I told you, stop cutting it like that.
But I detest leeks.
What?
Leeks are delicious.
The stock is perfect.
I'm hungry...
Yes, I'm starving too.
It's so nice to have everyone together like this.
It is the summer star festival, celebrated through generations in a small village in a small country.
Below the meteor shower that flies by once every year...
I met Flora...
and I met Claire...
in a fated encounter.
I think the two of us have always been together.
Let us meet here again next year,
on the night of the star festival.
Starlight.
This is a story of destiny,
of being guided by the light of the stars.
Who are you?
I don't understand.
I feel as though they were all important to me...
but I can't remember.
We may be able to get them back.
Today is the star festival held once every year.
If we're able to seize a star,
perhaps your memories will...
If you pluck a small star,
you will gain a small amount of happiness.
If you pluck a large star,
you will obtain a great wealth.
If you pluck them both,
you will obtain an eternal wish.
Starlight gathering is the absolving of sins.
Starlight gathering is the miracle of the night.
And it shall be bestowed upon you,
the star which you have longed for.
I remember now.
Our dream was not meant to be.
And so, they parted forever.
And high above,
the stars continued to shine for eternity.
Starlight.
This is the story of a distant planet, from long ago, in the faraway future.
It is the summer star festival, celebrated through generations in a small village in a small country.
Endlessly piling them up, only for them to be torn down, and so it repeats.
A stage without an end.
She shouldered all the glimmer needed for this stage, in place of the others.
The atonement of a dead stage girl.
This is the stage of destiny that she has chosen.
I understand.
Guys, the food is ready.
This really warms you up.
Oh no, my glasses.
You really like crab, huh.
Would you look at Tendo's crab!
Well wait until you see my shrimp!
Banana-chan!
Hikari-chan doesn't like tofu.
Oh, right.
What? But this is high-quality tofu that was sent to me from Sagano.
She's bad with hot food too.
She's as picky as a cat.
But I think I understand.
Does that make Karen a puppy?
Karen does always seem to be chasing one thing or another.
Woof, woof.
Wasn't it a pain to have to look after those two?
I have enough of a hard time just looking after Kaoruko.
I'm the one looking after you, Futaba-han.
It was a lot of fun, really.
It was only for a short time, but it was really fun,
and I really treasure my time with them.
So...
It is the summer star festival, celebrated through generations in a small village in a small country.
Below the meteor shower that flies by once every year...
I met Flora...
and I met Claire...
...in a fated encounter.
Sorry to have kept you waiting, Hikari-chan.
Jumping in on your own again...
I understand.
I'm sorry, Hikari-chan.
I didn't understand a thing.
In order to not steal my glimmer from me, you came here all alone.
Who are you?
I don't understand.
Your voice, your warmth,
the promise we made...
I feel as though they were all important to me.
But I can't remember!
We might be able to get them back.
Today is the star festival held once every year.
If we're able to seize a star,
perhaps your memories will...
Let's go, to pluck that star together.
Today is the star festival held once every year.
If we're able to seize a star,
perhaps your memories will...
Hikari-chan, wait!
If you pluck them both,
you will obtain an eternal wish.
Starlight gathering is the absolving of sins.
Starlight gathering is the miracle of the night.
Hikari-chan, your hands...
Stop all this already.
And it shall be bestowed upon you, the star which you have longed for.
The stars of starlight gathering...
The stars of sin?
Hikari-chan!
Our dream was not meant to be.
Hikari-chan has been on this stage all alone,
offering up her own glimmer in place of everyone else's this whole time.
Is this really Hikari-chan's stage of destiny?
It is the summer star festival, celebrated through generations in a small village in a small country.
Below the meteor shower that flies by once every year...
Why?
Why are you doing this alone?
I met Flora...
Hey, Hikari-chan,
do you remember?
The promise we made.
Let's go home, Hikari-chan.
Our Starlight hasn't started yet!
Idiot... You idiot, Karenitwit!
Always jumping in on your own...
Why...
Why did you have to come and see me?
That makes me...
want to see you, you know.
Hikari-chan...
The lines have stopped.
The stage has been cut short.
There's no meaning to this Star Tiara.
Just like the stars that Flora and Claire aimed for...
it is a light that lures new sinners to the stage of destiny.
Farewell...
Karen.
I made a promise!
I will—no, we will
definitely become stars together!
This is my stage of destiny.
My stage of destiny, where I will perform alone forever.
I tried to seize that star,
and lost my glimmer.
Because I couldn't seize it myself,
I tried to steal it from someone else.
This is my stage of destiny, for the fool and sinner that I am!
If you're a sinner,
then all of us who participated in the auditions are just as guilty!
You do not understand why I merely watch?
I understand.
A performance only comes to be when both actors and audience are gathered.
It will continue as long as the actors are standing and the audience so desires.
Yes, just as you have watched over these girls all this time,
I also do not wish for this to come to an end.
I am an onlooker in love with the stage,
and producer of the stage of destiny.
The stage girls' eternal moment!
Glimmer welling up!
That is what I want to see!
Yes, together with you.
I understand.
There are no coactors or stagehands here.
You can't put on a performance by yourself!
I didn't want you to know the pain of loss.
It's too late now! So, please!
Come home with me, Hikari-chan!
I'll devote my life to this stage and continue performing for eternity.
Hikari-chan...
That is my atonement.
My destiny.
Our dream was not meant to be.
Huh?
Is that Claire?
A lone girl, imprisoned inside that tower.
Hikari-chan?
That's a non, non.
You were imprisoned all this time.
Shouldering our sins.
Just wait, Claire.
I'm...
coming to get you now!
Starlight is a tragedy about inescapable parting,
but there must be another ending!
Flora fell from the tower,
but what if she got back on her feet?
In order to meet Claire again,
Flora once again climbed the tower!
What's happening?
A stage of destiny without an end...
The continuation of the end is starting?
The stage of destiny
is being remade!
If you do that,
you'll be captured by my stage of destiny,
and your glimmer will be stolen too!
Then steal it!
Steal everything I am!
Even if it's stolen, that doesn't mark the end.
Even if I lose it, my glimmer won't vanish.
Every time I go up on the stage,
I'll burst into flames and be reborn, as many times as it takes!
Tokyo Tower...
I'll be remade!
The stage girl who jumped in
is starting the continuation of the ending?
A chemical reaction caused by stage girls, a stage that no one can predict!
This is the stage that I have been longing to see!
I understand!
The stage makes stage girls what they are.
My stage is you, Hikari-chan.
My stage is incomplete without you on it.
I need you by my side.
So...
Give me...
all of you!
I recognize this.
What we shared when we watched a play together for the first time...
Our glimmer...
Idiot... You idiot, Karenitwit!
This makes me...
want to Starlight with you, you know.
Hikari-chan!
On a stage overflowing with stardust,
a flower of love blooms gracefully.
99th generation, Aijo Karen.
I'll Starlight you!
My chest filled with a reborn glimmer,
I illuminate the stage with my light.
99th generation, Kagura Hikari.
Go ahead and steal my everything!
Our stage of destiny...
...had already started long ago.
Hikari-chan is the star I was trying to seize.
Karen is the star that I desired.
Do you remember the promise we made?
Of course I remember the promise we made.
Position zero.
Wait for me, Claire!
I'm coming for you now!
If you pluck a small star,
you will gain a small amount of happiness.
If you pluck a large star,
you will obtain a great wealth.
If you pluck them both,
you will obtain an eternal wish.
You did well to arrive at the truth.
Flora, you two have freed the goddesses.
We have been watching over you all this time.
Now is when the stars will shine.
Starlight gathering is the absolving of sins.
Starlight gathering is the miracle of the night.
Claire!
Flora!
And it shall be bestowed upon you,
the star which you have longed for.
We found it, our star.
We really did find it, our destiny.
Starlight.
This is a tale told by nine stage girls...
...connected by destiny...
A new, eternal tale.