, sorry about any poor grammar I maybe am very drunk but have to get my words out this instant because I loved this so much and just want more.

A lovely and sweet manga, the dynamic between the characters is amazing. Can’t wait to read the rest of it!

Gazing at the Star Next Door promises a cute plot but, unfortunately, does very little with it.

To start off, the art is cute and certainly has its own appeal but I found some panels to look rather low-effort. That low-effort look certainly isn't helped by the fact that the main characters don't really have any defining features. Hell, for a model signed with a fashion company, Subaru's wardrobe is as basic as it gets. Overall the art wasn't really a standout feature for me.

Our lead romantic interest, Subaru is... Well, not very interesting. Throughout this first volume, Subaru shows only the bare minimum interest in her despite them supposedly being close friends. I kept waiting for the moment where we would be shown why our main character, Chiaki, puts so much effort into their friendship but it never really same.

Subaru really doesn't have much of a personality, which makes it hard to fall for him as hard as Chiaki has. Most of the time we see him, he's just sitting there looking pretty. There were far too many scenes of Chiaki just... Thinking about how hot her best friend is instead of things actually happening. While that seems to be enough for our female lead, as a reader, it didn't give me much to fall in love with.

Despite the characters being somewhat flat, there were a few cute scenes in this manga and I didn't mind the humor. I think the plot has potential for a lot of fun situations but for a first volume, I feel it started a little bit slow.

I think if you want a quick, fun, no-drama read, this could be appealing.
But I think if you go into it wanting a memorable, romance filled, character driven story with a lovable cast, you're going to be disappointed.

**ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review**

Gazing at the Star Next Door 1 by Ammitsu is another shoujo high school romance from her, this time following childhood friends: one girl an insecure, mothering type, and the boy all set to become a celebrity. It follows their day-to-day lives during his rise to fame with the occasional flashback to their childhood.

I loved this author's previous series, so I had high hopes for this one, and I liked this okay. Ammitsu's art is as beautiful as ever and the story progressed smoothly. However, I'm not sure I'm really in love with the celebrity trope, it gets on my nerves for some reason and I don't really care about it. The female lead also kind of grated on me because of how dishonest and down on herself she was. Maybe I didn't read it in the right mindset, but I'm sure there are lots of shoujo readers out there that will love this.

The author delivers a heartfelt exploration of unrequited love and the complexities of friendship amidst fame. I like how the story delves into Chiaki's internal struggle as she grapples with her feelings for Subaru, who is rapidly ascending to stardom. As Chiaki faces the prospect of losing him to the spotlight, readers are drawn into her emotional journey of self-discovery and courage. The dynamic between Chiaki and Subaru is portrayed with authenticity and depth, capturing the nuances of their bond and the challenges they face. With its blend of romance and coming-of-age themes, this book offers a poignant and relatable tale for fans of tender, bittersweet love stories.

Got me giggling and kicking my feet within the first few pages!

As with any typical shojo manga, story is cute and the art is pretty, but the combination of childhood friends and show business is interesting and timely in this age of idols we are currently living in. Being childhood friends and next door neighbor to rising star Subaru has Chiaki one step ahead of the rest on the parasocial relationship ladder, but she still thinks mutual feelings are impossible between them and she should get over Subaru. This first volume keeps a brisk pace on the story with plenty of sweet moment and some gorgeous panels.

A childhood friend's trope mixed in with a celebrity romance trope. It’s a typical shōujo storyline about the female lead being in conflict about her feelings towards the male lead while he is rising to fame, not knowing if he feels the same.

Volume 1 of this series consists of 3 episodic chapters, with a little bonus content at the end. Kodansha seems to have found their niche in the romance category, as this is another story that seems to fit their recent mangas such as “A Sign of Affection” and “Kawaii Nante Kiitenai” (You’re My Cutie”). This story is especially similar to the latter, as the female lead appears to have the more central focus on feelings.

The stylistic choice of the colors used on the art pages show the hopeless romantic viewpoint of the story, which fits well. The pace is pretty fast, as the author focuses more on the presentation of the emotions between each character and their thoughts than a more monologue style manga.

While the plot itself is more traditional in the sense that it takes a commonly used storyline, I think that it’s a good read if you’re looking for more cute one-liners in dialogue and a celebrity romance story.

ahhh this one was cute! absolutely adore the main guy

I feel like the setting for an idol and a fan love story is really hard to set up without coming off as parasocial but this does it so well with having the ML still living close to his childhood friend.

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS OMG YES PLS, it’s so cute ahhh i was blushing, cannot wait to read the other volumes

This story was so cute, it immediately pulled me in. I love the characters and the story line and can’t wait to see what’s to come next. I’m absolutely in love with the art style also.

Childhood troupes will always be my favorites thing to read in manga. In Gazing at the Star Next Door, we have a childhood friend who is also neighbor that slowly becomes a big star and national sweetheart. Chiaki and Subaru has always been together since they were still a child. Chiaki has always like Subaru and keep her unrequited love in secret as Subaru walks further into the world of entertainment, Chiaki decides the time has come to move on from him.

I've been looking forward from this mangaka work since I am a big fans of her previous work (Ran the Peerless Beauty and Kanna to Decchi), Those two works is the one that got me back to fluffy shoujo romances and I am so excited to finally reading this one. The art style is so cute and clean. I love how the mangaka made Subaru look like he's shining all the time (giving justice to the manga's title). The other character design are simple but still have this cutesy vibes. It's giving the perfect comparison since they always compare Subaru good looking with 'plain' looking friend which make Chiaki develop a low self-esteem.

This manga is extremely cliche. You can pretty much guess what's going to happen next, it's predictable but you can't help but keep wanting to read. I love Subaru and Chiaki chemistry. Their friendship is adorable, I love how supportive Chiaki's family toward Subaru. I can't wait to see how their relationship progress.

Overall, if you're a long time fans of shoujo romance manga, you might want to check this out! Giving this 3.5⭐️

Chiaki ang Subaru are neighbors and childhood friends. As Subaru's modeling and acting career gets bigger and brighter, so does Chiaki 's secret feelings for him. Does that mean Chiaki can only ever gaze at the star next door?

The first thing that I love about this manga is the art. It's so interesting to see how the mangaka made Subaru look like he's shining all the time but not overshadow the plain-ness and simplicity of Chiaki or even the other characters. The art style is just so comforting and very well done.

As for the story, I love that we get to see this type of timeline where Subaru is just starting to become a rising star. Majority for stories like this, the character is already so famous. As readers, we get to actually witness the plot unfold. I just really like that we get to see how both characters treat each other now, and see that change as time goes by.

This volume already includes so many good plots. The progression of the story is underway and I'm excited to see our two main characters navigate their feelings. This was such an amazing start and I love that we got a good grasp of the characters. Definitely looking forward to read the rest of the series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
Well, I gobbled that up - such a cute, wholesome manga, I want more!!
Very slow burn I think, with a pretty and clean art style. So far, it is a very sweet high-school romance manga.

Gazing at the Star Next Door is a romance shoujo manga about high schoolers Chiaki and Subaru. Chiaki and Suburu are childhood friends who are very close- Subaru is a model/actor and Chiaki has always had romantic feelings for Subaru, but feels she has no chance with him as he goes further into the spotlight. Chiaki doesn't want high-school romance to pass her by, but she can't seem to squash her feelings for Subaru...

I would recommend this to fans of Ao Haru Ride or That Boy Out of My Reach

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for an arc in exchange for an honest review 💛