Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen a love story that crushes my heart as much as this. Bloom Into You is one hell of a surprise to me. Now I’ll admit, I wasn’t too big on this series when I first read the first chapters. I initially thought it would be a mediocre snorefest with a plot that’s boring and might as well call Yuu a generic moeblob. But as soon as I catch up with the chapters I’ve been missing out on, I really love it. It’s an amalgamation of elements that’s already been done before and converts them into a bundle of true beauty. This series has only gotten even better for me when I give it a few re-reads and such.
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This series starts off with a girl named ‘Yuu’ thinking about her love for Shoujo manga and wanting to find the true answer to what love actually is. When she enters high school, she doesn’t know how to communicate with other people around her. Later, she encounters a student council president named ‘Nanami’ and both of them get along with each other. Like I said, on my initial read, it doesn’t feel any special. Not really a bad thing, but it could pick up more uniqueness to its story structures. But just reading more of it makes me realize that it shows what it is and how it really is built like that.
To me, Bloom Into You arguably isn’t really a romance story. By the time you’ve read a total of 44 chapters, you’ll start to forget that it has a ‘romance tag’. Think about it, it’s more on finding what the concept of ‘love’ actually is. Even if Yuu gains more experience from her friends, she still struggles to find the true answer behind that. It’s really sweet to see quite a lot of character interactions that are wholesome yet complicated and have a lot of interesting topics to go over. Each discussion has a fantastic focus on a character’s struggle with love and/or what a character is suspiciously doing.
My personal favorite aspect of the story is how Yuu and Touko hang out with each other, talk things through, and later, reveal their colors. Both are in a situation where they have a hard time trying to reach the definition of love together. This series truly knows how to pace a shocking scene. It takes time for character interactions to go on until the drama unfolds. All of this is achieved without any bit of cheap melancholy. Personally, it may technically not be the most complex love-based story out there but for how it’s constructed, how can I even forget about it one bit? It’s masterfully written and it never gets old to read.
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The characters are my personal favorite part of the story. We have two main characters, both of which consist of Yuu, a first-year student who struggles to find love, and Nanami, a second-year student who tends to be kind of toxic at points. Both are just really phenomenal. They play an amazing contrast to each other and truly have a lot of elements that tie well with the story. Yuu is adorable and relatable, and that’s not even the true fraction of her growth for me. The real deal here is how she talks with not just Nanami but also the side cast. Yuu’s monologues really helped me with the stories’ definitions and she really delivers them very precisely.
Although Yuu is my personal favorite of the two main leads, Nanami is also phenomenal and is, admittedly, the character in the series I relate to the most. Sure, she can act toxic but to me, that is for the right reasons. Nanami is a tragic figure. She worked so hard ever since her elder sister died and she has yet to achieve her happiness. That is when Yuu comes to her for comfort. Both Yuu and Nanami have not only incredible chemistry with one another but with that, they also coincide with the story’s themes excellently.
Of course, we can’t ignore the supporting characters as well. I’m not going to talk about all of them but hey, there are ones that are possibly just as amazing. Sayaka is an amazing obstacle to Yuu and/or Nanami and is probably my favorite third wheel in anime/manga. She tends to be Yuu or Nanami’s way due to how she feels, especially in a love relationship. But at the same time, she tends to act empathetic towards them, and that empathy truly adds a contrast to how strange her actions can be. Maki is also a great addition. His moments with Yuu are cute and funny but also dynamic and straight to the point.
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While this doesn’t add to the story at all, how can I forget about the art? It’s simplistic yet it’s sweet, shiny, and truly adds to the overall aesthetics. That’s all there is to it, really. It’s an art style that’s just very pleasing to look at.
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Even by non-Yuri standards, Bloom Into You is what I personally believe to be the best Yuri series and one of the best romance (or preferably love) stories of all time. For only 44 chapters, it packs a lot of things that tend to be mindblowing when it comes to character relationships and drama. I probably don’t think there are main character duos in other love stories that come close to Yuu and Touko. I just think they’re downright amazing. With that being said, this is probably your best stop if you’re big on romance and/or drama. Thanks for reading! 
