# Wish Upon the Pleiades (放課後のプレアデス)
**Wish Upon the Pleiades** (*Hōkago no Pleiades*, 放課後のプレアデス) is a Japanese magical girl anime series produced as a collaboration between the automobile manufacturer Subaru (Fuji Heavy Industries) and the animation studio Gainax, first released as a short original net animation (ONA) on YouTube in 2011 and expanded into a 12-episode television series in 2015.[1](https://prtimes.jp/data/corp/2689/8c974fd42b824f2ce0b1e2d09ebc99e1.pdf) • [2](https://thenewswheel.com/look-subarus-japanese-anime-wish-upon-the-pleiades/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | SUBARU×GAINAX Animation Project, a promotion project in which the car maker and the studio made animation together[1](https://prtimes.jp/data/corp/2689/8c974fd42b824f2ce0b1e2d09ebc99e1.pdf) |
| Web series | Four episodes posted on YouTube from February 1, 2011, each about six minutes, roughly 25 minutes total[2](https://thenewswheel.com/look-subarus-japanese-anime-wish-upon-the-pleiades/) • [3](https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1419184109) |
| TV series | 12 episodes, aired April 9 to June 25, 2015 on TOKYO MX, ABC Asahi Broadcasting, BS Fuji, Gunma TV, and Tochigi TV[4](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/351833) |
| Staff | Director Shouji Saeki; character design and chief animation direction Mai Otsuka; music Shiro Hamaguchi; animation production Gainax[4](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/351833) • [5](https://animeuknews.net/2016/10/wish-upon-the-pleiades-review/) |
| Main cast | Subaru (Natsumi Takamori), Aoi (Ayuru Ohashi), Itsuki (Kanako Tateno), Hikaru (Yui Makino), Nanako (Saki Fujita), Minato (Houko Kuwashima)[6](https://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/anime/wba/result/wb_anime17.html) |
| English release | Licensed by Sentai Filmworks; UK complete collection released October 17, 2016, 300 minutes, age rating 12[7](https://themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=1783) • [8](https://www.cubed3.com/features/anime-reviews/wish-upon-the-pleiades-complete-season-1-collection) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Subaru, a junior high school student who loves the stars, opens her school observatory one afternoon after class and finds it connected to a greenhouse-like space where she meets a mysterious boy named Minato. She then encounters a small alien, the Pleiadean, which takes her compass, and stumbles into a room where four girls in witch-like outfits, including her estranged childhood friend Aoi, are at work.[9](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E7%95%AA%E7%B5%84/fang-ke-hou-nopureadesu)
The alien's people need help repairing a spacefaring migrant ship stranded in orbit around Earth, and have summoned human collaborators to gather pieces of its engine. Only one helper was expected, but five girls answered the call. Appointed as "magicians" (magical girls), the five ride powered-up broomsticks called "driveshafts" that rev and roar like car engines, chase engine fragments that appear as shooting stars, and shrink them to a manageable size with large magic circles. A rival, the red-haired boy they call "Horned Cape," collects the falling stars as well, and each girl also gets an episode devoted to her own background and personal problems.[6](https://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/anime/wba/result/wb_anime17.html) • [7](https://themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=1783) • [8](https://www.cubed3.com/features/anime-reviews/wish-upon-the-pleiades-complete-season-1-collection)
## The Subaru collaboration
The project began as a marketing experiment. According to the project committee's announcement, conventional car advertising had difficulty reaching increasingly segmented consumers, so Subaru and Gainax set out to convey Subaru's identity and philosophy through animation making itself; the official project site opened on November 1, 2010.[1](https://prtimes.jp/data/corp/2689/8c974fd42b824f2ce0b1e2d09ebc99e1.pdf) The first episode was posted on YouTube on February 1, 2011, and the collaboration drew attention as an unusual pairing of the anime and automotive industries.[3](https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1419184109)
Subaru branding runs through the show without dominating it. The heroine's name, Subaru, matches the car maker and the [Japanese name](https://www.edgepedia.org/japanese-name) for the Pleiades star cluster; the girls' broomsticks make engine noises, and the drive sounds used in the web series were recordings of real Subaru cars, a detail carried into the TV version. Gainax's representative director Hiroyuki Yamaga said the studio's pride in craftsmanship matched the car maker's, and that the team deliberately made the show more than cute girls on screen, giving the script and artwork added substance.[10](https://dengekionline.com/elem/000/000/978/978102/) • [8](https://www.cubed3.com/features/anime-reviews/wish-upon-the-pleiades-complete-season-1-collection)
## From web series to television
The YouTube series accumulated more than 1.5 million total views, and at a December 16, 2014 announcement event at SUBARU STAR SQUARE in [Tokyo](https://www.edgepedia.org/tokyo-ep6jg0kyrw), Gainax and Warner Entertainment Japan producer Akihiko Okada explained that the strong online response and the novelty of the car-maker collaboration convinced them a TV version was worth making.[10](https://dengekionline.com/elem/000/000/978/978102/) • [3](https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1419184109)
The television series deepened what the short format could not cover. It expands the characters and story beyond the web version, and from episode 7 onward moves into new developments not depicted in the ONA at all. The five voice actors returned from the web series, and the TV version adds new character traits: Itsuki is a big eater with great strength, Hikaru is a quick-thinking young lady, and Subaru shows more initiative than her timid web-series self.[4](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/351833) • [10](https://dengekionline.com/elem/000/000/978/978102/) The series aired weekly from April 9 to June 25, 2015, and was simulcast by [Crunchyroll](https://www.edgepedia.org/crunchyroll) under the English title Wish Upon the Pleiades.[4](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/351833) • [11](https://www.hisour.com/data/wish_upon_the_pleiades/) A related 3DS home-menu theme from Furyu went on sale in Japan on June 17, 2015 for 100 yen.[12](https://www.famitsu.com/news/201506/17081082.html)
## Reception and releases
Reviewers consistently singled out the visuals. Anime UK News rated the complete collection 8/10, praising the character work, the performances of Natsumi Takamori and Houko Kuwashima, and Shiro Hamaguchi's soundtrack, while noting that the story stumbles in places, particularly the late-series revelations about Minato. Cubed3 gave it 7/10, calling the spell-circle flight sequences and a comet-chasing episode near the sun the series' visual high points.[5](https://animeuknews.net/2016/10/wish-upon-the-pleiades-review/) • [8](https://www.cubed3.com/features/anime-reviews/wish-upon-the-pleiades-complete-season-1-collection) THEM Anime Reviews described it as a G-rated magical girl and science-fiction series with no villain-of-the-week battles, in which the girls must think up different solutions to obtain increasingly hard-to-get engine pieces.[7](https://themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=1783)
In English-speaking markets, the series was licensed by [Sentai Filmworks](https://www.edgepedia.org/sentai-filmworks) in North America, and Manga Entertainment released the complete 12-episode collection in the UK on October 17, 2016 as a Blu-ray/DVD combo with Japanese audio and English subtitles.[7](https://themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=1783) • [8](https://www.cubed3.com/features/anime-reviews/wish-upon-the-pleiades-complete-season-1-collection) A 2014 manga spin-off, *Wish Upon the Pleiades: Prism Palette*, preceded the TV broadcast.[5](https://animeuknews.net/2016/10/wish-upon-the-pleiades-review/) In Japan the series has circulated on subscription services including U-NEXT and DMM TV, with availability varying by service and date.[13](https://filmarks.com/animes/604/1374/vod)
## References
1. [『SUBARU × GAINAX Animation Project』公式サイト公開のお知らせ, S×G アニメプロジェクト実行委員会 (PR TIMES)](https://prtimes.jp/data/corp/2689/8c974fd42b824f2ce0b1e2d09ebc99e1.pdf)
2. [A Look at Subaru's Japanese Anime 'Wish Upon the Pleiades', The News Wheel](https://thenewswheel.com/look-subarus-japanese-anime-wish-upon-the-pleiades/)
3. [『放課後のプレアデス』制作発表会の模様をレポート, アニメイトタイムズ](https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1419184109)
4. [放課後のプレアデス (2015), allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/351833)
5. [Wish Upon the Pleiades Review, Anime UK News](https://animeuknews.net/2016/10/wish-upon-the-pleiades-review/)
6. [放課後のプレアデス, Warner Bros. Japan](https://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/anime/wba/result/wb_anime17.html)
7. [Wish Upon The Pleiades (TV), THEM Anime Reviews](https://themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=1783)
8. [Wish Upon the Pleiades Complete Season 1 Collection Review, Cubed3](https://www.cubed3.com/features/anime-reviews/wish-upon-the-pleiades-complete-season-1-collection)
9. [放課後のプレアデス TV ドラマ 動画配信 視聴, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E7%95%AA%E7%B5%84/fang-ke-hou-nopureadesu)
10. [TVアニメ『放課後のプレアデス』は単なる"萌えアニメ"に終わらない, 電撃オンライン](https://dengekionline.com/elem/000/000/978/978102/)
11. [Wish Upon the Pleiades, HiSoUR](https://www.hisour.com/data/wish_upon_the_pleiades/)
12. [『放課後のプレアデス』ニンテンドー3DSのテーマショップで配信開始, ファミ通.com](https://www.famitsu.com/news/201506/17081082.html)
13. [放課後のプレアデスの動画配信サービス・視聴方法・サブスクまとめ, Filmarksアニメ](https://filmarks.com/animes/604/1374/vod)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Anime and manga › Anime series, episodes, and franchises › Anime television series, 2020s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license