La compassion de Kô envers Narumi trouble Futaba, qui se sent éconduite. Elle en vient à ne plus trop savoir comment se comporter face à Kô. De son côté, Kikuchi se rapproche de plus en plus de Futaba...
Io Sakisaka (咲坂伊緒) is a Japanese manga artist. She also designed the characters for the anime movie HAL. Her works are:
-Call My Name (2001) -Watashi no Koibito (2002) -Bye-Bye, Little (2002) -Blue (2006) -Mascara Blues (2007) -Strobe Edge (2007) -Ao Haru Ride (2011) -Sono Omokage o Shitteru (2013) (oneshot) -Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare (2015) -Otome no Itari (2020) (oneshot) -Sakura, Saku (2021)
Hmm, seriously, why?! I love both male leads!! I can't decide now for whom to root for! Which means that this manga is really good, if it can make me feel that way. Hopefuly, it will keep it up till the end.
I'm getting a little tired of the main ship in the series having obstacles every single time they almost get together, though I'm not sure which guy I'm rooting for that this point because both outcomes are quite cute...
ugh so this left in, of course, a cliff hanger! i didn’t enjoy this as much as the previous mangas because i’m tired of the main “otp” always having an obstacle right when there’s a chance. imight try and grab vol.8 soon but i’m in no rush.
Review on IG: @xojazzle This felt a little slower compared to the last couple of volumes, but I still enjoyed it. Futaba and Kou r still trying to figure out how to navigate everything going on and ahhh it’s making me go crazy! It sucks how things never really work out for them but I feel like one thing that makes this so good is that idk which male lead I like more?! I really love them both for different reasons! Kikuchi is so so cute and I love how much he’s interested in Futaba! But kou will always be her first love and I’m a sucker for that. But kou always needs to GET A GRIPPPP and drop tht other girl. She irks me. I rlly rlly dislike her. SUCHA PICK ME. I get she’s going through stuff and I feel so bad But I think she’s incredibly selfish. She’s also a female Leo so ik why I hated her from the jump (as a female pisces I 90% of the time hate female leos) anyways there was a little bit on murao! I loved her getting her own little segment eventho it was a little taboo hehe I hope things spark with her and kominato🤭
In middle school Futaba Yoshioka thought all boys were loud and obnoxious... except for Kou Tanaka. They agree to meet to go to a summer festival together but he never shows up. Fast forward to high school where she meets Tanaka again, but he's totally different and that even includes his name! Will they be able to rekindle what they had in the past?!
The Premise
In Ao Haru Ride vol 7 Shoko, Futaba's cool friend, takes center stage when the teacher she's crushing on gets in a scandal... with Futaba!! I really enjoyed how this student on teacher crush played out. It's so inappropriate for a teacher to even entertain the idea of playing with a student, and teens reading this series need to understand that nothing should come of it. Shoko's bravery in how she reacts to the scandal really inspires her to realize she needs to change her tactics with Kou and take the steps she needs to for herself. Go female empowerment, go!
The Buzz
I liked how Futaba takes the initiative (i.e. butts in) on Kou's relationship with Narumi in Ao Haru Ride vol 7. It's exactly how a teenager would think to react. And I think Narumi's reaction is classic high school girl. Like Futaba though I thought she was a bit crazy. It did make her conclude Kou's feelings. I don't blame her. Kou is jerking her around. I think he worries about carrying about someone after losing his mom who he loved so much... but he doesn't handle it right. (Total high school so perfect!)
The Feels
Toma melted my heart in Ao Haru Ride vol 7... this boy!! I love him so much. This is where the really good boy is overlooked for the boy who jerks the girl around. And make no mistake Kou is jerking Futaba around. But you know what... this girl friendship is going to last the years and these trials are going to make the foundation lasting. And Futaba and Toma's friends fighting and making up over them us super adorable... I need more moments like this one!!
The Visuals
Do you see that cover for Ao Haru Ride vol 7? This is why I kept reading... Hahaha! I love color that much. But seriously the art fully supports this story. I love Futaba's face when she's facing feelings and moments that are hard for an insecure high school girl. We don't get Kou's face quite as much and I think that is how it should be. Sometimes we're so concentrated on our own feelings at this point in life that we miss the other person's reaction.
Ao Haru Ride vol 7 bonds the girl friendship between Shoko, Yuri and Futaba with a shocking scandal! We see that Kou's lackadaisical feelings lie at fault... and he doesn't mince bones about coming to his older brother's defense, even if he's a teacher. You won't want to miss this high school angst...
Thanks to Edelweiss and VIZ Media for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. It has not influenced my opinions.
This is a multi-volume series and there may be references to the plot of those volumes... SO READ WITH CARE! Here is my review of 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
______________________ Please like this review if you enjoyed it! *bow* *bow* It helps me out a ton!!
Yuh, it runs in the Tanaka blood—they don't know any sense of distance. They are like the moon—sentimental, gloomy, glows in the dark, and they just pull you in, tempting you to keep an eye on them. By the way, I love Murao's evolution here! And yes, I'm already at volume 7 and I haven't said anything about how gorgeous the art is! It was the first thing that I liked about this before.
Lol, reading this while listening to Gravity by Bump of Chicken. Another Io Sakisaka theme song. And one of my faves!!
Kou is still the doghouse for me. Futaba still deserves better and that is a hill that I’m going to stay on. Don’t even get me started on Narumi! *eye roll* I get that she’s going through stuff, but she needs to be honest with herself and with Kou. However, Kou could still help her out with her grief without shutting Futaba out the way he did. I hope something gets resolved in the next volume.
Kou ha elegido quedarse con Narumi y ahora ignora un poco a Futaba y ella no sabe cómo sentirse al respecto ya que por un lado no quiere volver hablar con él pero por el otro no puede evitar sentir tristeza al ver como Kou se alejá de ella. Futaba no es la única que se ha percatado de este cambio, sino que también Kikuchi y Yuuri se han dado cuenta. Kikuchi por su parte está feliz de esta separación pues para él representa una oportunidad con Futaba pero Yuuri no está muy feliz con eso pues ella sabe lo que Futaba ha pasado para estar con Kou y no piensa dejar que Kikuchi saque ventaja de la situación.
Por otro lado Tanaka, el hermano mayor de Kou se mete en un apuro por pedirle un favor a Futaba y ahora toda la escuela cree que hay algo entre ellos pero la realidad es que Futaba no es la estudiante que de verdad fue a la casa de Tanaka.
Después del beso en el tomo anterior pensaba que las cosas iban a cambiar entre Kou y Futaba pero lo que no me esperaba para nada fue que el cambio fuese a ser para mal. La relación de ambos ha regresado al inicio y ahora cada uno va por su lado. Kou por su lado quiere servir de apoyo a Narumi aunque no sea lo mejor para él y le traiga recuerdos dolorosos y Futaba tendrá que aprender a vivir con la decisión de Kou.
Three volumes into my current progress with Ao Haru Ride, I've finally gotten back into its headspace. What this says about my mentality is up to you... anyhow, it's much more pleasant to just roll with whatever a comic has going, than to be constantly in a state of bristly resistance against it.
Futaba confronts Harumi on what I consider to be extremely shaky foundations. As often happens with Futaba, her "reasoning" is based on selfishness. In this case it's somewhat worse because, at least to start with, she believes that she's doing it for Kou's sake. Harumi does not concede the battlefield, and events later on make Futaba acknowledge that her assumptions or intuitions regarding Kou were incorrect.
The other major plot thread in this volume deals with Shuko's crush on Mr. Tanaka.
The cover art's changed a bit. I do like the take on color, even if Futaba looks like she's sun- or wind-burned.
I was trying to find the quote I wanted to use before my review but couldn't find it again because I was too busy rereading certain scenes! LOL!
I'm not even sure what my favorite part of this volume was because I enjoyed this one so much! I suppose many could say this was a drama and angsty-filled volume, but I feel we have a much more in-depth look into characters (and their actions) that I didn't feel disappointed by the lack of any hand-holding or kissing. LOL!!
I continue to adore Futaba! I didn't think she was wrong in assuming what she did about Kou and what she said to Narumi. I admire her courage in doing what she feels she can to help Kou not be the person who he once was. However, we ALL grow and deeply enjoyed seeing Kou show that he IS different, regardless of who he may be around. (Obviously the people we hang around DO effect us, but I just like seeing them both change despite assumptions they both have made.)
The situation with Mr. Tanaka was SO good! I have always enjoyed his character but it was fantastic seeing him react to a certain conversation later on. He is awesome and was thankful that everything turned out all right by the end. (I actually want to say more, but everything I'm trying to write comes out like a spoiler by accident. LOL!) Though I'm not going to deny that I caught myself completely frozen at first!
I really admired Yuri and Shuko's courage shown in this one. While they were both different because of the conversations, these two young women continue to touch me and deeply love these three girl's friendships. <3
Such a great volume and SOOOOOO ready for the next one! Just like ugh, why can't dinner cook itself so I can keep reading! LOL!
Okay, I'm not having any of Narumi's bullshit. I understand she's been through a lot, but lying and emotionally manipulating someone else to be with her because she's scared to be alone is NOT FUCKING ACCEPTABLE. That isn't to say that Futaba was in the right confronting her the way she did, especially because she doesn't have the whole story. Even though I agree with Futaba in the sense that being Narumi isn't healthy for Kou, Futaba didn't handle the situation as sensitively as she could have.
I am so happy that the situation between Shuko and Mr. Tanaka was handled well and wasn't romanticized. I'm glad both of them walked away unscathed and I ADORED how supportive Yuri and Futaba were. In fact, that's something I want to discuss; the emotional growth and support present in this series. While it may seem unrealistic or superficial, I really do love how much emotional growth Futaba has undergone and LOVED that she recognized her actions could negatively affect her friends. Yuri, Shuko, and Futaba are great friends and showcase a kind of female friendship I wish was present in more media *coughYALITERATUREcough*.
This series is blowing me away with how good it is and I am so happy I gave it a shot. Can't wait for volume 8!
I really wish that Kou soon makes up his mind about what he really wants and stop getting emotionally manipulated by Narumi. I loved getting to know more about Murou. Seeing the girls being there for each other is so heartwarming. The friendships in this series is getting stronger chapter by chapter. I'm here for it. I also enjoyed the issues of student-teacher relationships that were raised in this volume. I'm not sure how I feel about Touma, I like the tension he brings to the romance but then he's not a really great guy. Ugh! so confusing.
sooo erm idk about you guys but im kinda weirded out by the whole tanaka and murao thing cause thats a teacher and a student??????? hey but at least its not gonna be a thing anymore!!!1!!11!!1 also reminder: tanaka is 25 and murao is erm...16.. which makes it weird for me...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The overarching theme of this volume seems to be a releasing of selfishness and consideration of others' points of view, as some characters take on more empathetic perspectives.
Yo definitivamente tmb le diria a Kou que es un idiota, tenerle un exceso de compasión a alguien es más malo que dejarla “sola” no la esta ayudando en nadA
Wonderful in some aspects but questionable in others, this was certainly an interesting manga.
One thing that was fantastically done in this manga series was the exploration and representation of grief and the long-lasting impact a parent’s death can have on a child.
The exploration of true friendships was also nicely done, especially with the protagonist letting go of her fake friends and making new friends with whom she went through hardships with but still came out well on the other side due to genuine communication and understanding between them all.
The romance was mostly cute and it certainly started off nicely but it got really murky and messy as it went on. The introduction of the second love interest threw a spanner in the works and to be honest, this was the one instance in which I rooted for the second love interest over the main love interest.
There were some problematic things in this manga that I really wish hadn’t been there. 1. The indecisiveness of the protagonist coupled with the irritatingly dumb decisions of the main love interest became a bit annoying, especially as the right-person, wrong-time scenarios kept cropping up so that the protagonist and main love interest went round in circles constantly. 2. The way the female rival love interest used her unfortunately sad situation to manipulate the main love interest into being with her even though she knew that he wanted to be with the protagonist was awful, exploitative and downright shady. 3. The protagonist made a good decision to move on from the main love interest when he chose to look after the rival love interest instead of being romantically with her. Yet those were all words and no action because the entire time she was with the second love interest she was pining for the main love interest. And it was made even more pitiful by the fact that she knew she didn’t love the second love interest but still insisted on being with him and hurt him by being overly enthusiastic in her actions but not really feeling anything towards him. She led him on and then dropped him like a stone the moment she could go running back to the main love interest after deluding herself that all the terrible decisions she had made and lies she’d told the second love interest were in his interest and only done with him in mind. In actuality, the protagonist acted in a way that was cruel and selfish. 4. The main love interest was sometimes mean too. He managed to make the protagonist cry on more than one occasion with his unnecessarily harsh words and worse, his borderline sexually abusive actions. The scene where he tried to scare her into protecting herself around guys by getting on top of her and pinning her to the ground was insane and the fact that all she did was cry was even more insane. She wasn’t mad at him at all afterwards even though he had severely abused his position as her friend. The lack of consequences for his actions just showed the kind of toxic love between the protagonist and the love interest that hurt themselves and everyone around them.
And so, despite how cute this manga appeared at times, it grew harder and harder to ignore all that was wrong with it and all the blatant issues cast long shadows over the strengths of this manga.