SPOILER WARNING: Due to its short length, all spoilers will be unmarked here!
In the Star Factory above the sky, stars are created and made to brighten up the night sky, as well as granting the wishes to those who receive it. One such person, who is only known as the Factory Manager, manages the stars that are created in the factory, assisted by her Assistant. However, when an eccentric person, the Vice-Chairman from the Night Sky Committee, appears out of nowhere in the factory, things go a little wayside when he reveals to her that the factory is acting out of place and bad wishes are being created.
Hoshi Kouzyou (星工場 Star Factory) is a one-shot Doujinshi manga written and illustrated by Miki Usami. It was released in 2009 and completed with a total of 27 pages.
The story can be read here: Hoshi Kouzyou page
Contrast Hoshi Hiroi (Star Delivery), this story's polar opposite, where the main character instead delivers stars to people, while clinging to the same premise of using stars to fulfil other's wishes.
Hoshi Kouzyou Tropes
- Bittersweet Ending: The Star Factory is demolished after it goes haywire, as it resulted in creating bad wishes from the stars it created by her, leaving her jobless. However, the Vice-Chairman gives the (ex-)Factory Manager a new occupation: to work at the Star Post Office.
- Cosmic Motifs: The Factory Manager is star-themed, where she has a hairpin adorned with two stars. She also works in the Star Factory, which is also star-themed. Her mallet also has star decorations on it.
- Everyone Calls Them Barkeep:
- The Factory Manager has no real name and is called by her own occupation title.
- The Vice-Chairman, just like the Factory Manager, also has no real name and is called by his own title.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The story's English title: Star Factory.
- The Faceless: The Vice-Chairman's real face is never seen as it is obscured by his mask.
- Minimalism: The story only takes place in the titular Star Factory and only three characters are present. Subverted later on when the factory is demolished, leading to the Factory Manager to move in and work at the Star Post Office.
- Minimalist Cast: Only three characters appear in the story including the Manager, the Assistantnote and the Vice-Chairman.
- The Nameless: Both the Factory Manager and Vice-Chairman have no real names and are often referred to their own work titles.
- Shout-Out: The Star Post Office from Hoshi Hiroi, another of Usami's works, makes a mention and later a brief appearance in the final ends of the doujinshi, after the Vice-Chairman offers her a job following the demolition of the Star Factory.
