Animania

Voices of a Distant Star actually started life as a single episode anime OVA that was created entirely by Makoto Shinkai on his Mac computer, with his wife helping in do the voice dubbing. When it was released to DVD in February 2002, it was redubbed using professional voice actors. I've the OVA once, which ADV released here, and thought it was okay, but I vaguely remember not liking the ending. A novelization was also created in Japan, or so Wikipedia says, but its unlicensed. Mizu Sahara wrote a manga adaptation as well, which Tokyopop released here in 2006. I decided to pick it up and give it a go. Alas, I don't remember the OVA well enough to compare how much it follows it, but I know Sahara extended the story further than the anime went.

In Voices of a Distant Star teenage high school student Mikako is recruited into a research team to explore space and deal with recent contact between the humans and an alien race that there appears to be conflict with. The alien conflict is only touched on as needed, however, as the primary focus is on Mikako and her classmate Noboru, who realize they love each other after she's left and spend years communicating through cell phone text messages. As Mikako goes further out in space, however, it takes longer and longer for the message to arrive and while she's still the same age, Noboru is becoming an adult and wondering if he should move on with his life. The original anime ending occurs roughly in the middle of the manga, and it then moves on to continue the story, providing a clearer ending to the series.

As a whole, from what I remember of the OVA, I like the manga more. It expands more into both Mikako and Noboru's lives, including friends and their more routine lives along with Mikako's work in space. I also like that it finishes up the story in a more conclusive, and to me satisfying, way than the anime did. ADV's release of this single volume title is also quite nice, including a soft pastel cover, and all four double-sided color pages from the original release. I highly recommend this title for a short, but sweet and gentle story of long-distance love and faith.

Rating: A