A Star Brighter Than the Sun
A Star Brighter Than the Sun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazune Kawahara. It began serialization in Shueisha's manga magazine Bessatsu Margaret in June 2021. An anime television series adaptation produced by Studio Kai aired from October to December 2025. A second season has been announced.
Plot
Sae Iwata and Koki Kamishiro are two teenagers who are childhood friends. One day, Sae, who has had a crush on Koki since they were young, discovers that he has become tall and popular just before their upcoming middle school graduation. Afterward, they attend the same high school as classmates. As such, Sae tries to navigate her feelings for Koki.Characters
;Sae Iwata;Koki Kamishiro
;Hisui Onodera
;Yota Ayukawa
;Mio Kagawa
;Yushin Izawa
;Subaru Kamishiro
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Kazune Kawahara, A Star Brighter Than the Sun began serialization in Shueisha's manga magazine Bessatsu Margaret on June 11, 2021. The series' chapters have been collected into thirteen volumes as of December 2025. In May 2024, Viz Media announced that they licensed the series for English publication.Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on February 10, 2025. It was produced by Studio Kai and directed by Sayaka Kobayashi, with series composition by Yasuhiro Nakanishi, characters designed by Jinfeng Zeng, and music composed by Natsumi Tabuchi and Miki Sakurai. The series aired from October 2 to December 18, 2025, on TBS and its affiliates. The opening theme song is "Stellar Days", performed by Motohiro Hata, while the ending theme song is "Saishin-wa", performed by Wanuka. Amazon Prime Video is streaming the series worldwide.Following the airing of the final episode, a second season was announced.