A journey ten years in the making.

Set in Nagoya, Japan, in the world of twenty-second century—a world in which mounting environmental crises have forced humanity to put aside their differences in favor of joining together to save their species through the promising frontier of space exploration—Dream of Stars follows the story of one Tomohiro Ishikawa, a reclusive and bitter young man who elected two years ago to turn away from the outside world in favor of living a secluded life within his tiny apartment and passing his time—and making a small living—writing computer code and hacking into one computer system or another.  These talents, through a fortuitous turn of events, draw the attention of a certain man: Hiroaki Abe, the head of the much-lauded yet mysterious government space exploration and research agency colloquially known as Hoshi.  Offered a spot on Hoshi's roster as a computer systems engineer, Tomohiro finally finds a compelling reason to leave his self-imposed prison and once more rejoin the outside world that he had scorned all those years ago.

Introduced to a sprawling world of technology and science beneath his very feet, the young Tomohiro acclimates himself to Hoshi’s aims of seeking the secrets of the universe and paving the way for humanity’s eventual ascent into the stars and beyond.  Aiding him and Hiroaki towards this grand goal are five young women, each with highly unique traits and skills that make them indispensable to Hoshi’s aims: Tsukiko, Hiroaki's android assistant; Momoka, a telepathic alien and Hoshi's counselor; Fumiko Mori, a child genius and Hoshi's Head of R&D; Noah Shimizu, an old friend of Hiroaki and Hoshi's Head of Operations; and Kin Suzuki, a former foster child and Hoshi's fiery and hard-headed chief supervisor.  Together, in a distant and unfamiliar future, they must band together to the limits of their capabilities to ensure that both humanity’s dreams and their own dreams as individuals are not lost.

Will humanity, with Hoshi as its guiding star, accomplish their mission and pave the way for a stellar future for Earth’s inhabitants?  Will Tomohiro, through facing his own issues, be able to help his comrades face theirs?  And what sort of secrets lie buried within the hearts and minds of our cast, just below the surface?

Dream of Stars is rated (by me) T+.  There will be adult language, depictions of fantasy violence, and suggestive/sensual themes, but there is NO explicit content whatsoever!

Say hello to the protagonist of Dream of Stars and the people he will work with during his time at Hoshi!

 (NOTE: Fumiko's route has no romance plotline.)

Plus, meet the two additional heroines who will have routes of their own in post-launch updates!

•  Three (with more to come!) heroines and a multitude of heartfelt, emotional endings.
  
• Over fifteen hours of gameplay.
• A unique, multi-genre storyline focused on in-depth character histories, struggles, and growth, taking the reader all the way from first encounters and blossoming romance to spaceflight training, second contact, and beyond!
  
• Beautifully rendered sprites that portray the characters and world of the twenty-second century in a vivid and colorful style—and depending on how well Dream of Stars performs, we may eventually also see professionally-done backgrounds because let's be honest, I am many things, but an artist is not one of them
• Expertly-written and crafted music—a soundtrack of beautiful orchestral and chamber music designed to communicate the heart of the story and characters in a uniquely emotional way.

Finally, I'd like to thank the following people for their indispensable help in allowing me to get this far:

• Ari Kim—I don't know where you are now, but without you, Dream of Stars wouldn't be even a twinkle in our eyes.  I hope you're doing well for yourself.
• Ariane Vass—for sharing your artistic vision with me.  You're a part of this journey too, and far from the least.
• My cat, Fumi—for being such a huge part of my support system for the last three years.I love you so much, my little squishy bread loaf.
• My parents—for raising me and shaping me into the person I am today, so that I learned to express myself.
• Nicole Seraphita—for helping to shape Dream of Stars into the form it takes today.  Fumu!
• Baluar—for being there for me through countless hours of venting, of ranting, of earnest heart-to-hearts.  This one's for you.  :fumiwoke:
• Chaincat and Proto from the Chronicles of Albion discord—for watching my career with great interest.
• Dan—for being one of my only friends when I moved away from home for college.  For all the hours spent talking about anime together, all the times we spent talking about music together.  This one's for you, Dan.
• dai and ZTS—Umineko: When They Cry had many composers, but yours were the tracks that stood out most to me.  So much of what I hold true about emotional expression in music comes from hearing your work while playing through Umineko.
• Ryukishi07—for Umineko.  To this day it remains the most emotionally powerful work I've ever experienced, and it will always stand as a guide for me as an author.
• Triodust—for writing the soundtracks to Opus: The Day We Found Earth and Opus: Rocket of Whispers.  It might be just due to the timing, but I feel like a lot of you made it in here.  Always look to the stars, John.
• Kohei Tanaka—I hold you to this day as the best active composer in the industry.  I hope that someday you'll hear Transform!  Universal Savior Nagareboshi!! and smile.
• Steven Lim—for composing the soundtrack to the flash animation XIN.  A lot of my stylistic tendencies stem from what I heard from you back in the day.
• KM/けいえむ on YouTube—for the Luminous arrangement I found on YT back in 2013.  That was the first time I finally had something to surpass.
• Shoji Kawamori—for Macross.  Your spirit of love and communication will always be a central pillar of my identity.
• And to all my Kickstarter backers aside from those already mentioned—Richard, Dave, Leslie, Warren, Heiko, Lollipop, Julian, Robert, Austin, Kevin, Rachel, Kevin, Alexander, Paul, Babloo, Edward, Sara1281, Helgraf, Hidsnake, Incynerate, Daniel, Helloworld, Jason, TheLlaMaGod, Cole, Polo, GoldenRadiance, The Creative Fund, and all my anonymous backers.  This project literally could not have come to fruition without you!  Once the last two routes have been added, I'll have a proper credits in the game itself for everyone who pledged for it, I swear!

Follow the project's Kickstarter page for news regarding progress on future updates!

And remember—vive hodie.  Live for today.