Ao Haru Ride

Do you remember your first love? If you do, did you ever get a relationship started with that first love, and if you did, has it survived to this day? If you didn't.... have you ever wondered if you still have a chance? I first heard about Ao Haru Ride through its anime adaptation; it caught my attention before it started airing because of its beautiful artwork, so I decided to watch it. Needless to say, I loved it enough to want to read its manga adaptation, and.... well, I still loved it! In fact, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that it got a bit better past the point the anime ended at, is it?

Ao Haru Ride, known as Blue Spring Ride in English, is about a girl named Futaba Yoshioka, who, in middle school, had a hatred for all boys save one, Kou Tanaka. However, she couldn't get her feelings across to him, and soon enough, he moved away. Now, in high school, she acts as unladylike as possible, as her previous popularity among boys has caused the girls to hate her. Soon enough, however, she ends up running into the one boy she ever liked, except not only has his name changed to Kou Mabuchi, but his personality has also taken a drastic change. He says that he had returned Futaba's feelings in middle school, but things between them can never be the same.... Thus, the story starts....

The reason why I fell in love with the anime adaptation of this manga is how realistic it is; it's true that people change with time, and the relationship between others can become different if they haven't seen each other for a long time. To a certain degree, that's the same thing for the original manga; I could feel how realistic it is. However, I can't deny the fact that some elements of the story were kind of irritating, but I don't want to say what those elements are because of spoilers. All in all, though, the story of Ao Haru Ride is quite a touching one, and it's got quite a decent amount of character development, especially for Kou.

If we're going to talk about the characters in Ao Haru Ride, we're NOT going to leave out the two main leads, Futaba and Kou. Yes, Futaba can be a bit of an irritating protagonist to follow at times, mostly in the post-anime parts of the manga; she just can't seem to make up her mind. However, I loved her character to a certain degree, and actually, some aspects of her reminded me of myself. As for Kou.... well, I loved this guy through and through! Not only is this guy ABSOLUTELY HANDSOME, I enjoyed seeing him grow as a character, and he had quite a number of funny moments. The relationship between Futaba and Kou was cute as heck; whenever there was a moment between them, I couldn't help but grin like an idiot. Of course, most of the supporting characters were very likable, especially Kominato; I loved his personality, and I rooted for him and his feelings for another character, Murao.

However, perhaps the best part of this manga is its artwork, done by the same person writing this manga, Io Sakisaka. Of course, I've read some of her other manga, like "Strobe Edge", so I know what her style is like; however, the artwork in Ao Haru Ride is just ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. From the scenery to the character designs even to the occasional chibi, it's all just a pleasure to look at. As if the story wasn't already beautiful, the artwork just HAD to add to it; it's definitely one of the most beautiful shoujo manga out there.

Overall, Ao Haru Ride was a real pleasure to read; I got to relive the memories of its anime adaptation and more. If you're looking for an amazing shoujo manga, I'd recommend this one on the spot. After finishing this manga, the tears that come out of your eyes.... well, they're really pouring down, aren't they?