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Während der Klassenfahrt in seine alte Heimat Nagasaki setzt Kou sich ab, um Orte aus seiner Vergangenheit mit neuen Erinnerungen zu verbinden. Er bittet Futaba, ihn als Vertreterin seiner Freunde zu begleiten. Doch obwohl sie sich ihm anschließt, plagt sie das schlechte Gewissen ...

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 25, 2014

78 people are currently reading
1226 people want to read

About the author

Io Sakisaka

91 books1,532 followers
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)

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5 stars
3,488 (47%)
4 stars
2,511 (34%)
3 stars
1,095 (15%)
2 stars
163 (2%)
1 star
32 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 324 reviews
Profile Image for Victoria ✮⋆˙.
1,112 reviews128 followers
June 2, 2023
I really do like Toma but Kou is so cute and he’s so determined!! And that confession from Futaba!! Eeeeeek
Profile Image for Pinky.
640 reviews665 followers
September 13, 2016
I am so close to finishing this series and I'm so sad. I loved it so much, even though it had a few things that I noticed were repetitive when it came to Shoujo Manga. There were a lot of things that I noticed, like the fact that there are love triangles or harem when it comes to Shoujo Manga. Although it is interesting, sometimes I feel like it is forced. I hope the next manga I pick up is more refreshing and different from what I usually read. And I hope to read more novels, even though I keep saying it and not actually doing it.



In middle school, Futaba was a girl who was super cute, and had trouble making friends. This was all due to the fact that a lot of boys found her attractive, which led her to hate guys. The only exception was Kou, who was less manly, shorter than the other guys in his grade and with a gentle voice. But he moved away and disappeared from Futaba's life before they can get to know each other more. Later on, Futaba moves onto high school and decides to change. She starts to eat more and act more aggressive towards guys in her grade. This helps her make more friends and appeal unattractive to guys in her grade. But she is surprised when she runs into her childhood crush who has changed just as much as she has.

Futaba is awesome.


I never mentioned his name before, because I always forget, but Aya is a great character. He supports and is there for Kou. He wants Kou to realize that it is okay to depend on others. I love how hard he is trying to get Marou's attention, it's so sweet. He's so positive and funny, he makes me laugh a lot.


Kou is great, but I wish he were more open with others. I love that he is slowly realizing that it is alright to talk to others. Ever since he decided to help Futaba as a class representative, he has met a nice group of friends who are making so many positive impacts on his life. Yuuri is amazing as well, she is a great friend and I am glad she moved on. Marou is a motherly figure, even if she is the same age as the others. She looks out for her friends, which is why I love her so much!

The character development in this series was done so well. The characters are so different from when I first read about them. Marou has friends and she is ready to talk to others about how she feels. Futaba is ready to accept herself and be herself. If she can't be happy, she tries harder, until she can get what she wants. Yuuri looks out for her friends and is a strong girl. Aya is awesome as always, spreading his positive vibes to others. And Kou is getting used to having friends look out for him. He is slowly learning to open up and talk to others about his problems.

I love this and can't wait to read more. It's sad that I am almost finished this series, but I look forward to finishing it. I'll be off!
Profile Image for Jasmine.
138 reviews827 followers
July 25, 2022
Review on IG: @xojazzle
Feeling: conflicted lol don’t get me wrong, I love kou and futaba together and I’m glad kou is finally starting to understand his feelings and go after what he wants to move forward, but I hate that it’s out of kikuchi’s expense. I rlly like him :(( he’s so cute and so sweet and it makes me sad to see his feelings get hurt. I just think there should’ve been more respect for the relationship futaba had with Kikuchi on both sides. You really see how much Kikuchi and kou care for futaba and I love them both! Aside from this little love triangle, I loved the kominato and murao content! I hope they end up together bc I would be so happy for them :’) & shoutout to my fav girl trio I love them! They are girls girls who just wanna see their friends win and I WANT BEST FRIENDS LIKE THT! Onto the next volume 💌
Profile Image for Archit.
826 reviews3,200 followers
February 14, 2018
The series is a feel good one. You can't resist smiling, laughing and crying with the protagonists. It had all kind of characters. The group is totally fab.
Profile Image for Sasha.
103 reviews
December 30, 2014
Arg, Futaba.

description

Por culpa de este arquetipo de protagonistas -indecisa, tonta, ingenua, quejica, molesta- odio los triángulos amorosos en ocasiones. ¿Cuál es tu problema, Futaba?

description

Vale. Ya. Lo acepto. Acepto que no es el final que esperaba. ¿Que aún faltan más capítulos? ¡Pero si ya está todo claro!

Procuraré serenarme. Listo. Kou, en un inicio, me gustó (vale, me gustó muchísimo), pero cometió tantos errores (el principal: Narumi), que simplemente la situación se volvió tediosa. Súmale a ello el sufrimiento de Futaba (al estilo Bella Swan en Luna nueva) que me exasperó completamente.

description

No puedo describir la paz que me embargó el tener a Touma en este manga, lo cual era al fin y al cabo lo que esperaba luego de unas estresantes semanas de exámenes parciales Pero no me gustó que Touma haya confiado ciegamente en Futaba (en su relación) para que al final... No, no se lo merecía. Este chico nunca causó problemas a nadie. (A excepción de Kou quizá, pero él arg ¿cómo terminé enfadada con un personaje que inicialmente me tenía embelesada? #LaMagiaDeTouma)

Califico este tomo con dos estrellas por las otras dos parejas de la trama que sí me agradaron y atraparon hasta el final. .

No sé si continuar con el manga. Quizá más adelante cuando mi mal ánimo se disipe.
Profile Image for Lauren.
1,008 reviews923 followers
September 3, 2020
Really enjoyed this volume and I’m loving the character interactions!

This volume sees Futaba stand up for herself which I am glad she is FINALLY doing, Kou is still being a douche but he’s less of one than in previous volumes and Kikuchi...! I know some people think he pressured Futaba into going out with him (which he did) but his feelings for her are so genuine and at least he hasn’t dicked her about like Kou! Ahem.

Anyway...elsewhere we learn a lot more about Kominato’s childhood which I loved <3 baby Aya - so cute!! I really hope he and Murao get together in the end!

So lots of good things in this volume, the characters are developing nicely and I’m enjoying where the story is going.

5 stars
Profile Image for court ౨ৎ librarycutie.
462 reviews998 followers
August 14, 2023
OooOoh! It’s getting so interesting now. Kou and Toma are now against each other knowingly! I love that a kou isn’t giving up and just straight up is going for it. Toma is cute, he’s committed and loves Futaba but I just love Kou more, especially for Futaba, but I might be sad if Toma is heartbroken, he’s way too kind. I really liked that Kou is welcoming the memories of his past, instead of hiding them in the shadows or being embarrassed by them, and he’s even sharing them with Futaba! It’s so cute!
Profile Image for Kadi P.
880 reviews141 followers
August 11, 2021
Overall Manga Review:

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.
Profile Image for Mark.
2,804 reviews269 followers
June 5, 2020
Well, this series is coming on strong into the home stretch. This volume was really good, even as it steered away from melodrama and leaned more into precious teenage angst.

Kou has, at last, started to turn around thanks to everything and everyone that’s happened to him and he confronts his past this volume and really levels up as a character. That he does this via an unauthorized escape during the school trip and Futaba impulsively joins him at the last second is icing on the cake.

Overall, there’s a melancholy thread of denial winding its way through this volume. Futaba is so, so obviously not over Kou and as much as she frames it in friendship, what she wants is a lot more than that. Consequently, I also felt bad for Kikuchi, who I normally find annoying at best, even though he’s arguably his own worst enemy.

Kikuchi and Kou have a pretty solid throw down by way of conversation and it illustrates the reason why Kou is going to come out of this as the person Futaba chooses. Kikuchi seems hellbent on winning this for the sake of the relationship, moreso than the people involved in it (the importance he places on that charm is illustrative of this), but Kou always puts Futaba’s feelings first and considers her in a way that Kikuchi does not.

Everybody else is slowly settling into their own pairings, which is much smoother and much cuter than the rocky boat of our main couple (though Futaba’s soft drink challenge is probably the most fun scene in the book) and helps the other stuff go down smooth while Futaba is being so mixed up she keeps trying to push herself away from where her heart is.

Great read and, while we’re now drawing out the inevitable coming into the close, lots of tasty drama ahead for the next volume.
Profile Image for Laura A. Grace.
1,972 reviews310 followers
December 16, 2022
VIDEO REVIEW HERE: https://youtu.be/a4XU75uG8Bw

So with this volume I realized that it highlighted a struggle I am having currently and that is dating someone you don't fully love?

I was going to say maybe it's because I've only only actually dated once (and he's now my husband) and really struggled with Futaba still having feelings for Kou, but dating Kikuchi. Granted, that struggle is being talked about and really admired her courage in talking about her feelings!

I guess I just felt that if she had the revelation of wanting to be by Kou's side in the "adventure" he had, then shouldn't she leave Kikuchi to rethink over her feelings? Maybe that's the whole point of this volume because her friends want her to do one thing, but the heart won't be so swayed. We see those lingering feelings in Futaba's thoughts and actions and maybe that's what makes her an engaging character because relationships and emotions are anything but simple.

At least I really enjoyed Kou and his growth in this volume! I LOVED how he went after a certain thing later on despite what it meant to Futaba. (Super vague I realize but I wanted to keep that vague on purpose due to spoilers LOL) Kou really has matured and grew and 100% here for it! He has been one of my favorite shojo heroes and have loved so much about him, especially that he is facing the past and making new memories. It's beautiful!

I definitely LOVED seeing Kominato's past and learning more about him! He really is a fantastic character and find myself happy every time he is on page, though my heart definitely broke on his behalf when he finds out some news!

Yuri and her boyfriend are the absolute cutest!!

Overall, I feel maybe I liked more about this volume then I thought I did? I guess it just really bothers me that Futaba is still in a relationship with the guy she doesn't fully love, but I honestly don't know what I would do in her situation. It's not like Kikuchi is a bad guy (and HURRAH to him to finally admitting he pushed her into dating!!) and understand she doesn't want to hurt his feelings, but it doesn't feel right to me.

I'm really unsure how this series is going to unfold despite knowing what the final cover looks like. I know a lot can happen in these next two volumes so I guess I'll keep reading to find out...
Profile Image for Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎.
1,294 reviews186 followers
June 10, 2022
So, it ended up that Futaba was actually escaping from her feelings for Kou, huh. Btw, Kikuchi is a great guy, I feel sad. And finally, Kou and Narumi's confrontation. I'm hoping for a terrific penultimate volume!
Profile Image for Jenny Clark.
3,225 reviews122 followers
September 23, 2020
Again, Toma is adorable! I love his sweet and soft personality. I love how the ending is all about moving forward. Now I have to wait for the next two volumes...
Profile Image for Jess | jadecanread.
1,265 reviews190 followers
November 14, 2024
The character and relationship developments are top tier!!!!!!

RECAP: Kou sneaks out of the trip to visit familiar sites and his home, Futaba accompanies him. Kominato shares about his childhood with Shuko. Kou kisses the side of her head while she's sleeping on the bus ride back. Then he declares to Kominato and Shuko that he's going to get her back. Toma and Futaba develop more, he's uber wholesome and knows she's not 100% with him but will work to get there. Someone steals Futaba's backpack and she chases after them to retrieve her charms. Kou finds her and she faints with a fever. He carries her back and then goes back out to get the backpack. Toma and Kou postering. Ends with Toma and Futaba kissing and Kou meeting up with Narumi.
Profile Image for Valeria  .
881 reviews310 followers
September 23, 2023
Futaba y Kou necesitan CONVERSAR YA.
La manera en la que todo se solucionaría si mejoraran su cominicación.
P.D. Touma también me parece tóxico, no sé qué le ven.
Profile Image for Kesa.
580 reviews62 followers
June 28, 2022
The story is just over the top repetitive the last few volumes. Kou is really hard to bear now and I hope that Futaba chooses Kikuchi. I doubt that's going to happen but why won't Kou let her live her life?
Profile Image for lea !!.
28 reviews
November 26, 2024
SOME PROGRESS WAS MADE but she didnt even notice it IM SICKKKKKKKKKKK pleasepelasplepalsel this is so painful im gonanasnasdn jumpppmpmmpmm
Profile Image for Tamara.
142 reviews12 followers
November 5, 2022
We're still getting past the hurdle, but only two more volumes to go. I am quite glad I read the manga, because how else would I have known about the Ao Haru Ride life-action movie?! Or the fact that there is a prequel written from Kou's perspective?! Now I'll have to scrounge that from somewhere.
Profile Image for Rereader.
1,441 reviews207 followers
June 17, 2020
I am such trash for this series and I totally accept that.

This was just a fucking cute volume! I loved seeing Futaba try to make Mabuchi laugh and I am so proud of how far she has come. She still makes mistakes and still does dumb things, but she's definitely more self-aware and much more mature than even Toma. I was so damn proud when she told Toma that they had to talk about what's bothering them rather than staying silent and hoping it'll go away on its own. She's become so strong and, despite her lingering feelings for Mabuchi, wants to continue dating Toma because she's happy with him.

If there's one aspect that I don't like it's Mabuchi wanting to win Futaba back. I will admit that neither Toma nor Mabuchi are wholeheartedly "good" in this situation because Toma's said some pretty possessive things and Mabuchi's fully aware that Futaba's trying to move on and is hindering that progression. But I will say, I was impressed with Mabuchi telling Toma that THEY'RE not the ones who get to decide who she's with, that's HER decision. Wow, a shoujo romance where one of the love interests ADMITS that it's the GIRL'S decision as to who she's with, not the GUY'S??? WHAT IS THE INSANITY?!

Anyway, aside form all the drama stuff, the artwork/art style was on par as always and it was fun seeing my cute little characters interact and grow with each other. This is such a great series and I understand why it's considered a classic shoujo romance manga. Only two volumes left until it ends, I can't wait to see what happens! Volume 12 can't come fast enough!
Profile Image for Beth.
1,433 reviews199 followers
April 12, 2023
I appreciated how forthright Futaba is with Kikuchi (after a bit of waffling). I suspect that are many adults who would let things fester to the point of rupture rather than airing them out early as happens here, never mind teenaged kids, but that's okay. It's a good example for a young reader to possibly learn from.

Lots of touchy-feely, intimate, but restrained interaction between Kou, and a Futaba weakened by illness, shows Sakisaka's strengths with that kind of scene. One character brought low by illness, and the other caring for them, causing a lowering of inhibition for either or both of them, shows up in every other high school romance manga. This story has a number of very mild twists on conventional story elements like that, and the art is excellent at drawing genuine emotion from them, which makes it feel fresher to me than a lot of shoujo manga.

It's just a pleasant read all around, though--again--not recommended for readers who can't stand love triangles.
Profile Image for Estefany.
568 reviews48 followers
June 24, 2016
Ahhhhh esto fue demasiado Kou tratando de ganar a Futaba de nuevo, Touma sin querer perderla y luego Futaba decidiendo ahhhh..
Profile Image for Flor C..
183 reviews33 followers
July 1, 2017
Al fin te pusiste las pilas Kou y planteaste cara como buen contrincante! Muy bien, estoy orgullosa :)
Profile Image for Bianca .
386 reviews24 followers
March 18, 2021
Favorite scene: when Kou says Futaba is going to fall in love with him (again), but it's actually Kominato who falls is love with him HAHAHA. I REALLY LOVE THEM. THIS BROMANCE IS MY WHOLE LIFE.
Profile Image for Jul'.
661 reviews
November 20, 2020
'But... I'm the one who found you.'

this is too good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 324 reviews

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