Manga / My Celestial Family

The book cover for My Celestial Family Book 1: Sunshine the Star Collector featuring Ray (left) and Sol (right)

My Celestial Family is an Action-Comedy Manga. It is about a high school delinquent named Ray, whose "pure maiden's heart" attracts the attention of the Star Prince Sol. Ray is given the Star Bar, a device that allows him to become a Star Knight, a human who is able to fuse with stars to gain their celestial powers. As a Star Knight, Ray helps Sol save his siblings, who have been corrupted by dark matter and turned into Black Stars.

As Ray and Sol save each star, they join him on their quest to rescue their entire Celestial Family.

Written by Ace Vitangcol, illustrated by Jed Siroy, edited by Roy Vitangcol, and produced by Studio Studio and Alturia Hill Publishing, it is a Filipino comic drawn in a manga style.

My Celestial Family is currently in production, with the first book recently announced with the possibility of more books to come. Details regarding the comic can be found on the Love Is in the Bag Facebook page here and the publisher's Facebook page here.

Alturia Hill Publishing and Studio Studio's website can be found here.

Two other series by the same authors are Love Is in the Bag, and Angel Crush. Unlike the previous two, My Celestial Family is not part of their shared universe.

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Tropes employed in this series:

• Action Fashionista: Sunshine has different armor and weapons based on her mode.
• Art Evolution: The art style is substantially different from the authors' usual work, which are mainly illustrated in the Shoujo style.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: In Book 2, Ray and Stephen get into this position as they are surrounded by the Snake Gang.
• Berserk Button:
  • Do not call Ray "Baby Rocket." He much prefers the nickname "Rocket Ray."
  • Unfortunately, everybody seems to call him the former out of habit, particularly his enemies.
• Beyond the Impossible: Plenty of characters from the series fit this, but none more than the main character, Ray. Not only is he absorb a ridiculous amount of damage, he can hold off a monster that is easily a thousand times his mass from crushing him.
  And he does this without transforming into a Star Knight!
• Break Them by Talking: Stephen does this to Sidewinder, the Villain of the Week of Book 2 by reminding Sidewinder of his boxing past and how he quit after losing his championship belt. He ends up sobbing afterwards.
• Calling Your Attacks: Ray's eponymous Rocket Ray Special among others.
  The Bull: Bull...RUSH!
  The Bull: Bull...HORN!
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Both Ray and Stephen like to monologue and analyse their opponents' psyche and styles to let them know that they pose no threat.
  Ray: I know how people like you think. Your main weapon is intimidation. If you can scare someone into submission, then your job is done...but what happens if you meet someone who isn't afraid of you?
  Stephen: It took me a while to figure you out, but I did. You are unpredictable only because you kept predicting what I was going to do. Once I realized what you were looking for, it became easy to trick you.

• Clothing Damage: Ray's school uniform is constantly torn to shreds during his fights. His entire jacket and shirt is even ripped completely off when he was Punched Across the Room in Book 1.
• Curse Cut Short: Some of the expressions are cut short to add to its humor while maintaining clean dialogue.
  "What the f-"
  "Bullshiii-"

• Death Glare: Ray has a seriously mean glare whenever he wants to intimidate someone. He even does this when he is a Magical Girl Warrior!
• Delinquents: Ray is actually a delinquent, but he uses his fighting prowess to defend the helpless and protect his neighborhood rather than make trouble. Nonetheless he has a dangerous reputation, and looks every bit the part.
• The Dreaded: Ray has developed such a fierce and frightful reputation as a street brawler that gangs tend to leave his school alone. Even the sight of him is enough to cause gangsters to give up.
• Face of a Thug: Ray looks like a thug, and most strangers assume he is one.
• Frills of Justice: Worn by Magical Star Knight Sunshine, particularly in Sol mode.
• Gender Bender: When transforming into a Star Knight, Ray turns into a girl named Sunshine.
• Girly Bruiser: Ray's Star Knight persona combined with his own brawl-time tendencies makes for a very odd and un-ladylike Magical Girl.
• Good Old Fisticuffs:
  • Ray is an especially talented brawler, with no formal training in combat. Despite the lack of technique, he is quite gifted and has strong Heroic Resolve. He also has a very mean hook.
  • In contrast, other characters like Stephen, Viper, and Sidewinder all seem to have a background in boxing.
• Gotta Catch Them All: Ray has to save and collect 13 stars. He usually manages to save one to two per book.
• Handwraps of Awesome: Ray wears handwraps whenever he fights. Their purpose is inverted in that he wears these to suppress his power and protect his enemies, instead of wearing them to protect his fists.
• Henshin Hero: Ray transforms into a Magical Girl.
• In the Name of the Moon: Ray automatically speaks a variation of this when he activates the Star Bar.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: The main reason Sol chose Ray is that supposedly he has an incredibly pure heart...despite his reputation. Sol believes that Ray is Not Evil, Just Misunderstood.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Ray has a reputation as a ferocious street fighter and a delinquent, but to those who really know him, he is actually a very kind guy.
  • However, as most people cannot look beyond his scary face and his reputation, he essentially has a Hidden Heart of Gold.
• Magic Knight: In addition to his own fighting prowess, Ray gains weapons and magical accessories when he transforms.
  • In his first form, Sol mode, Ray has the Cutie King Staff, a weapon that can launch a very powerful beam attack.
  • In his second form, Sirius mode, he becomes a bit more of an Action Girl with Modesty Shorts and Grade A Zettai Ryouiki boots and gains a large cannon whose regular attack is equivalent to the super attack of his first form!
  • In his third form, Bellatrix mode, he gains Battle Ballgown armor complete with Frills of Justice, and wields a powerful hammer that does massive damage at close range.
• Mr. Exposition: Sol tends to be the one to explain the rules of being a Star Knight, as well as how Black Stars are defeated.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Ray is an Orphaned Delinquent Henshin Hero Jerk with a Heart of Gold and a good moral compass who is also a Gender Bender Girly Bruiser Magical Girl
• Old Friend, New Gender: In Book 2, Ray transforms in front of Wendy, eliciting a very strong reaction from her. And following the laws of Gender Bender, Wendy loves the new look.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Magical Girl Sunshine has several powers and attacks that can easily level city blocks.
  • Even Ray in his male human form is shown to be able to beat up and defeat waves upon waves of Mooks with ease.
• Power Makeover: While Ray is already a formidable fighter, transforming into a Star Knight grants him a myriad of new skills, such as beam attacks and various weapons.
• Punched Across the Room: When Ray fought The Bull, he is hit so hard that he is sent flying into a jungle gym across the field. Fortunately, Ray is Made of Iron, but sadly the jungle gym was not.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Sidewinder unleashes a flurry of attacks in his match against Stephen.
• Rare Male Example: The male lead gets Magical Girl powers.
• Red Baron: Ray is more infamously known by his nicknames: Rocket Ray / the Baby Rocket, because of the power of his punches.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Sirius, in both Star and Magical Girl forms.
• Slasher Smile: After bumping into Ray outside a convenience store, Viper makes this face as he announces that he's "found him!"

• Transformation Is a Free Action: The monsters don't interrupt Ray when he is activating the Star Bar.
• Transformation Name Announcement: After Ray transforms into a Star Knight, he shouts out the name of his new form.
  "Magical Star Knight Sunshine!!!"
• Transformation Sequence: Whenever Ray transforms into a Star Knight, he goes through the typical sequence, in line with Magical Girl Tropes.
• Transformation Trinket: Ray is given the Star Bar, which allows him to transform into a Star Knight.
• The Watson: Ray and Wendy play this role to allow the stars to explain key plot points to the reader.
• Worthy Opponent: Viper, the leader of the Snake Gang, seeks Ray out because he is in search of one.