Boy Mets Maria contains scenes of sexual assault involving a child. Please read at your own risk.

Boy Meets Maria is a story that follows Taiga Hirasawa who had always longed to become a hero just like the movies he watched as a kid. Along with that, he also desired to have a heroine to accompany him. On his first day of high school he saw the star of the drama club “Maria” and fell in love with the idea of having her as a heroine to his hero story. Quick to act on his feelings, Taiga confesses only to find out that “Maria” was a male classmate by the name of Arima Yuu. The story then follows the path of Taiga slowly peeling away the layers Arima placed onto himself as they come into an understanding about each other’s wounds from the past.

On face value, the story feels raw. Throughout the first story it felt like I was watching a wound slowly open up to reveal patches of raw skin. Delicate, painful and dry around the edges but needs patching up nonetheless. The story slowly starts to focus on Arima’s character and we get to have glimpses of his reasoning and his part as teased as chapters pass on. I was slightly worried in the beginning as stories centered around drama go through the fool-proof factory of typical drama characters: characters that are generally birthed from tragedy.

Spoiler, click to view

I had this feeling when Taiga’s superficiality and fixation on being a hero was explained as a way to cope with a less than heroic parental relationship.

It weaved beautifully with Arima’s own story as they subsequently influenced each other’s climax and reconciliation. Suffice to say it was enough for me to like that aspect of the story.

The manga provided a new lens to look onto as the characters go through their own personal problems. I hated the heroism Taiga was donning at the beginning but the story was able to turn it around as I read on. The main focus of the story for me was Arima. He intrigued me as a character. He was rough around the edges and had a hard time coming in terms with himself due to his upbringing. I’m glad that the author was able to portray Arima’s inner turmoil in such a good and raw way to the audience. It felt like I was slowly witnessing Arima shed off his old skin into something beautiful and more him. Watching him struggle towards the way he lived as a child onto understanding what he really wanted to be was both refreshing and relieving. I was glad that they were able to be at peace with one another in the end. The characters are charismatic. As a reader you can't help but root for them and you want to see them overcome their obstacles. The only character in the story that feels missing something was the Father.

Spoiler, click to view

He was given a brief limelight due to the reveal in the end and it made him seem normal as his weaknesses and strengths was laid bare. I wanted a more thorough exploration on what was happening in his mind and how his personal story got twisted due to the distress and confusion he was going through with his fraying relationship with his wife on her deathbed.

Other than the plot aspects of the story, the art was beautiful. It fits well with the narrative and the way the author handled the heavy scenes was terrifying. It felt real and I had to pause after reading that chapter to take a breather.

In conclusion, “Boy Meets Maria” is a whirl of compelling and charismatic characters told in a new light with drama as its backdrop. It tells a lot for a story revolving around 6 chapters.