But the true despair wasn't just that the fleet was now stationed one light-year away from Blue Star — that was just a temporary stop. Their actual mission: a jump to the alien homeworld, eight light-years away.
Why would the United Earth Government dare charge straight into enemy territory with just a handful of battleships? The story doesn't dwell on it.
It's just a backdrop — a worldbuilding detail left untouched by the original author in Jing Yu's past life, Makoto Shinkai, who didn't care to explain it. After all, the battle between humans and aliens was never the point. The heart of the story lies in the feelings of one small soldier on the battlefield — her emotions, her longing, her wish:
She just wanted to return to Earth.
And to be with him.
To see him again — that was all.
["Eight years… Noboru, will you forget about me?"]
Terrified, Mikako nonetheless typed and sent the message to Terao Noboru just before the fleet initiated another FTL jump.
A year later, Noboru — now in his final year of high school — finally received that long-lost message.
August, 2048.
He had already given up hope.
But in the middle of the rainy season, the text arrived.
It had a light tone, casually narrating how Mikako had jumped from Pluto's edge to a distant star system in just thirty minutes.
[The fleet is about to jump 8.5 light-years away. By the time you receive this message, it will have been a year since I sent it. Next time we exchange texts, the round trip will take eight years and seven months.]
[I'm sorry.]
[It's like we're lovers, separated by the universe and Blue Star.]
The content was short — but the implications stunned viewers.
"What kind of setup is this? The madman's got issues."
"I'm horrified. This kind of long-distance relationship? Who could survive that?"
"One message every eight years?! That's insane."
"Dude, what kind of twisted mind comes up with this romance setting?"
"Not even 15 minutes in and I'm already emotionally destroyed."
"Both Mikako and Noboru are so damn pitiful."
"And here I thought Akari and Takaki from '5 Centimeters per Second' had it rough — they only lived a few hundred miles apart. These two are light-years apart!"
"The parallels between 'Voices of a Distant Star' and '5 Centimeters per Second' are strong. The madman's storytelling style is consistent as ever."
"I'm already crying, guys."
"This soundtrack is cheating. Way too emotional."
"That one line — 'Lovers separated by the universe and Blue Star' — hit like a bomb."
Noboru, now a high schooler, sat in his room, utterly hollow.
He had already given up on receiving more messages from Mikako. It had been a year since the fleet lost contact with Blue Star.
And yet...
It would've been easy to give up. But if he didn't...
Then the next time he received a message from Mikako...
It would be eight years and seven months later.
During that time, he would know nothing about her status — alive or dead.
To hang on for eight years… just to receive one message.
Still, both he and Mikako — in pain as they were — chose to wait.
Time shifts.
On one side: Summer 2048, Noboru wrestling with his emotions after receiving Mikako's message.
On the other hand, in August 2047, Mikako and the fleet had just arrived at the alien-hiding planet, Akaruda.
A living planet, with flora, atmosphere, and sunlight — another Blue Star-like world.
The full-CGI landscape was dazzling. A dreamlike, alien beauty.
Her mech landed on the surface, crushing a crater beneath its feet.
Raindrops fell as sunlight broke through the clouds in hundreds of shimmering beams.
Mikako stared in awe — her expression naive, childlike.
"I wish the rain would stop… I want to go to the convenience store and share a cold drink with you, Noboru."
In just two seconds, her face transitioned from wonder to homesickness. From innocence to pain.
A single tear slid from her eye.
The immersion was overwhelming. Zhong Qianle and countless viewers found themselves gasping for air.
She picked up her phone and began composing a message to Terao Noboru.
She started with:
[Hello Noboru, age 24. This is Mikako, age 15.]
Zhong Qianle saw that opening line and broke down completely.
They're the same age...
I can't take it anymore!
With sorrow in her heart, Mikako hit send.
Would he wait for her?
She didn't know.
Would she survive and return to Blue Star?
She didn't know.
Would this message even reach Blue Star across such a vast distance?
She didn't know.
But even so, it was the only belief she had left to keep going.
Then came the film's most surreal sequence. In her sadness, Mikako seemed to glimpse other versions of herself, from different timelines or world lines, speaking to her — comforting her, urging her not to give up.
In the original animation from Jing Yu's past life, this scene featured an alien cityscape eerily similar to the one from Makoto Shinkai's later work, 'Children Who Chase Lost Voices'.
An alien fighter fleet appeared, and Mikako had no choice but to fight.
All her emotions burst forth in the cockpit as she shouted:
"I just wanted to see Noboru… I just wanted to say 'I love you'… I don't understand."
Then she entered the battle.
Eight years later.
Terao Noboru was now an adult, having graduated from university.
He was preparing to join the United Fleet as a service member.
And just then, the message Mikako had sent eight years and seven months ago finally arrived.
The iconic 'Voices of a Distant Star' theme began to play.
Scenes of Mikako's battle eight years prior are intercut with Noboru reading her message in the present.
At fifteen, Mikako had already been fighting aliens on a distant planet.
And in those eight years, even without contact, Noboru had never given up — choosing to join the fleet to chase after the girl he once knew.
Their narrations began to overlap. Despite the years and distance, their thoughts were in perfect harmony.
[Noboru, there are so many things I miss. There's nothing here.]
[Like the summer clouds, the cold rain, the scent of autumn wind...]
[The sound of raindrops on an umbrella, the soft spring soil… The comfort of a convenience store at night.]
[The smell of chalk dust…]
[The sound of trucks on the road.]
[Noboru, all of these things… I always wanted to experience them with you.]
[Mikako… I always wanted to experience them with you, too.]
Their voices crossed over each other — narrating the same memories, the same longing.
The United Fleet had lost two of its three motherships in the alien assault. One ship remained. If it were destroyed, all personnel would perish in deep space.
In that critical moment, Mikako charged ahead — in sync with her ship's final strike — and used the last of her mech's energy to destroy the enemy flagship.
[Maybe longing really can transcend time.]
Noboru's voice echoed.
At the same time, Mikako's thoughts rang out as she launched toward the alien mothership.
[If I could think just one thing in this moment, what would it be?]
As the enemy ship exploded in a burst of cosmic fireworks, Mikako's mech — now powerless — drifted into the dark void of space.
Her expression calm, she sat in the cockpit, and thought to herself:
[Hey… There's only one thing we could be thinking.]
In the deep black of space, fifteen-year-old Mikako…
And on Earth, twenty-four-year-old Noboru…
Their voices spoke as one:
[I'm right here.]
[I'm right here.]