Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina
Nina the Starry Bride
星降る王国のニナ
On the dusty streets of the castle town Dayah in the Fortna Kingdom, a young orphan named Nina steals for survival. Experiencing one tragedy after another, she has little to hope for in her life. Believing it best for Nina, her closest friend, Saji, hands her over to Second Prince Azure Seth Fortna, who has been searching for someone with unique and intense deep-blue eyes—just like Nina's. The kingdom's princess, the revered Astral Priestess Alisha, has recently died on her way to the Galgada Kingdom, where she was to marry the tyrant First Prince Sett. However, her death is concealed for political reasons, and that is where Nina needs to step in. With nowhere else to go and no one to turn to, Nina assumes Alisha's identity and future duties. But with each moment spent with Azure, Nina feels herself drawn to his warmth, fearing that once she is wed to another, nobody will remain to remember her true self. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Synopsis
On the dusty streets of the castle town Dayah in the Fortna Kingdom, a young orphan named Nina steals for survival. Experiencing one tragedy after another, she has little to hope for in her life. Believing it best for Nina, her closest friend, Saji, hands her over to Second Prince Azure Seth Fortna, who has been searching for someone with unique and intense deep-blue eyes—just like Nina's. The kingdom's princess, the revered Astral Priestess Alisha, has recently died on her way to the Galgada Kingdom, where she was to marry the tyrant First Prince Sett. However, her death is concealed for political reasons, and that is where Nina needs to step in. With nowhere else to go and no one to turn to, Nina assumes Alisha's identity and future duties. But with each moment spent with Azure, Nina feels herself drawn to his warmth, fearing that once she is wed to another, nobody will remain to remember her true self. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Characters
Main
Main
Main
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Trailer
Reviews(12)
Marinate1016
December 23, 2024
Peak Josei was on the menu this season in the form of Hoshinina. For the last year or so, I have desperately awaited something to fill the hole in my heart that Niehime left and while it’s not told the complete story, Hoshinina is certainly on its way to doing that. Brilliant story with a resourceful and independent female lead, romance, drama and political shenanigans, I couldn’t ask for more. I’m a big sucker for characters being thrust into roles, gradually growing into them and then dominating. Nina is not a royal by birth, but ends up in the royal family and gets all this pressureto prevent war placed on her shoulders. It’s an unfair burden, but one she embraces and strives to excel in rather than complain. I think your enjoyment of this series really comes down to how much you like Nina and how much you care about the male leads. Nina was such a dope character to me, enjoyed seeing her overcome obstacles and how resourceful she was in the 2nd half in an unfamiliar setting. She really grew into her role as time went on, embracing the newfound responsibility she had to her people. It felt so similar to Sariphi from Niehime to me and even the aesthetic of the world has a lot of similarities. If you enjoyed that story, you’ll really like this too. The political drama in this show was pretty cool too. I liked all the behind the scenes adoption/replacement stuff, the political marriages and jockeying for power even within the royal family. It’s a lot, and you feel bad for characters like Sett, Azure and Nina who are all kind of victims in this political posturing. The second half of the season in particular, really ups the stakes and makes you fear for an all out war breaking out. Wouldn’t be a fantasy shojosei without romance and it’s very much a big and enjoyable thing in Hoshina. I like that it’s not Nina’s whole motivation or personality, she is very much her own character trying to accomplish her goals. The romance just acts as a vehicle through which the plot advances. That’s to say, Nina developing romantic feelings for Sett and Azure establishes her connection to Galgada and Fortuna, making her want to protect those places and create an ideal scenario that averts war. When you have people you care about in a place, you tend to want it to stay safe for your loved ones. And, let’s face it, the love triangle is fun. Both male leads are bad ass, intelligent and generally cool characters. I did dislike Sett initially because he came off as an edgelord, but he grew on me considerably as the last few episodes played out and I learned more about his motivations. He still did a few things I can’t forgive YET, but I can see myself coming to like him. Azure as the first boy introduced has the usual anime advantage in that respect, but it looks like the author knows how to satisfy fans of both. I expect a good amount of teasing and fanservice for both going forward. Production values is where Hoshinina struggles. Awesome female mc, interesting story, characters, world, character designs are good.. but the animation doesn’t hold up. At times it looks really bad, distractingly bad and the art at times produces off model characters. It’s a shame because the characters look good when they’re sitting around or talking, but when there’s any sort of action it takes a dip. Still, I enjoyed the rest of the story enough to make up for this. Hoshinina is an easy recommendation for fans of fantasy romance anime, those who like strong and well written female leads, or those who just like hot guys fighting over a girl. If not for the production values, I think this would’ve been way more popular and it deserved it. I’ll miss it. Hoshinina gets 9 out of 10.
