Kogasaka You fought to keep the fading memories of his precious childhood.
Memories of the stars, a treasured lookout and a special girl.
Almost to haunt him, a shinigami which mirrored her young appearance reaped her name away.

"They're beautiful memories because they're from the past!"
-Chinami

The past is unchanging and isolated. But memories are all about perspective bias.
A negative outlook can transform beautiful memories into cruel nightmares.

"Memories are just memories, after all...
But... because they're valuable, one treasures them too much and they become unforgettable."
-Asuho

Memories are often what outline our unique personalities.
The past is not a source of regret, but a basis for the strengths of our character.


Through remembrance and love, we say that a person existed. Once lived.

But what keeps an existence, physically or mentally, from being challenged?

Asuho: Bygones are bygones. Memories are my selfish wish to relive a different past.
But what should I do with these regrets?

Isuzu: The southern hemisphere. A debilitating delusion I can never relive.
Why can't I see anything past it?

Chinami: My family is nothing but my brother and my aunt. I don't want anyone else to leave me.
Am I really a little sister or just an unwanted nuisance?

Komomo/Kosame: I have a name, a family and friends ... But I'm inhuman.
Am I really "alive"?

Yume: Dying alone is kinder for everyone. But I'm so afraid.
When I'm forgotten, how can I say that I existed?

You: My own courage betrays me ... so how can I keep my promise?
Am I so weak, that regrets are the only memories I can make?


Mare S. Ephemeral reflected the fleeting beauty of Spring: the short time You and Yume spent together in their childhood.

"I love the blooming cherry blossoms more than the falling ones"
-Yume

You and Yume met underneath the falling of the fragile cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Yume hated the transience of the blossoms, yet admired their beautiful existence.
Hoshimemo likened the blossoms to Yume's own life. Evanescent, yet alluring.

When compared to the lifespan of a star, it was insignificant.
However, that short life held the potential to be rich and remarkable.

“I’m sure I like you… and that will never change.“
-Yume

Though the onslaught of time forced the blossoms to wither, their proof of existence: their blossoming, was unforgettable.


The two lovers of the Tanabata legend, Orihime and Hikoboshi, used the magpie bridge to fulfill their love.
Kaabou helped Mare remember the promise between You/Yume and in doing so, he became their magpie bridge.
Kaabou was the catalyst towards the final wish that saved Yume's life.

Kaa-kun kept Mare constant company and for once, she was not alone.
However, his sudden departure changed Mare. She realized that a farewell could not sever a relationship, a permanent bond. Mare's willingness to sacrifice herself at the end came not from a sense of duty but a sense of connection.

Yume was absent in most of the novel because the common route was predominantly about Mare and You. Mare had forgotten the true nature of the wishes Yume/You made on that fateful day. Similar to how You had forgotten Yume's name, Mare had forgotten the light of the couple: their prayers.

"Shinigami don't have family. Shinigami don't have homes."
-Mare

But Mare already had a family in You and Yume.
And by the end of HoshiMemo, she had made valuable friends and even discovered love.
Things that Yume could not experience while trapped in her hospital bed.

Yume's (夢) Dreams

Asuho's route convinced me that You was better off letting go of the past.
It was simple to assume that You and Yume had merely grown apart over the years.

But Yume's route was a culmination of a recurring wish. The same wish that Sera made for Kasumi.
Still, Yume eventually realized a strength that Chinami's father (Sera) lacked: faith in the eternity of love.

While most people made wishes during their waking hours, Yume's illness confined her to her own imagination.
She expected a morning where her eyes would not open and in her sleep-like world, her wishes became faraway dreams.

"I don't want to die yet ... I want to be with You-Kun!"
-Yume

Crying on her apparent deathbed, Yume once again believed in a hopelessly romantic wish: a prayer she had desperately tried to forget.


Hoshimemo introduced love as a very selfish desire. The kind that was often illogical and even inconsiderate.
Conversely , cruel kindness was logical and considerate. A nightmare spawned by love.

Yume decided that she would try to leave forgotten by You. The same tragedy of Ren's generation.

You kept his friends and family at arm's length and avoid relying on others.

Kosame avoided deepening her relationships due to a constant fear of disappearance.

Who were the winners here?

A common theme where by misinterpreting love, the characters felt an obligation to live a life without pain.
A life where others would also be free of pain.
But a relationship meant depending on one another. Sharing pain together.

By the end of the novel, You broke his self-imposed chains by asking Mare for help.

"You can depend on me ... It doesn't mean you're weak nor does it mean you're running away"
-Mare

By granting the star-crossed couple's wish, Mare fulfilled the obligation of the shooting star.
Time and memoria meant nothing in the face of their love: a wish eternal like the stars.


On the surface level, Hoshimemo gives the impression of an average rom-com eroge, with the characters mirroring generic archetypes (imouto, osananajimi, tsundere, loli).
But looking deeper, it lived up to the category of a visual novel with an unexpected depth.
It was gentle, yet heart-wrenching at times.

A story about selfish love, the poisoning of memories, the brilliance of starlight and existence.
A personal memory fades and distorts but a shared memory becomes a wish.
An unwavering light like the stars in the sky.

Shooting stars are not celebrated because they are wish-granting genies.
They are neither supernatural nor alien.
Rather, they represent the wishes of people and our hopes for each other.
The radiance of a shooting star lies in the beauty of a dream (夢).

Hoshizora no Memoria: a memoria of wishes and my #1 VN of all time.