I admit, I am most likely not the target audience for Gazing at the Star Next Door. It is definitely a cute romance that's mostly wholesome, so I'd say it's safe for tween readers.

Thank u netgalley for letting me read this Manga Advanced Arc

This is an adorable story which I highly enjoyed. If was heartfelt and also was about a love that was beyond ones selfishness, but showing love in ways that showed though actions.

A cute, easy read about childhood friends where one is a normal high schooler and the other is a celebrity.

Absolutely loved this one and I can’t wait for the next

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was so cute! It's a lighthearted childhood friends romance! The way she still has a crush on him is so endearing. Honestly, I wish we could see his perspective or life outside of social media more. I love the characters and their relationship already.

With this second series released in English, Ammitsu has officially become one of my favorite creators. In <i>Gazing at the Star Next Door</i>, she takes the childhood friend trope, combines it with the celebrity romance, and somehow manages to come out with a story that's warmer and more appealing than 90% of the series that have tried that combo before. Chiaki and Subaru are both clearly struggling with his celebrity and what it means for their feelings, and she's desperately afraid that he's going to keep moving farther and farther out of her reach. He's trying to show her that he won't, but she's being fed a lot of social nonsense about how she's not a "threat" or "good enough" for him, and that does damage. Like <i>Ran the Peerless Beauty</i> before it, this story has a very comfortable human core, and ultimately I think that will prove to be its greatest strength as Chiaki and Subaru realize that <i>they</i> get to decide who they want to be with.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

What is better then childhood friends to lovers? Childhood friends to lovers when one of the is famous! I really enjoyed the art and story - it felt fresh and realistic

Review to come early February on blog/goodreads/other places.

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange of an honest review.

I just LOVE LOVE a friends to lovers story and that cover was also so cute! So this one I had to request! I am so happy I got the chance to read this one~

In this one we meet a girl named Chiaki who has a MAJOR crush on her childhood friend Subaru. There is just one problem. Subaru is now on the road to becoming the hottest model/actor in Japan. You can imagine that this makes confessing your feelings harder, especially when you think that you are not worthy enough to be with him. So I was rooting for Chiaki, hoping she would at least give it a shot, at least try it. And while we see she is trying to set her mind on other things, she is also falling harder and harder for Subaru. And who can blame her. I mean, he is hot that is for sure, but he is also quite sweet, adorable, and kind. One time when Chiaki was in trouble with a guy from a mixer (she fangirled hard on Subaru and the guy wasn't happy) he came around to help her out and yes, I know that is bad for feminism these days (geez) but I found it utterly sweet and was swooning. 

I loved that Subaru wasn't just a childhood friend but also was often found at Chiaki's home because his mom was working hard and he came to eat dinner, relax, help out Chiaki's little sister, or just be there to have some company. I can however imagine that it makes it all the harder to confess as Chiaki at times feels a bit more like Subaru's mom, haha. 

There was just one thing, while I did like Chiaki in overall, I was a bit tired of her grumpy attitude/dere dere attitude. Subaru would do something or another and she would huff and puff. And while I guess Subaru found it adorable, I just wished she stopped doing that. It is not cute. 

My favourite moments of the manga would be the pancake part (Chiaki made pancakes for Subaru) and how he reacted to it. But also the last chapter with them having to hide from fangirls had me go EEEP! You can just SEE the sparks fly between them even more than in earlier chapters. You can just SEE that all it needs is one of them to confess, to finally open up, and I am sure that they can start a relationship. Well, I guess the next part is figuring out how to do a relationship with Subaru's fame, we all know how fangirls will get. Or how his management will react. But I do hope that in the next volume they are able to get those feelings out. 

The art was just so gorgeous, I really love it. There are some scenes that just made me go dokidoki (I am sorry, but Subaru is normally already hot but sometimes he just levels up). 

All in all, I love this childhood friends to lovers story and I do hope that we get to see them finally confess. Plus, I would like to see Subaru's POV one day. Even a chapter would make me happy. I will keep on reading, looking forward to each new volume!

The illustrations and plotline was equally good. The author has definitely penn down a beautiful and cute story while the illustrator has presented beautiful drawings so the unlimite reading experience of this volume of the manga was amazing.

I love manga and this should depict all the reason why. You have the typical childhood friends with the goofiness, and the responsible one. The one that is looked down on.

Being compared to your friend/crush is never easy. This manga gives into those murky feelings of loving someone and also being jealous of them, too.

Bring able to share a friend isn't the hard part. The hard parts is that one secret smile, that goofy smile, that the MC wants all to herself that the fans can't have and can't know. The real smile.

Not feeling good enough, or special enough, as a person that loves them.

Wanting to be happy for them, but also sad that your little light could never compare to the sun that they are, up high in the sky with the stars.

But then that sun sees you for you, and all the goodness in you, and finds you desirable. Reading this shoujo manga brings happiness to my heart.

I will definitely keep reading this series in the future! 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 stars!

4 out 5 Star

A cute and easy to read manga. Very enjoyable read it all in a single sitting.

Thank you Netgalley.

This was a super sweet and wholesome volume! Gazing at the Star Next Door is about a girl named Chiaki who has an unrequited crush on her childhood friend and neighbor. Her crush is also a rising celebrity. She starts to wonder if she has a place by his side as his popularity grows. I'm definitely continuing this manga. I'm not usually a friends to lovers fan but this one is really cute. I'm left wondering if maybe her feelings are reciprocated already but she just does not realize it yet. I hope Chiaki gains more self-confidence in the later volumes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

I LOVE THEM SO BAD
Please, this is the kind of shojo I would read over and over while being a teenanger.
Seem Ouran High School? Lovely Complex? The old ones like Kimi Ni Todoke? Please please please read this!

This is a sweet and innocent childhood friends love story. We are introduced to the the main character “Chi” who is in love with her best friend who happens to be a famous model. As his career skyrockets she feels farther and farther away from him. She feel the dire need to get over her crush. The first volume was a perfect introduction to the characters and I’m happy that we right away knew the MC’s feelings without having to go another volume guessing or watching her be oblivious to it. I can’t wait to see if this relationship blossoms or if she finds another love.

This was such a cute, easy read.
I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for Vol. 2
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

thanks to netgalley and the publisher Kodansha for the e-arc!

final rating: ★★★★★

stay calm, my shoujo-loving heart TT it's been too long since i last read a shoujo manga. and first off, i need to compliment the art. the art!! there's just something about Ammitsu's art style that just makes everything feel so rose-tinted and sparkly, even when Chiaki's supposed to be unglam in comparison to everyone else especially Subaru (she's not, she's actually so cute). i just love the colours and the water colour style of the coloured panels at the beginning of the volume that really brought me back to when i first dipped my toes into shoujo manga (it was Ao Haru Ride, i think?) and it just made me so nostalgic.

sure this manga didn't reinvent anything about the classic shoujo manga tropes, but it still enjoyed it nonetheless! i love Chiaki's character especially. she reminds me a lot of Hiyori from honeyworks in the way that she has a hot guy best bestie and thinks so lowley of herself as a mob character childhood friend, to the point of being utterly oblivious to said childhood friend's feelings. sure it looks easy, like a simple misunderstanding since Subaru (poor guy) makes it so obvious that he puts Chiaki above all the girls, including the actresses and models he works with, and pretty much everyone else he knows. and she cooked him pancakes! pls wife her up on a decade or so Subaru please.

maybe i just haven't read a ton of shoujo manga, but i really liked the mix of the celebrity x commonor and childhood friends trope. like yasss, let HER be the one person you treat differently because you've known her all your life. soothe her insecurities and let her know she's always been the one for you. where this is going, i love it. chef's kiss 🤌🏻 can't wait for the continuation!

(cross-posted on goodreads)

I have been an avid shoujo romance reader since my preteen years. I adore the bubbly sparkles and cliched cliches that come with the genre. I love a cute story.

For starters, lovely art. The illustrated panels are beautiful. As for the plot, we follow the story of Chiaki, a highschooler, with a long-time crush on her childhood friend Subaru. Subaru is a well-known model, and is becoming more famous day by day. Chiaki, who unrequitedly pines over him, can't voice her feelings due to his fame and the constant attention he gets,

I usually prefer the male lead falling first in shoujo, but I admire the male lead having a dream and following up on it, so I'm letting it pass. Plus, he is kind to her, unlike a lot of other insensitive male leads. I also found Chiaki quite relatable in her behaviour; she acted like a friend to him and bickered and grumbled as usual to keep her feelings hidden. It's understandable how frustrating the situation is for her, so I appreciate her as a female lead.

There's the classic cliche in this volume; saving the damsel in distress after some guy badmouths the male lead and female lead stands up for him. I both love and hate how these scenes play out, but I eat it up every time.

Overall, it's a good start to a series, and I'm eager to read the next volume once it releases.
Thank you so much to Kodansha Comics, Ammitsu and NetGallery for the ARC, my thoughts are my own.

Rating: 4.25 leaves out of 5
-Characters: 4/5
-Cover (+art): 5/5
-Story: 4/5
-Writing: 5/5
Genre: Romance, YA
-Romance: 2.5/5
-YA: 5/5
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yes

Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.

Started the manga and wasn't too sure I was going to like it. Usually the whole Star thing makes them so unlikable but this didn't do that. I am also with the MFC who is confused by him but I THINK I get what is going on. Love how she has to try and navigate her life around him in a way but I really do hope she gets a boyfriend, who isn't the MMC. Make him sweat!

In the end though I really enjoyed it and was so shocked when it ended! I need V2!

My actual rating for this volume is 3.5 stars.

This quick, fun read gives you all of the laughs and fluffy feels of an unrequited love romcom. Chiaki is very clearly in love with Subaru, but she is 100% convinced that he does not and cannot ever feel the same way about her. Now, with Subaru’s rising fame, she has to watch every girl fawn over him while pretending like she doesn’t share or understand their attraction to him.

I really enjoyed this read. There’s nothing like a romance manga to get me giggling and kicking my feet the way that this one did. I love Chiaki, Subaru and the chemistry that they have with each other. I love that they’re as close as siblings, but there’s enough room there to wonder “what if” when it comes to their love story and not think it’s weird. Subaru is a heart throb in more ways than just being a model turned superstar. He’s so kind to Chiaki, he’s there whenever she needs him, and he’s constantly reassuring her doubts about him in the best ways possible. Chiaki is just so sweet and insecure that she can’t see how much that Subaru cares for her. I didn’t really enjoy the amount of self-loathing that Chiaki does, especially in the beginning. She just thinks she’s the worst in every way (typical teenager stuff). Overall, I think this will be a great manga to keep up with and I will absolutely continue this.

Thank you so much NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of Gazing at the Star Next Door Volume 1 in exchange for an honest review! I had previously heard about this manga in related social spheres on Twitter, and so I was very excited when I was able to get an early copy prior to its official release. The artwork is gorgeous and very clean and easy to follow as you read, and the character designs themselves are simple but really well-done. The story is centered around a high-school girl named Chiaki and her relationship with her childhood best friend Subaru, her romantic feelings towards him, and how their relationship changes as a result of him gaining huge popularity as a model and actor. In the first volume, you get to understand and love the dynamic between Chiaki and Subaru, and I really grew to love the two. Overall, the first volume sets the stage for the rest of the series and the potential shifts and drama between Chiaki and Subaru as a result of his emerging stardom while also showing lots of lovable, cute moments between the two, and I'm really excited for the next volume!

I think this may be my new favorite manga! It's a little cheesy but sweet and I love Subaru's character. I often find the MMCs to be kind of selfish/reckless with the FMC's feelings but in this one I feel like he's very delicate with her and even though he doesn't talk about feelings outright, he does hint towards them whether or no Chiaki realizes. The addition of Chiaki's little sister also makes Subaru's character that much more lovable for the way he treats her and how she looks up to him. Her character also adds levity to some situations especially when her response is more mature than Chiaki's who is much older but reacts like a teen would when upset. Children always point out the obvious and are blunt with what they think which I love and is always a great addition to a story focused on teens who are more irrational and going through big changes. I was confused by the mask at first because Subaru was the only one wearing it but then I realized it was part of his "disguise" since he was gaining fame. Ammitsu does a great job with Chiaki's emotions as I could imagine how it would feel if my best friend/first crush was all of a sudden becoming this famous icon while I was still just an average teen. The readers can see Chiaki's emotions through her thoughts and behavior; it's clear she's nervous that Subaru might leave her behind or that they won't be able to go out in public anymore and have a normal day. When she compares herself to the beautiful girls he works with and wants to get better with fashion or get a boyfriend, it's so relatable and makes the reader really feel for her character. The art is fantastic, I have literally no complaints, and I appreciate the translation notes at the end that explain some of the pop culture references that I didn't know about. There's so much more I could say but I don't want to give it all away. I truly enjoyed this one and look forward to the next volume!

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the digital ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.