Komatta Toki ni wa Hoshi ni Kike (English: Ask the Stars for Help!) is a rare find amongst shounen-ai manga. And for one reason only: Length. It is indeed rare to find an 85 chapter long story on such a genre, whereas other shounen-ai manga lacks in character and story development or otherwise has a rushed story, KTHK takes its time with the plot and the people, and therefore also takes its time with the main point of the genre: the romance.

The summary does a good job of giving the gist of the manga. For those of you who have read Hana Kimi they will find resemblances between the two; however, unlike Hana Kimi where the situations are over the top and so unrealistic it should have the ‘fantasy’ genre tag attached to it KTHK isn’t as convenient – (Huzzah!). The story focuses more on the friendship between the two males, which later on blooms into something more. There’s not a lot of ‘ai’ in the shounen-ai part of things though this proves to be a much more effective way of displaying the bond between the two. However, that is not to say the ‘couple’ does have its moments.

The characters themselves aren’t that remarkable at first glance. You have Kosaka Kiyomine – tall, moody, strong and of course, the beauty of the school. Needless to say he would be your typical seme. So that leaves the uke, Fujishima Takara. Short, fiery-tempered, feminine physique and quite dependant on Kiyomine. Though these two display the same traits amongst their stereotypes their personalities manages to shine through to the audience as well as the constant progress in their character development. Takara and Kiyomine starts off in stereotypical character shells, but soon changes little by little due to each other.

Surprisingly, there’s a supporting cast too! The manga does not just revolve around the main love interests as there are a bundle of people who are close to the two: either dorm mates, friends or family – all of whom adds to the story in their own way, be it commentating or being the focus of the chapter.
The art, though it may not be the highlight of the manga is fairly decent. Like shoujo manga it uses panelling and much black backgrounds with the scattering phrases to deliver its effect. The drawings are solid, and clear enough to give a good flow to the story-telling.

Unfortunately, this manga is not licensed in English and at the time of writing this review only 32/85 chapters has been scanlated – much to most readers distress as it doesn’t look like it will be uploaded any time soon. Regardless, KTHK is a shounen ai that should have more recognition and popularity – a love story filled with comedy, drama and the occasional ‘moment’.

All in all a fantastic shounen ai.