Sometimes, simply having the presence of good music in an anime series can turn it away from the spectre of mediocrity and grant the show a whole new dimension that makes it worth enjoying. So was this what happened in Full Moon wo Sagashite? Well … no. So why mention it? I’ll get to that later. Story first.

Koyama Mitsuki is a 12-year-old, with a singular outstanding talent – singing. She has a dream – to become a singing star, at the same time keeping a promise she had made two years previously with young Sakurai Eichi while living at an orphanage – to reach her dream while he was reaching for his dream of becoming an astronomer.

Some few things stand in her way though. Firstly, Mitsuki suffered from a throat cancer that affected her vocal cords, preventing her from using her voice to its full potential. Secondly, Mitsuki now lives with her grandmother, who hates music of any kind. The reasons for this will become apparent later in the series.

Mitsuki’s life takes an abrupt turn when two shinigami (death gods) named Takuto and Meroko arrive and inform her that she only has one year left to live. Realising that she is in danger of not meeting her goal, she runs away to audition as an idol but the shinigami reach her before she has the chance. However, Mitsuki convinces the shinigami to help her by promising to leave the world quietly if she reaches her dream. Takuto then transforms her into a healthy, cancer-free 16-year-old, and she passes the audition with flying colours. Since her main identity needs to remain a secret, she chooses the name Full Moon as her stage name.

Obviously, from this point forward Mitsuki lives a double life – on the one hand the healthy 16-year-old Full Moon, and on the other hand 12-year-old elementary school student Mitsuki. As the series progresses, she faces numerous challenges, not only to her career as an idol, but also to keep her identity as Full Moon a secret from her classmates and her grandmother.

The story by itself was heartwarming and entertaining, as we observe a young girl desperately reaching for her one dream with the limited time left available to her. This is not to say there weren’t sad moments – you’ll reach one or two spots where you might need to blink a couple of times to keep your eyes clear of tears.

Mitsuki was voiced by myco, the lead singer for the group Changin’ My Life. The first thought that might enter your head would be the unusual maturity and strength of the voice, particularly if you consider that the main character is only 12 years old. However, myco adapted to the role pretty well after the first few episodes, and brought a lot of life to the character. After a few episodes you probably won’t even notice. Which brings me to the music.

This is where myco turned out to be a good choice – she has a superb singing voice, and the songs sung through the running of the series turned into some of my personal favourites almost immediately. From the lively “New Future” and “Smile” to the slightly more melancholy “Eternal Snow” and “Myself”, I can only say that Full Moon wo Sagashite’s music really blew me away. Opening tracks were courtesy of a group called The Scanty, providing us with some lively opening themes.

Some of the other characters also deserve mention – the shinigami pair of Meroko and Takuto provide much of the comedic relief through the series, and let us not forget the inevitable love triangles.

Full Moon o Sagashite (満月をさがして, Furu Mūn o Sagashite), is based on the seven volume manga by Tanemura Arina, and consisted of a total of 52 episodes and ran from April 2002 to March 2003.

As always, I turn to the ever helpful Anime News Network to see what other viewers have to say – and Full Moon wo Sagashite gets a score of 8.3/10. If you’ve seen and enjoyed Kaleido Star, Aishiteruze Baby and Beck, this might be something you would enjoy.