Ao Haru Ride

                                                                                    

                                       Futaba Yoshioka and Kou Tanaka                                          

                  

           

Name: Blue Spring Ride / Ao Haru Ride

                       

Chapters: 49 + extra

Seasons: 1

Total Episodes: 12 + 2 OVA

Genres: Romance, Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life

Summary:

Futaba Yoshioka, a 16 yo girl, acts 'unfeminine' and 'wild' when she enters high school in order to fit in with the rest of her classmates. Then, one day, she bumps into her first love, Kou Tanaka, who had moved to Nagasaki in the middle of his middle school session. He now seems cold and indifferent and has changed his surname to 'Mabuchi'. Futaba learns that his mother  had died when he moved with her and while comforting him, falls for him once again. 

.**.

This manga did not have a very good  first impression on me but as I read further, I found it pretty interesting. It is not extraordinary (doesn't need to be) but unique and refreshing. It was heartwarming and emotional and funny throughout the story.

Firstly, Kou, the trash as I called him, became my favourite character towards the end. I found him a little annoying at first, but later, he had a huge development and became pretty much decent. It was also a very good choice of the author to reveal his backstory later and not in the first few chapters. His character was the most detailed I felt. 

Secondly, Futaba, our Female Lead. I like how she put some efforts to make friends and not someone who was naturally famous. Her character was the most relatable one. Also, her emotions and her personality is somewhat appealing to me. She seemed a bit stupid to me though. 

Now as for the supporting characters, I did not like them that much but I guess they did the job. They were not the best but average. The only twist I actually liked was Murau's crush on Kou's older brother. I think that was a pretty good detail the author added. 

And finally, THE ART! It was the best. I mean compared to the other art styles, I personally think this style is my new favourite. The expressions, illustrations and the angles were very well planned unlike the other shoujo mangas. 

Overall, I found this manga extremely satisfying and funny. Though some readers claimed that it was cliche, I think it was a cute kind of cliche and not the annoying one. I defenitely recommend it. 

. . .

Okay now I'm off!

Sayonara ~