Every since she was a child, Sae Iwata has never been cute or dainty like other girls. With a tall, strong build, she felt the need to look her childhood friend and crush, the small and cute Kouki Kamishiro.
However, as the years passed, Kouki grew up. Now in the high school, he is tall, handsome, and is becoming popular among the girls due to his bright personality. As Sae tries her best to suppress her emotions, her deepening feelings for Kouki become harder to ignore.
This boy really is brighter than the sun. Blind me, beautiful blonde man! If you are looking for more anime recommendations like A Star Brighter Than The Sun, head on down below.
Anime Like A Star Brighter Than the Sun
For Fans Basic Girls Wooing Handsome Boys
Skip and Loafer
In order to pursue a career in politics to make a positive change for Japan, Mitsumi leaves her rural town to go to high school in Tokyo. While she has a clear life plan for herself, she is still a country girl in a big city and ends up late and lost on her first day.
Luckily, Mitsumi is noticed by a fellow new student, Sousuke Shima, and he guides her to school. This laid-back guy is charmed by her motivated personality and strikes up a friendship with her, supporting her as she tries to make meaningful friendships with her classmates.
Similarities Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Skip and Loafer
- Basic brown haired girl has feelings for a handsome, popular blonde haired man
- Male love interest had puppy dog energy
- A friend group forms organically on the first day of high school
- Side characters in the friend group with their own stories going on
Differences Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Skip and Loafer
- The heroine in Skip and Loafer may not be the prettiest, but she has unflappable confidence and no body issues.
- The male love interest in Skip and Loafer has a bit of a dark side, and isn’t as perfect as Kouki.
- The side characters in Skip and Loafer have far deeper stories, more focus, and way more development.
- Skip and Loafer has romance, but it isn’t a romance anime in the same way A Star Brighter Than The Sun is. It is more like a slice of life with light drama and romance about a friend group.
Blue Spring Ride
Futaba Yoshioka was an attractive middle schooler, popular with boys, but not with girls. It left her feeling lonely, but none of that mattered as long as her crush, Kou Tanaka, liked her.
However, when Kou moved away, Futaba decided to change herself, purposely adopting unattractive traits to be popular with the girls, but one day, Kou comes back as different of a person as she is.
Similarities Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Blue Spring Ride
- The heroine is a basic girl who believes she is (or actively tries to be) unappealing to men
- The male love interest is handsome and well liked
- Watch them flirt as they wonder if they like one another
- Side characters that push them together
Differences Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Blue Spring Ride
- Blue Spring Ride has that “we’re friends but we like the same boy who clearly likes one of us way more” love triangle that A Star Brighter Than The Sun neatly side steps.
- Blue Spring Ride has some darker character drama that makes it more melancholy at times
- The heroine in Blue Spring Ride is actively trying to be a tomboy so she isn’t hit on.
- The male love interest in Blue Spring Ride is a brooding type
April Showers Bring May Flowers
Average-looking and unsuccessful at making friends in high school, Hana Tabata has all but left behind the idea of experiencing a heart-throbbing romance like in her shojo manga.
After joining the beautification committee and her flowers catching the attention of warm and friendly classmate, Yousuke Ueno, her high school life begins to open up. Grappling with her unexpected new friendship and the feelings swirling within, Tabata has failed to realize that her high school romance has already started.
Similarities Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and April Showers Bring May Flowers
- A beautiful blonde man is building a relationship with a basic brown haired girl with self image issues.
- Heroine thinks she is unappealing looking so she likes her love interest from afar and doesn’t do anything about it
- Male love interest is friendly, kind, and pretty obviously into the heroine.
- Side character to push the main couple together and have their own light side stories
Differences Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and April Showers Bring May Flowers
- April Showers Bring May Flowers is far more about self image issues and physical looks
- April Showers Bring May Flowers features a more grounded heroine whose only roadblock to romance is realistic expectations.
- The side characters in April Showers Bring May Flowers are a bit more comedic.
Find Out Where to Continue The A Star Brighter Than The Sun Story At Our Sibling Site:
For Fans of Size Complex
Lovely Complex
Risa is very tall for a girl. Atsushi is very short for a boy. They are both in love with different people who actually end up dating each other.
With both their loves taken, the two form an unlikely friendship that soon turns into something more.
Similarities Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Lovely Complex
- The heroine is very tall, and pretty self conscious about it
- The heroine and male love interest are friends, clearly like each other, but they won’t admit their feelings to each other
- Side character that often exist to push the main couple together
Differences Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Lovely Complex
- The main couple are childhood friends in A Star Brighter Than The Sun and still kind of shy with each other. In Lovely Complex, they are relatively new friends, but act like gremlins that share the same brain cell when together. It’s a different vibe.
- Lovely Complex has the height difference being the thing that prevents romance. So it is far more focused on the male love interest and his insecurity about his short stature as well as how he would look dating a girl much taller than him.
My Love Story
With his tall stature, bulky muscles, and mean face, Takeo Gouda is not exactly a hit with the ladies. Men and women alike find him terrifying, but he still tries to do the right thing.
One day he saves a cute girl from a molester on the train. When she reaches out to him again, he thinks she likes his handsome friend, but he is shocked to discover she actually likes him!
Similarities Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and My Love Story
- Character is sensitive about their physical size, especially in the realm of romance
- Male love interest is a sweet ray of sunshine
- Two characters that clearly like each other… constantly miss opportunities to express it
- Both are by the same author, and it shows.
Differences Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and My Love Story
- My Love Story is about a nice guy who looks terrifying getting his first girlfriend in the first episode, so romance progresses faster.
- The female love interest in my Love Story is more the cute, innocent type that Sae wishes she was.
- My Love Story is often more of a comedy than it is a romance.
For Fans of Withheld Obvious Feelings
Tomo-chan is a Girl
As childhood friends and neighbors, Tomo and Jun are best friends and hang out constantly. There is just one problem.
Tomo is a girl, and Jun often forgets that.
She wants Jun to see her as a girl so she can move their friendship into something more. When she is a tomboy and Jun is as dense as can be, can Tomo escape the bro zone in order to get a start on her youthful romance?
Similarities Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Tomo Chan is a Girl
- Two childhood friends are in the throes of failing to start a romance
- Atypical, slightly more manly heroine is crushing hard.
- Handsome male love interest is unclear with his feelings
- Watching two people want to start a romance, and miscommunicating that is the plot.
Differences Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Tomo Chan is a Girl
- Tomo chan is a Girl has an extra layer of the male love interest initially thinking the heroine was a boy when they were children for a… pretty long amount of time.
- Tomo chan is a Girl has a lot more comedy and is not just fully aimed at romance like A Star Brighter Than The Sun.
- Tomo chan is a Girl focuses more on side couple action as well as main couple progression.
- Tomo chan is a Girl, as it follows martial artists, features more physical fights, though it is not an action anime.
Kimi ni Todoke
Quiet and relatively timid, Sawako Kuronuma is misunderstood by her classmates. Due to her long black hair and shyness, they have taken to calling her Sadako, the ghost girl from The Ring.
Longing to make friends, she is drawn to Kazehaya Shouta, the most popular boy in school and his refreshing personality. However, when Kazehaya starts talking to her, Sawako’s lonely world begins to open up.
Similarities Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Kimi ni Todoke
- Two perfectly pure people clearly like each other and aren’t communicating that clearly.
- Cheerful, sunshine type male love interest
- Cast of side characters to slice of life off of that still have their own individual worries
- Slice of life while waiting for the romance to progress a scooch is the plot.
Differences Between A Star Brighter Than The Sun and Kimi ni Todoke
- Kimi ni Todoke is an even slower burn in romance. It often focuses more on character growth.
- Kimi ni Todoke is a “popular boy likes outcast girl” flavored romance.
Do you have more anime recommendations like A Star Brighter Than The Sun? Let fans know in the comments section below.
