Blau: Wie Himmel, Meer & Liebe 05

Blue [ブル] #5

by Kozue Chiba

After three years Mimi comes back to the island where she had spent her childhood. She is greeted by her childhood friends Yousuke, Sumire and Hikari. Heartbroken in Tokyo, she has now came back to the beautiful island surrounded by the deep blue sea.
But among this four friends, friendship soon turns to love…!? A blue world spreads before your eyes, an unforgettable story begins.

Genres: Manga, Shojo, Comics Manga, Romance, High School

196 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2011

About the author

千葉コズエ

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review for complete series



After facing problems at school, Mimi decides to leave Tokyo behind to return to the small island she grew up on. Soon she is greeted by her three childhood friends who welcome Mimi back to the island. It seems not much has changed in the time they have been apart, except, perhaps, when it comes to matters of the heart.

This review may contain spoilers!

I feel very torn when it comes to Chiba's first longer series Blue. It brings along several typical shoujo tropes but delivers them in an unusually realistic light. Chiba draws on quite a range of different subjects and handles most of them very well - it is just unfortunate that the weakest aspect of this story is the romance, especially given that its main genre is just that.

Mimi is a likeable but somewhat tiring main character. She is introduced as confident and upbeat, though we see many insecurities underneath as the plot progresses. Having a character put on a happy attitude to hide their pain is anything but uncommon in manga, yet I found Mimi's story particularly well done in this regard. I think a lot of it comes down to her not actually fully realising the pain she is in. Although we only get to see her mentally unstable mother, it's already more than enough to show that Mimi's family situation is very unhealthy. This results in isolation at school which ultimately gets her involved with a manipulative teacher which then, in turn, leads to bullying once they've been discovered. While none of this happens during the main plot, it is detrimental to the events that follow.

Returning to the island was ultimately triggered by the teacher dumping her - Mimi is left with suicidal thoughts which at the time she thinks is purely based on her disappointment in love. The more we learn about Mimi, though, the more it becomes evident that her family is the main source of her pain. The problem with her is that she doesn't realise how much it's affecting her and she puts on a happy face trying to convince herself as much as those around her. In a way, I thought it was fantastically done, but on the other hand, she could be very tiring at times. She has a tendency to run away from problems and there are times when one simply has to be honest with others - that is something that she doesn't learn until very late in the story, no matter how often others explain it to her.

The main plot, however, focuses on Mimi's friendship with Sumire, Hikari and Yosuke. It's hardly a surprise when a circle of friends consisting of two boys and two girls turns complicated once romance becomes involved. Everyone seems to be in love with the wrong person - the great thing is that they genuinely care about each other and want to keep each other happy. So there's a lot of struggle between romance and friendship loyalty which I felt was also well and realistically done. Unfortunately, Sumire got on the bad side of me pretty early on which ruined the dynamics between these four. In addition, I didn't feel the chemistry between the main intended couple.

Another reminder that this review is not spoiler-free!

So, let's get to the bottom of this love square. Hikari has been in love with Mimi since their early childhood and has never been shy to let everyone know. Mimi loves him too but takes a while to come around given her history with her teacher. Of course, Sumire has always been in love with Hikari and Yosuke is in love with Mimi. I'm sorry to say that Mimi and Hikari's romance is the one to win the race. The truth is that I didn't think there was any real chemistry between them. Hikari is such a cheerful character that it borders on being carefree. I don't believe he can actually grasp Mimi's painful experiences and he shows that often enough by telling her she overthinks things. One could argue that his sunny nature ought to balance Mimi's darker sides, but I don't see that as being the solution to her problems.

Yosuke, on the other hand, is a quiet and much more mature character. He understands Mimi better than she does herself which is why she is always open up to him rather than to others. Given that Mimi is often forced to play the adult and look after her mother, I really feel that she herself needs someone mature to look out for her. I just can't get my head around why she would end up with someone so merry she can't even show any of her fears to, instead of someone who understands her perfectly and can actually help her with her fears. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Sumire is a different story; she is actually a very kindhearted friend who supports the entire cast throughout. That is, with the exception of an early scene. Sumire makes a pretty serious claim to Mimi which turns out to be a lie told in spite. Sure, Sumire apologises and is a perfectly supportive character from thereon. However, I just found that her lie was a really low move and while her friends could get over it, I as a reader couldn't.

So, I'm sad to say that I didn't really like the romance in this because there was a lot of potential. I'm still inclined to give Blue a good rating for the other aspects it delivers. Not least of all is the art; although I don't like the first volume's cover art very much - there's something off about Mimi's face - I love the rest of the art. There are a lot of beautiful illustrations that show the three friends spending time together and of course lots of ocean sceneries. The illustrations on the inside are both delicate and expressive and Chiba has even improved in drawing adult characters. What's a bit of a shame is that she occasionally used photographs as backgrounds. It happens in manga now and again and I can understand it for certain sceneries, but it felt wholly unnecessary in this manga. The photos are a tad too obvious and feel out of place next to the other drawings. This is especially true because sometimes the same object or place was drawn and photographed within the same page. For example, you'd see a perfectly well-drawn ship next to another panel showing a photographed version. Obviously, Chiba is capable of drawing the said ship so it makes the photographed panels just look like lazy work. Nevertheless, this is definitely a beautifully drawn manga.

[Soobie is expired · Rating 1 out of 5]

No, non ti merito. Sì, ti mollo perché non son degna di star con te. Forse è meglio che stia con Yosuke, perché con lui posso essere me stessa...

Non mi piace quando le autrici comincia a usare i tira e molla per far avanzare la trama.