Sora No Manimani is the story of a high-school astronomy club and the relationships among the characters in the club and the club’s relationship to the school (and later on, to other astronomy clubs). There are a few standard characters, but most are unique. The plot isn’t as smooth as it could be and most of the motion in it comes from romantic interpersonal conflicts, but when it works, it works well.
1 — Eh. I want to like it, but there’s this one bit of sexual stuff that pretty much ruins it. The characters are kinda interesting and the romanticization of the stars is cool. The music is unexceptional, but the animation quality is better than average.
2 — Eh. It’s better than ep 1, but it’s too spazzy and shallow. There’s just no real depth here.
3 — Boring, static. The ending song is alright.
4 — Ok, it finally gets interesting.
5 — This one isn’t bad. It’s kind of a harem series at heart. The relationships are deepened slightly. We learn more about Fumin.
6 — Again, nothing particularly special, but it’s not bad. Some funny scenes with Hime-chan. The series is reaching its stride as a rather typical high-school confusion of love kind of thing. It’s not as good as True Tears, but it’s in the same vein.
* 7 — This episode is actually pretty good. This series is rare in anime` that it gets better as it goes along. Saku’s feelings of confusion are mostly realistic; the plot grows tangled and emotionally effective, and there’s this whole heartfelt emotionality that wasn’t present before. No trash.
* 8 — Same as 7. Very good.
9 — Slightly less good than the previous two episodes. The heart is still there but the execution is a bit rough. A few profanities and some stereotypical spazziness. On the plus side, a positive mention of God. We see some character development in Saku, and Hime, and even Roma (the president). Ouma is interesting; though she has a great elan, she’s not altogether good — she is deceptive and cuts off Saku when he’s talking. The whole plot is interesting — several high school Astronomy clubs coming together to stargaze for an evening.
10 — About the same as 9. A handful of profanities, a stereotypical plot, and very little character development. The high point reached in 7 and still present even in 9 seems to have been forgotten altogether.
11 — A semi-return to form. It’s not breathtaking, but it is better than average. There’s quite a bit of cool character development with Hime. There’s only 12 episodes, which feels rushed to me.
12 — It ends well. The initial part has some stupid stereotypical risque` stuff with the public baths. The romance of the stars is played up to effective emotional results. Roma and Ouma graduate. Mihoshi is the president of the club in the new year. A lot is left unresolved, but that’s ok as season 2 is on the way.
Sora No Manimani grows on you, and by the middle episodes, I was looking forward to the next outing. The characters are what carry the day, even when the plot stumbles, and despite some of the stupid risque` material that surfaces from time to time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as bad as in Toradora! but it’s not necessary and the best episodes don’t have it at all. It did rekindle my interest in stargazing, though, and I did learn stuff about the stars (and this was done seamlessly as part of the plot, not as though the plot existed just to teach). On the whole, it’s an easygoing anime` that occasionally pulls at your heart strings. It’s generally not bad and it’s probably worth watching, though I doubt I’d buy the DVD if they were subbed.
Oduza, Okasa 