Summer vacation is here, but it’s not quite vacation for everyone.
What They Say:
While the group waits for grades to be posted, they decide to go to Honchou for some R & R. While gaming and karaoke occupies their time; Hinata prepares for the upcoming archery club meet.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The end of a significant portion of the school year inevitably has a bunch of kids wanting to blow off some steam. Considering the pressures that they’re under with grades, it’s no surprise that they need to do this and this group of kids is no exception. With things done and nothing to really do in the short term, they opt to get together and go to Honchou, a place a few stops past Yamibiko where they can have fun, do some shopping, play some games and generally be away from everything that has had them stressed recently when it comes to school. The group isn’t significantly large, but it’s a good turnout of the main characters that lets them all have fun in a different setting away from everything for a bit, which invariably will lead to some trouble.
The fun side of it is definitely there when it comes to the games since there’s so many different interactive arcade types out there, and the girls show off their abilities well with the dance dance types. It’s really cute when you have them in their sundresses and the link, literally bouncing all over the place. The boys get into their own games, though Daigo is the only one that hunts down a perverted mahjong style game that has thirty-six beauties that get stripped down as the game progresses. It’s pretty amusing and it allows them to introduce a number of cute girls easily with lots of fanservice, including a surprisingly attractive tattooed girl. Of course, this will get them in trouble, but it’s worthwhile trouble for the viewer at least.
Unfortunately for some of the kids, they end up having to take a couple of summer classes as they did poorly on some of their final exams, which isn’t what they wanted to hear after all the fun. Kazuma and Daigo are set for what they have and with Hinata doing her archery during the summer as well, they’re keen to spend time cheering her on as well. The show moves through a lot of standard slice of life material here when it comes to summertime in the kinds of activities they do and they thankfully do change things up by having the kids wear non-school clothes for most of it, changing often and giving us a different views of them. There’s a certain calm and relaxed nature to all of it that’s appealing as it progresses as there’s no real stress here and no real angst either, even over having to attend summer school programs.
In Summary:
With A Bridge to the Starry Skies largely being a simple slice of life harem series of sorts, there’s no real expectations to it other than the eventually romantic aspect that will ratchet up towards the end. At this stage, we’re still mostly seeing the kids having fun together as a decent sized group that gets along well, does some activities together and cheers on their friends when they’re in athletic competitions. Little really stands out here overall, but you come away from the show feeling generally positive about it because of its simple nature, the pleasant designs and the relaxed atmosphere of it. If you have high expectations for the series, you may be disappointed, but that’s not what it set out to be. It’s accomplishing its goals by being heartwarming, calm and fun in its own way with a nice, cute cast of characters.
Grade: B-
Simulcast By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.