Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina

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]

Sett Main

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Nina Main

Tanaka, Minami Japanese

Fortna, Azure Seth Main

Umehara, Yuuichirou Japanese

Shigan Supporting

Miyazaki, Yuu Japanese

Daitus Supporting

Tomizawa, Tatsuya Japanese

Ann Supporting

Tazawa, Masumi Japanese

Hikami Supporting

Saiga, Mitsuki Japanese

Kilimina Supporting

Sekine, Akira Japanese

Mea Supporting

Hishikawa, Hana Japanese

Halle, Noa Supporting

Asano, Mayumi Japanese

Nakamura, You Producer

Komaya, Kenichiro Director

Kameyama, Toshiki Sound Director

Yamada, Yuka Script, Series Composition

Reviews

Dec 23, 2024

Marinate1016

Recommended

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 pressure ... to 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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 20, 2025

Cookie111

Mixed Feelings

This was simultaneously frustrating and entertaining.
I found the premise interesting and the art style of the show appealing. I liked the idea of the setting being where romance was going to happen but that was influenced later. The side characters are to be honest better than the main cast and more interesting. There was very little plot in the second half of the show with there being a lot of actions having no point really. This is a romance but I personally don't like either of the male leads, one she only met recently and he was really nasty to her at first which left ... a bad taste when there was an abrupt shift to them 'liking' each other and the second male lead is an abusive and entitled person from the start with the romance between them just leaving a bad taste.

Furthermore the ending was annoying there was no real conclusion and no one to route for , the supposed climax was lacking any tension. This would have been a 5 if not for the side characters who were the stars for me. Though I can see the appeal of this its reminiscent of trashy romances that I love to hate watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 23, 2024

Ellenya

Not Recommended

Preliminary (3/12 eps)

Warning: This anime doesn't finish in this season. If you want a completed romance to watch, go elsewhere.

Positives: Beautiful art and a good animation.
Negatives: The character's personalities; the flawed plot; and the romance (which is a love triangle between a child, a genuinely nice dude, and a psycho).

Let's talk a bit about the main characters:
- Nina is a young orphan that got betrayed and sold to Prince Azure to replace the deseased Priestress of the country. She is hard-working, kind, and beautiful... but also indecisive, naive, and forgives literally anyone that hurts her (both physically and mentally).
- Azure is the Prince from Nina's country. ... He falls in love with Nina's innocence, kindness and courage (or foolishness?) to defy authority as she sees fit. Azure is genuinely nice! A strong, handsome and smart male lead that tries his best to help Nina even with his troublesome family circumstances.
- Sett is the Prince from the enemy's country. A psycho who hurts Nina physically and mentally, until her childish demeanor suddenly becomes attractive to him and then he turns into a Yandere in love with her. His personality is "justified" by his past, but it's not convicing.
And the worst part: Nina simply can't decide which Prince she prefers!! This poor excuse for a "love triangle" simply kills the joy of watching this anime.

Unfortunately, this anime didn't succeed at anything! The romance is bad, the characters' actions and decisions are often foolish and don't align with their ethics and personalities, the plot revolves around a bunch of evil characters setting the circumstances for the main characters, and then the story goes round and round until this anime ends in a cliffhanger. Disappointing.

To sum it up:
Art and animation: 8/10.
Characters: 4/10. (Only Azure saves this one).
Plot: 3/10. (Too many plot holes, underdeveloped politics among nobility and royalty, and then pushing Nina's indecisiveness as an excuse to develop the romance properly).

If a second season can save this anime, then I will edit this review.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina Episode 12 Discussion IzanaSolos - Dec 23, 2024	36 replies	by kqxozaoq »» Jan 12, 3:29 AM
	Poll: Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina Episode 11 Discussion IzanaSolos - Dec 16, 2024	21 replies	by tinker3bellz1 »» Jan 11, 1:21 AM
	Scoring of the anime justified? iNinjeek - Dec 22, 2024	17 replies	by Karinara »» Jan 1, 7:22 AM
	Poll: Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina Episode 5 Discussion IzanaSolos - Nov 4, 2024	35 replies	by Foreall908 »» Dec 31, 2024 1:03 PM
	Poll: Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina Episode 10 Discussion IzanaSolos - Dec 9, 2024	10 replies	by SakuraTetis »» Dec 30, 2024 11:36 AM