Shining Song Starnova: Idol Anime Themed Visual Novel!

The Journey Continues
almost 7 years ago – Sun, Sep 17, 2017 at 09:57:27 PM

The Starnova Kickstarter has ended! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed. On behalf of Sekai Project, Love In Space, and everyone else involved, we'd like to extend our gratitude to all backers. Invitations to Backerkit will be sent out in the coming weeks, allowing you to modify your pledges and purchase addons if you'd like.

Even though the Kickstarter is finished, there's still a lot of work left to do, and Love In Space are getting right to it. Like always, we have an update from them just below. In addition, here's the preview of Sasami's daki. You can click the link to see the NSFW side (and this time I double-checked that the link works).

 * * *

The clock has rung. While Shining Song Starnova’s Kickstarter campaign has ended successfully, it was but a small leg of our journey to release our grand idol story. On behalf of everyone at Love in Space and Sekai Project, we thank you for your support, and will remember your devotion to the cause while we are on this mission.

Love in Space is a company with a lengthy history. We are no strangers to the fact that making a visual novel is not easy. Troubles occur, challenges present themselves, and doubt strikes when you least expect it.

However, through these years of working in the business, we have surpassed troubles time and time again, and are now working on our great visual novel about girls doing their best to become big idols. It is clear the journey will not be easy, but we have already made great headway on delivering our big story of seven shining girls. We hope that when you finally play through Shining Song Starnova, that you cheer on all the girls as they work hard to fulfill their dreams with all your might.

Current Status  

Common Route Part 1: Done  

Common Route Part 2: Done  

Nemu Route: Done  

Mariya Route: Done 

Mika Route: Done 

Julie Route: In Progress 

Aki Route: In Progress 

Natsuki Route: To Do 

Sasami Route: To Do 

Final Quality Assurance: To Do 

A Look at Some of the Side Characters
almost 7 years ago – Fri, Sep 08, 2017 at 07:28:43 AM

Hi everyone,

Today's update offers a brief glance at some of the other characters appearing in Shining Song Starnova. Aside from the Starnova members and their faithful producer, there are a lot of other important characters in the story! From the rival unit Quasar, to the girls' families and acquaintances, to even the girls' fans themselves. Check out these profiles below to meet the other members of the story!

Netshow Final Episode + Julie Daki Preview
almost 7 years ago – Thu, Sep 07, 2017 at 05:00:17 PM

Hi everyone,

Two things today: first off, we have the 5th and final episode of the Starnova netshow! We hope that you've enjoyed the series, and getting to know some of the voice actresses behind the game better. Today's episode features a special greeting and message from Sam Yang, the director of Love In Space. You can check it out below, and you can find the rest of the episodes towards the top of the main campaign page!

We also have the completed design for the daki from Julie! Like before, click the image below to check out the NSFW side, too.

We've hit the base funding goal, but there's still time to go towards the stretch goals! Our first one is at $55,000, and will unlock even more voice acting for the game! After that, at $60k, there will be a bonus post-game scene featuring all the girls in a bit of a... lewd scenario. If you like yuri, you'll want this goal unlocked! Funds raised in Backerkit after the campaign ends will count towards the goal too, so let's keep climbing!  

Thanks for all your support!

FUNDED!!! But Can the Girls Go NOVA?
almost 7 years ago – Tue, Sep 05, 2017 at 02:25:46 PM

We did it!! Shining Song Starnova is officially funded, and will be a reality. All of us at Sekai Project, as well as Love In Space, would like to thank everyone who's supported the campaign, either by pledging or just spreading the word. There are still four days left on the campaign, so here's to hoping we can hit the stretch goals! Speaking of which, there's some more info on those below~

To commemorate this moment, here are some comments from the girls of Starnova!

Mariya: Thank you for coming here today to back Starnova’s very own Kickstarter. While we still have a long way to go until we’re top idols, I am extremely grateful for the support that you have all shown us on this journey.

Julie: E-Eeh? Comments from me? W-Well… Yeah, I’m pretty glad things turned out well. H-Hmph! I-It’s not like I was particularly worried or anything!

Aki: Kukuku… Onii-chans, Aki-chan’s so glad that we could have met on this Kickstarter! Now, let’s all pool our efforts on the remaining days so that we can all really go Nova!

Sasami: Everyone, we did it together with your power! Please keep supporting Starnova from now!

Nemu: Indeed, all of this was thanks to your power, wasn’t it? Nemunemu shall keep supporting everyone from behind the scenes too!

Mika: Hmmu! W-We shall all be doing our best to sing the black songs of the night!

Nattan: Yahooo!!! 40k raised for da Microsoft Theater Live!! We’re almost there, ya’ll, but we’re still gonna need sum more!!

Sasami: Eh? Microsoft Theater Live…?

Mariya: Oy… Did you seriously think that this Kickstarter was for a live in Los Angeles?!

Nattan: Eh? It wasn’t?

Mariya: Of course not, you bumpkin! It was for the visual novel, remember?! The visual novel!!

Sasami: Eh-heh… A-Anyways… That wraps up Starnova’s commentary for the funding of the Kickstarter! But four days still remain on the clock! Just how high can Starnova go? Let’s all do our best, everyone!

… … …

Aki: Whew… Is it over?

Nattan: Seems like it…

Sasami: Mou, everyone… That was way too close, you know…

Mika: H-Huu… As expected, this one’s still not used to public speaking at all…

Mariya: Sigh… It’s only a matter of time until they make us do ridiculous things to promote the Kickstarter… Ufufu… Ufuufufu… It always ends up like this… “Get into this bunny suit, Mariya! It’s the only way to win in this business, Mariya!”

Julie: Heh. Ah well, but 40k raised is still 40k. I wonder what my cut’s gonna be. God, I’ve been wanting some new shoes…

Sasami: You guys are all unbelievable… People worked really hard to make the Kickstarter a success, you know! And yet you’re saying all these things..

[Voice from off set]: Hey! We’ve got a hot mic here!

Sasami: E-Ehh?! Y-You mean the fans are still hearing—

Mariya: Cut the cables now!

… … …

The girls of Starnova still have a long way to go until they are proper idols!

But with your help, one day they will finally reach the stage of their dreams!

Do your best, Starnova!

Stretch Goals!

And now the moment you have been waiting for! The stretch goals are here!

Thankfully, all of the game’s expected features are already funded, but with your help, we can add some cool bonuses into Shining Song Starnova!

Of course, the game is already shaping up to be Love In Space's highest budget production yet, but with your help, we can make it even better than it already is!

 $55,000 – Extra Voicing

Did you like the limited voicing in the demo, but want more? With this amount of funding, we can voice many of the important scenes in the game! Your favorite scenes in the game can now have added character with the help of our voice actors!

$60,000 – Bonus Girl’s Night Scene!

Whew, with this much money, the girls are gonna ditch their producer and head out to the onsen inn to celebrate by themselves!

It was after the fourth round of drinks when Mariya crumpled on the floor, weeping about the missed opportunities of her youth. “It could have been like LoveLive!” Her tears soaked the tatami mat. “But now, I’m 26 years old! Nobody’s gonna like a dinosaur like me!” Julie put her arm around her onee-sama. “Aah, don’t worry! There’s technology these days to make you look younger!” Mariya pounded the floor. “That doesn’t make me feel even a tiny bit better!!” Julie sighed and poured down another shot of sake into Mariya’s mouth. “Shh, shhh… Onee-sama, I’ll make you feel better…”

Meanwhile, Mika leaned against the wall, rocking like a bobblehead. “Uoaah… T-The elixirs of the adult world are quite strong indeed… Hic…” Before she knew it, she lost her balance and tumbled straight into Aki’s bosom. The red loli protested in words, but not in action. “E-Eeeh? W-What’s Chuuni-chan doing?!” Mika merely giggled as she rubbed her face into Aki’s chest, her mind obviously in a different place. “Ufufu… What a cute figurine… I must make money as an idol and buy it at all costs!”

Catching the mood, it was only a matter of time until Nattan became intent on weighing Nemu’s boobs as well. “Ooohooohooo!! These big watermelons be ready for the picking!” Only Sasami remained normal, looking at the others with disapproval. “Mou, we’re all supposed to be idols! And yet all you girls do is fool around like this…!”

Julie looked at Sasami. “Tch, as expected of the lamb of Starnova… Come on, drop your goodie two shoes act! I know you want to join in too!” She reached into her bag. “Anyways, I brought something good from my collection…” Sasami’s eyes widened upon seeing what Julie had brought.

“T-This is…!!”

Netshow Ep 4 + Bringing Idols To Life
almost 7 years ago – Sat, Sep 02, 2017 at 04:44:15 PM

Hey everyone,

We've got another update from Love In Space, as well as a new episode of the Starnova Netshow! Both are all about the voice actresses, or seiyuu, who help make the characters come to life. Check out Episode 4 to hear about what it's like being an eroge seiyuu!

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Early on in Shining Song Starnova’s conceptualization phase, we knew that if were going to bring a story about Japanese idols to life, we would need a team of veteran visual novel voice talents who could not only provide character voices, but also the singing voices for the numerous songs in the game.

Through Love in Space’s prior experience with working with our Japanese counterparts, we assembled a cast of renown industry talents, including as MIIKO (cv. Shimazaki Sasami), the vocalist of the Akiba pop band MOSAIC.WAV, and popular visual novel seiyuu Himari (cv. Yamamoto Mariya), among many others. As one of the very few visual novel development companies who work with Japanese vocal talent, we are greatly honored to have our Japanese talents on board to voice act and sing in Shining Song Starnova.

Ultimately, we believed that Starnova’s story had to be told through the voice of Japanese talents or else the story of our girls trying to make it big in the professional idol world would not have the authenticity it deserved. Further, we sought to make great idol songs to give the story the atmosphere of truly being set in Japan.

 In order to truly deliver an astounding vocal experience, we really do go all out on recording our talents. Audio recording sessions involve us renting out an industry-grade sound studio in Japan and recording the talents with a professional audio engineer and Starnova’s story director present. On top of that, the script has to be proof read and translated into Japanese before any of this can happen. It takes a considerable amount of organization and money to pull off, so we’re always amazed and impressed whenever we finish recording and receive the audio files.

We will try to record as much voicing and songs as our budget allows for Shining Song Starnova. With your help, the characters in the story of Starnova can be as funny, dramatic, heartfelt, and authentic as the story requires!

Here is a preview of our OP song, Cho Shinsei Starnova!