Many years ago, Kazuma Hoshino met a girl - just in time for him to be leaving the town he was visiting at the time. They promised to always be friends, but as is often the way he hasn't seen or heard from her since. Now, he's moving back to the countryside with his brother Ayumu. Initially, they'll be staying at a traditional Japanese inn that their father knew of, but the brothers get lost on their way there - and while wandering the streets, have a chance encounter with a young woman... I kept expecting the girl from Kazuma's memories to be one of the first people he ran into here, but no - unless she's had a major change in appearance, there's no sign of her. Yet. Chalk one up for the "not so predictable after all" column. That's about the only mark in it, mind, as so far Hoshizora (which I shall call it to maintain my sanity) is as by-the-numbers as a harem show can be. Girls, accidental meetings, embarrassing blunders, and a male lead who really doesn't deserve it? Check, check and check. Add in low-level fanservice (a few panty shots, and that's your lot), and you've got the receipe for every mediocre harem series that's ever graced the airwaves. Except, if your mind is in the gutter and you have a certain sense of humour, this series will play with you just enough to actually make it damn good fun. Kazuma's played for an idiot by a monkey, can't seem to do anything without screwing it up (best intentions notwithstanding), and rounds off a first day in the country that he'd rather forget by having the inn-keeper make fun of the size of his manhood. I nearly spluttered beer all over my keyboard. The show's humour is positively evil in places, and if that keeps up I'll be watching for that aspect alone, even if the rest of the show turns out crap. THE GOOD: Evil sense of humour, pleasing character designs. THE BAD: Pretty much every other aspect of it is straight out of the Big Book of Harem Clichés. Yeah, it's nothing special, setting-wise. It's got no real story, yet. The girls are archetypes, all the way. But it made me laugh, more than any other harem show I've seen in a while, and that gets it some real credit. I'll be keeping an eye on this one, I think... A Bridge to the Starry Skies -Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi- is being simulcast by Crunchyroll.
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