Visual Novel / A Bridge to the Starry Skies

It's like the colors of the rainbow...

Kazuma Hoshino and his little brother Ayumu are moving to the countryside, to the small town of Yamabiko. Ayumu is sickly, and some country air will do him good. As they try to reach the Yoruzuyo Inn, the place where they'll be staying, Ayumu's hat is stolen by a monkey, leading to Kazuma to chase it down. In the process, he runs into Ui Nakatsugawa, and the two accidentally kiss. The next day, Kazuma discovers that Ui in his class, signaling the start of an exciting new life.

Originally a Visual Novel by Feng (creators of Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka), A Bridge to the Starry Skies (Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi) was adapted into an anime in the spring of 2011.

US viewers may watch the anime legally at Crunchyroll.

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Provides Examples Of:

• Accidental Kiss: Kazuma and Ui at the riverbank.
• A-Cup Angst: Ibuki Hinata pats her chest in episode 6 after seeing the other girl's bosoms.
  • Then there's her rather violent reactions to when Kazuma implies or hints it (eg see Thanks for the Mammary below for a hilarious example). More blatant is during Kazuma and Ibuki's date in episode 11, when at the shopping mall Ibuki tries on several outfits for Kazuma to see. One is a bikini. Kazuma looks at her chest and expresses disappointment. Cue kick to the shin.
• A Day in the Limelight: Daigo gets the center of attention in the OVA, and his various attempts to hook up with the girls... and Ayumu...
• Amusing Injuries: After Ibuki kicks Kazuma in the face in the first episode, he has a boot print on his face for the next few moments.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents:
  • Hina lampshades this with regards to her dad when he yells at her from the crowd to win the Hikonan Race.
  • Subverted: just before the Tug-of-War match between Kazuma and Hina's dad, three of the mothers (those of Hina, Ui, and Madoka) gossip out loud about how good looking Kazuma is, and Hina's mom even wonders out loud if he's a good candidate to be Hina's husband. Naturally, Kazuma is not amused.
• Amusing Injuries: Due to Hina's height, she hits her head on the ceiling of Kazuma's bedroom off camera with a very loud thud that gets his attention (right after he warned her of the low ceiling). A moment later she's seen squatting and clutching her head.
  • During the OVA when Ibuki invites Daigo to "go out" with her and he only ends up being her target practice victim, he sports a small bandage on both the front and back of his head!
• Anguished Declaration of Love: When Kazuma and Ui eventually express their feelings for each other in the Futogoyama festival at the end of the anime. They end up together.
• Anime Hair
  • Shounen Hair: Bad enough to parody. Kazuma's "hair" sticks up sometimes in the morning and Ayumu has to "handle" it. Literally, of course.
    • Daigo fits the trope better.
• Balanced Harem: The story keeps the screentime, importance and Fanservice well balanced across the six girls.
• Beach Episode: Episode 8, with corollary Watermelon Smashing.
• Bears Are Bad News: The first episode title (and Ui) make note of such. Kazuma was lucky he only ran into a monkey.
• Berserk Button: Senka Yorozu feels greatly offended when Kazuma calls her Oba-san.
  • Similarly, the three mothers don't take it well when Daigo absenmindedly calls them "old hags".
• Big Brother Attraction: Ui is very infatuated with her older brother, Hajime. Hence, when Hajime got married, she didn't take it very well.
• Big Brother Instinct: Kazuma. Consider the fact that his younger brother, Ayumu, is rather sickly.
• Big Eater:
  • Ui loves eating and is often has comedy skits involving food
  • Later on, Hina, justified that she hadn't eaten a single morsel ever since she ran away from home.
• Bishie Sparkle:
  • Used frequently on Hina, but also in a hilarious case with Puppy-Dog Eyes (see below). Also a few times on Ui when she's in a really good mood (like when she's about to eat).
  • Daigo uses it as an excuse to take pictures of Tsumugi in the OVA. Due to how sincere he seemed to be to have suddenly discovered an interest in photography, she buys it. Unfortunately for him, three older ladies also pass by, and when he accidentally calls them old ladies, they beat him up while Tsumugi goes home.
• Bridal Carry: Kazuma carries Koyori to the finishing line in the Hikonan race. Bonus points for both of them wearing wedding costumes.
• Bromantic Foil: Daigo is a Casanova Wannabe who's often hitting on girls with no success, acting as a foil to protagonist Kazuma who can successfully romance several of the girls.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Kazuma voluntarily argues with Mr. Sakai in Hina's stead to the point that he accepts the man's challenge to a duel in a tug-of-war match.
• The Cameo: Minato Nagase and Yocchan from Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka make a cameo appearance in the Hoshizora Visual Novel, going on a summer training camp for their tennis club.
  • Canon Immigrant: Both of them appear again, alongside Akane-iro ni Somaru Sakas protagonist Junichi, in the Hoshizora fandisk, but while Junichi and Minato have their own little side-story within it akin the after-stories for Hoshizoras heroines, Yocchan, as one of the headlining heroines (alongside former side-character Senka and new character Seira), actually gets her own route where she develops a romance with Kazuma.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Several of the girls are asked by the others what their relationship/feelings towards Kazuma are. They always give an ambiguous answer.
• Can't Hold Her Liquor:
  • In the anime Hina mentions that she can't even handle the smell of alcoholic beverages. In the Visual Novel, at a party at the Yoruzuyo Inn during the summer festival she's persuaded by the guests to have some liquor, and downs at least a whole glass, and subsequently gets completely wasted.
• Captain Obvious: The following exchange.
  Kazuma: So, [Hina] senpai, how did you end up this way?
  Hina: I ran away from home.
  Kazuma: Ran away?!
  Hina: Running away from home means leaving without permission from parents or guardians, with no intention of returning.
  Kazuma: Yes, I know!
• The Caretaker: Ibuki for Ui, despite those two not being related.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Madoka is one of the available options in the game.
• Class Representative: Ibuki, though she usually doesn't act like one.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Ui towards her brother's fiance in a Flash Back.
• Color-Coded Characters: Although they have vastly different personalities and looks, as evidenced by the trope picture, all the girls are easy to tell apart based on their hair color.
• Covert Pervert: Kazuma's imagination goes wild while playing an arcade Raising Sim with Tsumugi. Tsumugi isn't aware of that.
• Crash-Into Hello: How Kazuma met Hina.
• Cry into Chest: Visual Novel, a plot point in Ibuki's path. When she starts breaking down and crying from not winning the archery tournament, Kazuma can choose to let her do this (in order to progress with her) or just let her cry on her own.
• Cuteness Proximity: Hina really has a penchant for cute little things in general.
  • Gets brought up to hilarious levels during the Hikonan Race, when at the final stage where all the participants must wear a costume, she sees Ui dressed in a penguin suit, and enters a sort of entranced/zombified state (and completely forgetting about her embarassment of wearing a skimpy Qipao) and pursues the latter at full speed (who gets really spooked by her pursuer and runs away).
  • Hina has started to show more varied reactions to the cute object/person depending on who or what it is. She acts like the Cool Big Sis towards Ayumu (and already patting him on the head at their first meeting), while she has a more suggestive reaction to when Kasane dresses up in a cute bear pajama suit (resulting in some bizzare sleep experience for the former when they spend the night in Kazuma's house).
  • Perhaps most amusingly, after her dad lost a tug-of-war match against Kazuma, he ended up sulking, and somehow, Hina actually found it cute that she gave him a big bearhug.
  • Happens to Ibuki, Daigo, and Ui when they first meet Ayumu in episode 2. They all immediately assume Kazuma isn't really blood-related.
  • Koyori ends up as Hina's latest victim in the main series when she dons cat ears.
  • Ui's, Madoka's, and Hina's moms towards Ayumu at the end of the anime.
  • Daigo disguises him in a cat costume and she totally buys it. And before that, her reaction to a sleeping kitten has her breathing heavily in a certain way.
  • Ui is targeted again by Hina, when the former is dressed in a supposed-to-be-scary-but-actually-cute cat demon costume.
• Date Peepers: Daigo, Koyori, and Kasane... during Kazuma and Madoka's date.
• Death Glare: Kazuma gives one to Daigo after finding out that it was the latter who made Ayumu wear a cheerleader's costume. You'd think Kazuma's gonna beat him up. But all Daigo gets is a thumbs-up and and a "Good job".
  • Daigo gets another one from Kazuma in the OVA for being "on top" of Ayumu who's in a girl's swimsuit. This time Kazuma apparently doesn't spare Daigo.
• The Ditz: Ui, so much that Ibuki feels the need to look after her.
• Does Not Like Men: Madoka is very fearful of guys, due to her strict upbringing (courtesy of her grandfather).
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Happens to Kazuma, such as Ibuki kicking him in the face after she spots him on top of Ui when he accidentally tripped and fell on her.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Ibuki in the opening sequence.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Hina Sakai, submerged under the love of the girls on the Red Team!
• Even the Guys Want Him: Ayumu tends to invoke this in guys.
• Expy: Hina is very similar to Sakaki in both appearance and personality.
  • Her design is blatantly Signum
• Eye Catch: Features all of the main girls in a Super-Deformed mode.
• First Girl Wins:
  • Suggested in the preview of episode 4.
  Senka: Say, Kazuma-kun, what type of girls do you like?
  Kazuma: Let's see... Energetic girls with long hair, who are just fun to be around...
  Koyori: What did you say? Ui-cchu matches that perfectly!
  • Played straight in the anime's timeline: Kazuma gets Ui in the end.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom:
  • Senka when she catches Daigo trying to peep on the girls.
  • The three mothers when Daigo calls them "old hags". Complete with Dramatic Thunder.
• Grilling the Newbie: Daigo lampshades this after Kazuma's class introduction. During the first free time, Kazuma actually gets grilled by the class.
• Groin Attack: Ibuki to Kazuma in episode 8
• Helicopter Parents: Mr. Sakai's not very approving of his daughter's desire to further her studies out of the village and into Tokyo University, even if it meant for the better of the entire Sakai household. He goes as far as to silence Hina when she speaks about it. Mrs. Sakai advices him to reconsider his opinion, as Hina is already grown up.

f* He's Not My Boyfriend: Koyori, in reference to Kazuma.

• Headbutt Thermometer: It's how Kazuma checks Ayumu for fever. Ui takes it the wrong way.
• Heroic BSoD: Madoka goes through one in the first half of episode 10 after hearing that the tug of war duel Hina's dad and Kazuma had was because Kazuma wanted to challenge her dad for Hina's hand in marriage.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Pretty much every attempt Daigo tries in the OVA to hook up with the various girls, such as when he uses photography as an excuse to try and get pictures of Tsumugi naked, and when he wears a cat suit in an attempt to hook up with Hina, who likes cats.
• Hopeless Suitor: Madoka. Earlier episodes show she may of had a shot with Kazuma, but by episode 10 when he constantly mentions Ui's name at the theme park, she realizes that he's probably only going to be interested in her.
• Hotter and Sexier: The OVA, which features a lot of Fanservice shots of the girls, usually appearing almost or completely naked.
• Huge Schoolgirl: Hina is always the tallest girl in her classes.
• Hurricane of Puns: The On the Next for episode six has a buttload of puns.
• Imagine Spot:
  • In Episode 6, Daigo imagines the girls during various suggestive things in the bath.
  • Rivaled by Kazuma's Covert Pervert tendencies.
• I'm Taking Him Home with Me!: Several women seem to have this thought on their mind regarding Kazuma's younger brother, Ayumu. Hina also seems to imply this when she sees Ui in the penguin suit, and later Koyori in cat ears.
• I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Madoka and Ibuki stop attempting to pursue Kazuma once they realize that he likes Ui. Madoka finds this out after their date, and how he keeps mentioning Ui, while Ibuki realizes it after their date after Kazuma rejects her casual comment of seriously dating her. They even help out slightly in getting the two together near the end, and then joke about getting rejected.
• The Klutz: Despite her many idealistic traits, Tsumugi somehow becomes this during the obstacle course much to the embarrassment of her sisters. Her troubles already begin at the very start of the race where as soon as it starts she immediately trips and falls flat on her face.
• Large Ham: Daigo. Exaggerated in Episode 5, where he is the sports fest's commentator.
• Letting Her Hair Down: Koyori does this when spying on Kazuma and Madoka's date as a "disguise". Played more straight in the Visual Novel when she starts exploring her femininity as she develops feelings towards Kazuma.
• Like Brother and Sister: Ui tries to convince herself that this is how she sees Kazuma. That's perhaps to stave away the pain of losing her older brother to his wife. She eventually gets over it with just one phone call to her brother, and since that point begins to see Kazuma as something else.
• Little Girls Kick Shins: Kazuma is often at the receiving end of this from Ibuki (if she doesn't aim higher up), and also gets at least one from Koyori.
• The Long List: Hina goes through a detailed list of every time she tried to talk to her parents about going to Tokyo. By the time she gets to the sixth one, Kazuma stops her.
• Love Confession: In episode 12 of the anime, Kazuma gives one to Ui, and she gives him one as well in return.
• Ma'am Shock: The temperature drops when Yorozu gets called "Oba-san" (Auntie)
• Male Gaze: Used a couple of times in the anime, and quite a bit in the OVA.
• Marshmallow Hell: Daigo in episode 8 imagines that Tsumugi was doing this to Ayumu.
• Mega Ton Punch: Madoka inadvertently does this to Kazuma during the scavenger hunt.
• Miko: Madoka is the only daughter of a Shinto shrine owner and outside of her time at school or with friends, she is often taking care of it.
• Motor Mouth: In the Visual Novel, Madoka when she panics, complete with Wingding Eyes, especially in embarrassing situations involving Kazuma. Once she hits that state she ends up just blurting out all her thoughts in practically a single breath.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits:
  • In the Visual Novel, Tsumugi and Koyori, both for each other; i.e. if Kazuma goes after one, he earns the ire of the other. Koyori is far more vocal and violent in this regard if Kazuma dates Tsumugi, making a scene at one point, while Tsumugi's reaction to finding Kazuma and Koyori in bed together is a lot more comical.
  • Also in the Visual Novel, Ui's bother Hajime, who's more of a Knight Templar Big Brother.
• Naked First Impression:
  • Tsumugi is cleaning the baths when Kazuma walks in. She (and Senka, seconds later) get a good look at his junk.
  • Played with when Hina crashes in at Kazuma's home and stays in his room. While alone there when Kazuma has dinner she decides to wipe herself with wet tissues, and Kazuma walks in on her with her blouse and bra off.
• Naked Freak-Out: Kazuma freaks out after both Tsugumi and Senka see him naked, especially when Senka mocks his size. He's later seen depressed in his bedroom, claiming he now unable to marry.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Madoka's kimono manages to loosen in the ping pong match, giving her this look.
• New Transfer Student: The Hoshino brothers are newcomers into town and school.
• Nose Bleed: Daigo suffers from one in episode 8 when he imagines that Tsumugi is putting suntan lotion on Ayumu with her breasts. Unlike with the cheerleader outfit incident from episode 5, Kazuma punches him for even thinking that was what was happening to those two.
• Not So Above It All: Daigo's mom sees Madoka's maid outfit lying on a bench in the OVA. She decides to try it on, only to have Daigo open the door to the locker room, and immediately close it again after seeing her. He tries to find some Brain Bleach immediately afterwards.
• Not What It Looks Like:
  • Kazuma accidentally kisses Ui in episode 1. Even after learning the truth, Ibuki still doesn't trust Kazuma. Unfortunately for Kazuma, it didn't stop there, becoming a Gossip Evolution that spread througout the whole school (showed by groups of students talking about it when Kazuma walked by them), which Kazuma only found out eventually from Madoka.
  • Kazuma gets another one when Senka walks in on him in the morning with a sleeping Hina with her arms around him.
  • Daigo gets two instances in the OVA - first with Hina and caught by her dad, then with Ayumu (while the boy's in a School Swimsuit to boot!) and caught by Kazuma, both cases not ending well with Daigo.
• Offhand Backhand: At the start of Episode 12 Senka swats a bee this way with a wooden spoon while carrying on a conversation with Kazuma.
• Oh, Crap!: Daigo has this look twice in the OVA. The first time is when he accidentally trips on top of Hina at her house, and her father happens to see them in the hallway like that. The second time is when he deliberately pushes Ayumu down after being overtaken by his swimsuit outfit, only to have Kazuma come out of his room, and then he does a throat slashing motion on Daigo. He understandably gets beat up both times.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In episode 2, after finding out that Ui bought a lot of cheese-flavored snacks, Kazuma mentions that something tasted like cheese. Ui immediately assumes it was her Accidental Kiss he did on her in the first episode, but then he clarifies himself and mentions the muffin she gave him for lunch had a hint of cheese to it.
• Overly Long Name: Daigorou Minamikokubaru, and his mother, by proxy.
• Pretty Boy: Kazuma is pretty, if comments from the mothers are anything to go by.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: After Kazuma asks The Runaway Hina about her next move, Hina pulls this off, with Bishie Sparkle, to beg him to let her crash in at his place. He even lampshades it:
  Kazuma: It's not possible! Even if you look at me with those eyes!
• Real-Place Background: A very rare case of the people the show based its setting off of not appreciating the tourism.
• Romantic Runner-Up: In the anime, Ibuki and Madoka.
• The Runaway: Hina walks out of the Sakai household after she finally got tired of putting up with her dad's overprotectiveness.
• Second-Act Breakup: Ibuki's route in the Visual Novel runs into this
• Shipper on Deck: Tsumugi and Ayumu, and later Hina, shipping Kazuma and Ui.
  • Daigo, Kasane, and Koyori do this to Kazuma and Madoka in episode 10. They even go so far as to ask Ibuki and Ui to help, but Ibuki refuses to do so, and when Ui catches up to her, she asks Ui if she's really okay with them trying to hook the two up, knowing that they both have some feelings for him.
• Ship Tease: Ayumu and Kazane in the Visual Novel, starting with a hilarious Naked First Impression in the onsen, followed by a cute conversation between them in the following scene.
• Shout-Out
  • "There's no way your little brother can be this cute!" in episode 2.
  • Immediately followed by "If you're truly related by blood, this is a prank God only knows", to which Kazuma replies with "You people..."
  • Episode 4 Previews: "She's like your Strike Uitch, Oniichan!"
  • Episode 4's title is possibly a direct Shout-Out to the Fluffy Tamer scene in Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka.
  • Hina's reaction to Ui's penguin suit is similar to the reaction Chiyo got in her penguin costume minus the chasing.
  • Several to Koihime†Musou:
    • Apparently, there's a Koihime Musou fighting game in the arcade.
    • Rin Rin makes an appearance in a haunted house in episode 10, dressed in her FunyaMonya costume from Shin Koihime episode 8.
    • Right when that happens, Madoka screams "HAWAWAWAWA!!!" (Shuri's Verbal Tic)
  • In episode 4 there's "Polish on, Polish off!"
    • Also in episode 8; ORAORAORAORAORA!!!
  • A character from the Visual Novel, Shii's manager, when dressed for an event, looks and acts somewhat like Papillon, and even wears a butterfly on his shirt in place of a tie.
• Smashing Watermelons: Done in the Beach Episode. Ibuki repeatedly tries to smack Kazuma with the stick (leading him to accuse her of being able to see in spite of the blindfold), while Ui sniffs out the watermelon and hits it without needing guidance.
• Something Else Also Rises: During the bread eating race, the bread is a little too high for Madoka to reach. The two boys holding it get a little distracted by her bounciness, and gradually the poles sort of lean towards each other, allowing her to grab the bread. The announcer even lampshades this trope by saying that the poles holding the bread dropped as other poles raised.
• Sound-Only Death: Daigo attempting to peep only for Senka to be right there after he opens the door.
• Split Personality: Visual Novel only character Shii, another Patient Childhood Love Interest to Kazuma aside from Madoka, and an Idol Singer, is normally The Quiet One, but when she goes on stage she becomes a Genki Girl.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Parodied. Whenever Koyori makes the ram hand seal, she expects you to duck and cover your eyes until she leaves.
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: A sizable portion of this show's straight male fandom are watching it for Ayumu, finding him to be cuter than any of the girls in the cast. Applies in-universe as well.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Hina.
• Super-Deformed: Present in both the original Visual Novel and anime.
• Supreme Chef: Ui's mother is apparently one. No wonder Ui loves eating.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial:
  • Ui, during episode 3.
  Ui: It's not like I wanted you to give me a piggyback ride, or have you feel my forehead...
  • Kasane also says something about not taking pictures of Mugi-nee and selling them to men during episode 12, even though Kazuma never mentioned anything about it.
• Sustained Misunderstanding: A few examples:
  • In episode 9, Hina's father gets upset at her because she wants to go to a university in Tokyo. But up until this point, she never had a chance to explain why, either because he refused to listen to her, or something else came along such as customers entering their store.
  • In episode 10, Koyori at first wonders why Madoka is suffering from a Heroic BSoD. Madoka's grandfather tells Koyori about the tug of war event from episode 9, and in the next scene, she storms into Yorozuyo inn, believing that Hina and Kazuma were getting married. Everyone there, including Kazuma, is quite surprised to hear about that.
• Teeny Weenie: Kazuma is seen naked by both Tsugumi and Senka after a mishap in the bathroom they and later Senka teases him about his unimpressive size and while Tsugumi is too nice to do it, her awkward reaction to Senka's teasing makes it clear it's true.
• Thanks for the Mammary: Hilariously played with: At the beach trip, Kazuma is blindfolded and asked to identify someone by touching them. He ends up groping Ayumu's chest, and then guesses it to be Hinata, who obviously doesn't take it well.
• The Plan: In episode 12, Tsumugi suddenly gets a bad stomachache before the ceremony is supposed to begin, prompting some emergency role switches between her and Ui, and having Kosane fill in for Ui's role. Madoka also writes something to put into the scroll. When Kazuma greets the goddess, he sees Ui instead of Tsumugi standing there, and is shocked at what Madoka had written in the scroll. Madoka had written "I love Ui" on the scroll, and as the credits roll by, Tsumugi claims she never had a stomachache in the first place, so several of them had planned to use the festival event as an excuse to get Ui and Kazuma together.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Daigo's mother, who's also his class' homeroom teacher, doesn't want him addressing her as "mom" while in class.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: In the OVA, after failing to hook up with any of the girls, Daigo dejectedly watches the festival from afar. A girl then approaches him, and tells him that she plays the female character in an MMO game they played together, and wanted to thank him for all the times he's helped her out in the game. She then asks him to the dance, and he agrees to it.
• Title Drop: Kazuma invoked it on episode 6 after listening to Ui talking about a well-known Japanese myth. He does it again at the end of the series.
• Trademark Favorite Food:
  • Ui loves cheese.
  • Madoka mentions being fond of honey in episode 7.
• Training from Hell: Senka tried to force Kazuma into this.
• Tsundere:
  • Ibuki and Koyori. Both were hostile to Kazuma when he first met either of them.
  • Ibuki is called out to be a tsundere by Daigo in the Visual Novel multiple times, and even goes so far as to ask Kazuma to hurry up and get to the dere side of hers.
• Tsurime Eyes: Hina. Whereas just about all the other girls have Tareme Eyes.
• Two-Teacher School: Daigo's mother is the only named school teacher shown in the series (the other is an unnamed male teacher shown in episode 2). Partly justified that each year level of the school only has one class.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: Madoka and Hina and their respective mothers, with slight variations.
• Vapor Wear: Played with. After the above Naked First Impression between Hina and Kazuma, Hina puts her blouse on after she's done cleaning herself, but forgets about her bra, which Kazuma spots lying on the floor nearby.
• Wholesome Crossdresser:
  • Ayumu in a cheerleader's outfit. Even Kazuma approves.
  • In the OVA he wears a School Swimsuit, and in the eye-catch that follows, a bikini!'
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Tsumugi, complete with a kimono as she works at the ryokan. She also sets a secret plan into motion playing sick so Ui can take her place as the Goddess at the festival.

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