Before reading volume one, the only context I had for Gazing At The Star Next Door, known as Tonari No Stella in Japanese, is that it involves childhood friends, and the male lead becomes an idol. I enjoy idol-centric stories, so I thought I would try it.
Chapter 1
Up-and-coming idol Subaru comes off as a perfectly charming and down-to-earth idol on TV, but he would fall apart if not for his childhood friend Chiaki.
Chiaki and Subaru have been best friends and neighbors since they were children. For Chiaki, it was clear from the start that Subaru was destined for the spotlight. Their friendship is often the topic of school gossip. All the girls believe there is no way Chiaki and Subaru are an item. Similarly, boys avoid Chiaki for fear of being compared to Subaru. Chiaki admits inwardly that she was in love with Subaru but swears she has gotten over him. (Yeah, sure.)
Subaru is a frequent guest at Chiaki’s house. Chiaki helps out when Subaru’s mom works late. Subaru doesn’t miss a chance to tease Chiaki about wanting a boyfriend.
Chiaki is excited when she’s invited to a mixer to meet guys, but she can’t escape Subaru’s presence when she sees him on a huge billboard. She is annoyed with herself when she instinctively texts Subaru to tell him she sees fans sporting his look. Subaru happily texts her back.
Chiaki happily prepares the mixer set for the following day when she starts watching Subaru’s new drama. She says that although it’s obvious he’s green, she admires his effort. Subaru surprises Chiaki by calling to her from the window. Chiaki wasn’t expecting him home until the following day.
Somehow, Chiaki finds herself roped into making him onigiri (rice balls) when Subaru says he hasn’t eaten. By the time Chiaki returned with the food, Subaru had fallen asleep. Chiaki can’t bring herself to wake him as she admires his sleeping face, admitting to herself she’s still not over him.
The day of the long-awaited mixer arrives, and Chiaki is feeling awkward. A college boy flirts with Chiaki, and her heart is all aflutter. Back at Chiaki’s house, we see Subaru wake up and think about where Chiaki is. His expression is unreadable. Meanwhile, Chiaki is over the moon, feeling she might be chatting with her future boyfriend. The mixer group leaves Karaoke and spots the large billboard featuring Subaru that Chiaki saw the previous afternoon.
The group starts talking about Subaru. Once they confirm that Chiaki goes to the same school, the cute boy who Chiaki is excited about makes fun of Subaru. After the rude, cute boy says that Subaru is a try-hard, Chiaki puts him in his place.
Them’s the Brakes for Chiaki’s would-be boyfriend. He tries to play it off saying he didn’t know Chiaki was a Subaru fan, but Chiaki is not having it. (You tell him, girl.) Mr. Rude scares Chiaki when he grabs her wrist and seemingly threatens her. Unfortunately for him, Subaru is ready to throw hands, appearing just in time to intervene.
Subaru decides to treat Mr. Rude with the kill him with kindness approach. Subaru thanks him for watching his acting debut. Our boy also reminds Mr. Rude to treat women with respect. (We applaud a respectful king in this kingdom of shoujo.)
Subaru tries to play it cool and says he was out shopping when Chiaki asks what he was doing there. He eventually admits he was also wondering how her mixer was going. Subaru thanks Chiaki for going to bat and defending him against Mr. Rude. Moments later, Chiaki’s friends text her, saying they’ve called off the rest of the mixer because the vibes were dead. Chiaki and her idol next door walk home together. Subaru surprises Chiaki by complimenting her look. Once again, Chiaki admits she is not over Subaru.
Chapter 2
Chiaki has a dream about a childhood memory involving Subaru and pancakes. Even when Chiaki tries to get over Subaru, she can’t help but be near him. It’s a miracle that the boy functions at all when she’s not around. We learn that Chiaki has a part-time job that occasionally interferes with her being able to stay up to date with Subaru’s activities/
Subaru and Chiaki run into each other after school, and Subaru joins Chiaki and her little sister as they go grocery shopping. Chiaki is surprised when they see the pancakes they used to make as children, and Subaru remembers. Subaru petitions Chiaki for pancakes; she, of course, says no. When Subaru runs into fans at the supermarket, Chiaki admires him from afar.
Chiaki tries to leave without Subaru noticing, but he immediately catches up to them. Subaru spends time at Chiaki’s house with her sister, Chiho. Planning to make pancakes, Chiaki plays it off, saying that she’ll make the pancakes for Chiho, not because Subaru asked for them. While looking at Subaru, Chiaki realizes that Subaru always makes time for her and her family. She remembers she should thank him for helping her with Mr.Rude.
Chiaki makes the fluffiest pancakes of her life and is excited to gift them to Subaru.
Chiaki is working when she sees Subaru on a program that presents a fancy cake inspired by his new show. The first-class cake makes Chiaki self-conscious about the pancakes she made for Subaru.
Feeling like her pancakes are sub-par, Chiaki rushes to Subaru’s house to get rid of the pancakes. Subaru meets her outside the house and spots the pancakes in his room.
Chiaki tries to make excuses to get rid of the pancakes, but Subaro reassures her he always has room for her food.
The two friends happily eat pancakes together as Chiaki tells Subaru not to use his celebrity charm on just anyone. Chiaki says if he calls other girls cute, they may get the wrong idea. Subaru tells her it’s a good thing he wouldn’t say it to anyone else. (Girl, you don’t realize this boy would burn the world for you?)
Chapter 3
After saying that she is the only girl he would call cute, Chiaki is left wondering just what she means to Subaru. Chiaki wonders if Subaru loves her, too. (No, duh.)
A celebrity news personality does a spotlight on Subaru, which has the whole school buzzing about it. The girls in Chiaki’s class gossip about whether or not Subaru has a girlfriend. The girls put Chiaki on the spot when they say they could never picture Chiaki and Subaru as an item.
When Subaru gets home that night, Chiaki is happy when she realizes he has reached over 100k followers on social media. Subaru jokes she is cyber-stalking him. He explains that the followers sky-rocketed because his new show is gaining popularity. Subaru says that he was going to post a new pic to thank all the new followers, but it looked awful. He then enlists Chiaki to help him take a great photo.
Subaru and Chiaki head to an area where they always rode their bikes together as children to take the photos. Chiaki is immediately flustered by how handsome Subaru looks. Several amazing photos of Subaru later, Chiaki complains that Subaru looks too good. Chiaki says she looks like a fish whenever she tries to take a picture. Subaru promises to take a good photo of “Chi” as he calls her, but is unsuccessful. The two friends have a lot of fun trying to capture the perfect photo.
As Chiaki helps him choose the perfect photo to upload to his profile, Chiaki almost tells Subaru she loves his smile. The two friends start running when Chiaki sees some girls in the distance. Chiaki worries that someone will recognize Subaru and get the wrong idea about them. In a self-deprecating moment, she says she’s no one to worry about.
To hide from the presumed fans, Subaru and Chiaki end up very close together while under a sheet. This leaves Subaru unfazed, but Chiaki is flustered.
Instead of a fourth chapter, there is a short one-shot of the mangaka’s previous series, Ran The Peerless Beauty. Since I am unfamiliar with the series, I won’t review the one-shot, but it is exclusively published in volume one of this manga for anyone interested.
Overall impression? 8/10 It’s cute and fluffy. I love the art. It’s the first time I’ve read anything from this mangaka. It is very obvious that Subaru adores Chiaki. I wonder what interesting things the series might try. Hopefully, there is no drama just for the sake of drama. I don’t want Peach Girl messiness to come out of left field. I look forward to volume 2
