Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 8

アオハライド [Ao Haru Ride] #8

by Io Sakisaka

Futaba Yoshioka has encountered her first love again in high school, but he seems different from the boy she once knew. Wanting closure, Futaba decides to confess to Kou and hear his response. Meanwhile, Toma has decided it’s time for him to pursue Futaba.

Genres: Manga, Romance, Shojo, Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 23, 2013

About the author

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)

Reviews

[Phoenix2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is starting to be one of the best manga I've ever read!! But I'll have to read the last volumn in order to be sure.

[Archit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute and sober manga. I adored seeing the chemistry between Fatuba and Kou. They make a very entertaining couple.

Recommended if you want to read shoujo manga.

[Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer · Rating 4 out of 5]

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?!

Every time I want to quit checking in with the high school crew in Ao Haru Ride a volume like this comes along and gets me hooked again. Futaba finally decides to move on. I liked how she went about it. She wasn’t perfect but when the other person isn’t doing their part in a relationship you’ve got to force yourself to let them go. And she’s trying her hardest to do that.

Toma meanwhile has decided to make his move... and I say go for it! You’re a really good guy and Futaba needs her rebound guy to be easy on her. Kominato proves to be the good friend he has been to Kou up to now. By forcing him to tell him why he’s hanging around Narumi. I’m not surprised by what Kou tells him but it still breaks your heart.

Futaba really puts her foot down when Kou starts giving her mixed signals again. It forces him to take some action of his own other than coming on to her. I really liked that she didn’t just go with the moment like I’m sure she was tempted to. And with that end I’m excited for the next volume of Ao Haru Ride.

[Leila ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Che qué onda este volumen y el anterior ??? fueron re cortos mal.

No me gusta la dirección que está tomando está historia. Que Futaba sólo vaya a salir con mi hijo Toma para olvidarse de Kou me parece un muy dick move.

Besides, me di cuenta que Toma y Ando de Strobe Edge, Vol. 1 (otro manga de la misma autora) son IGUALES, tanto físicamente como en cuanto a la personalidad. No wonder me gustan tanto ambos personajes.

3 de 5 estrellas.

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pls don't leave me like that!! I need to get vol 9 now asap...u can't just leave me!! I wanna know what happens!

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is driving me crazy, I feel frustrated, but I wanna read more, but I am upset at the turn of events. I am sad to see everything crumbling apart, the intimate relationships, the trust, the communication and the honesty. Everything is slowly fading away because of the side characters and it is so annoying. I am so sad to see my ship going through tough turns, this is torture!



In middle school, Futaba was a girl who hated guys because of the trouble they caused her. Since she was cute, a lot of boys liked her and this made girls around her jealous, causing her to have trouble making friends. The only boy she ever liked was Kou, the guy who was less manly, shorter than the average guys in his grade and had a gentle voice. Before the two can hang out and get to know each other more, Kou moved away and disappeared from Futaba's life. Now that Futaba is in high school, she decides to change everything about herself. She eats more than the girls in her grade and is very aggressive when she is near guys. She is acting this way in order to appeal as an unattractive girl to the guys in her grade. She made friends because of this, but they weren't true friends. She never expects to run into her childhood crush, who has changed as much as she has.



I hate that every single time Kou and Futaba have a cute moment, it is ruined or interrupted. But every single time they are a step closer to each other, a new obstacle arises and everything goes back to where it started. It makes me anticipate when they will get together, they are just so cute. But I just wish everyone would stop getting in the way of things. I want them to be happy, but that isn't working out because they aren't communicating properly, or being honest with each other. I just wish that things would change between the two of them.

One of the things I liked though was the fact that Futaba and Kou are closer to their friends now. They speak to their friends, hang out with them more often and talk about how they feel.


I miss the good old times where everyone was happy. When more people get into the picture, there are higher chances of drama. This makes this series even more addicting to read, even if it has a few tropes from other manga series that I have read.

I can't wait to read more, been having a rough week in school and want something to cheer me up. I'll be off to read more and hopefully solve my course schedule today!

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ Review on IG: @xojazzle
One thing about me is that I’m a girls girl! Team futaba always 🫶 love how she is sticking up for herself and doing things for her! As much as I want her and kou to be together rn, he needs to get a grip and decide what he wants. He’s too wishy washy when futaba made her feelings clear. Anyways I’m looking forward to her plans with Kikuchi and I hope that she can just let herself be happy and have fun and get her mind off kou!

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mother of teenage angst.

Lol, I can feel Kou's frustration. When he's about to choose for himself (or choose Futaba for that fact), his cellphone will blow up with Narumi's ringtone as if a wake-up call for him. That's seriously depressing, man. Kou believes he has to ask for permission to be happy, and the universe will give him this answer? I'd be depressed if I were him too. But finally, he's finally being honest to himself and decided to come clean to Narumi so he can finally confess to Futaba. And unfortunately, Futaba decided to move forward. There isn't any worst timing than theirs! Just when Futaba already leaving Sakaku Clock Tower, Kou's deciding to come to her. When will they meet each other?! (I'm just being dramatic lol, I know they'll get there. I just like to brood on these things. But hell, this is srsly frustrating!)

By the way, the filler chapter was cute!

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved, LOVED this instalment!!

My heart is full right now!

RTC

[Hardian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until I read volume 7 onwards, I thought Kikuchi was a very interesting 'second guy' character. He's the pretty-looking guy, skinny, kind and is the 'nice guy'. It caught my attention when he showed disappointment as Futaba accidentally said something which implied that he's not manly. Many characters with similar design as Kikuchi are the so-called cute-guy who is mostly lively and sometimes acts girly, like Nagisa of Free or Ariake of Otomen (though I can't say for sure since I haven't read Otomen, just seen the live-action adaptation). Meanwhile Kikuchi is actually calm and a gentleman. It's interesting to see a character like him, who is usually just a member of main female's harem or some secondary character's crush, to be a love rival for the main male character. However, the development can't maintain my first impression on him. He ended up as just expected of the 'nice guy', the boring one in the story and probably for readers. It is difficult indeed to have the nice kind of guy to rival the cool or stupid or delinquent kind of guy. The only one I can recall is Kazehaya in Kimi ni Todoke, who is even the main love interest, though I just read the first volume.

[court ౨ৎ librarycutie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not Exciting .

I enjoyed this volume but its not a favorite. I wish there was a bit more excigement . kinda love toma!!!

[Kesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our three main characters are so unlikable now I kid you not.

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

VIDEO REVIEW HERE: https://youtu.be/a4XU75uG8Bw

"Is anyone else pretending to be the person they want to be? I feel lost. I wonder…does everyone else simply know who they are?"

What an excellent volume!!!

This series continues to go above and beyond my expectations and found this volume as emotional as the last, but for different reasons. Mainly because Futaba confessed! :o :o :o

While any other time I would be completely devastated by the results that unfold, I think this volume is the turning point for both Futaba an Kou becuase of that opening quote I shared. Even though Futaba DOES change because she wants to make Kou feel a certain way, I still think this is the beginning of her choosing to grow as an individual first.

Though with that growing, Kikuchi is going to be right there and I have to say, he is one of the best love rivals I have ever read. His honesty and transparency is *everything.* He really he is the perfect high school boyfriend material and admire Futaba for not getting kept swept right off her feet when he confesses. (Like everything he said was beautiful and spoke right to who Futaba was!) That was some STRONG swoon and incredibly dreamy despite Futaba's feelings.

The end though! Gah, Kou!! And Futaba! My heart broke because of the outcome of the volume (not the bonus one-shot) and was just like no no no! I know what later volume covers look like so I know things will be okay, but I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of hurt between now and then. *cries*

And the one-shot! I LOVED it! It made Narumi feel less like the "bad guy" in my eyes because of it! LOL! Hoping we will see more of her and the characters in that story because it was really really good!

I continue to deeply enjoy this story and so so so glad that I was able to read some more of it before going to bed last night! Also one more quote because Kominato continues to be an AMAZING character! SO thankful he is Kou's best friend because he is not afraid to tell Kou how things are!

"You'll never give someone else happiness by throwing away your own!"

[Ramsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is literally:
And he says, "You look beautiful tonight"
And I feel perfectly fine
But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain
And it's 2 a.m. and I'm cursing your name
So in love that you act insane
And that's the way I loved you
Breaking down and coming undone
It's a roller coaster kind of rush
And I never knew I could feel that much
And that's the way I loved you

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se pensavi che avrei continuato a inseguirti per sempre allora continua a sognare.

[Irene exquisitepages · Rating 3 out of 5]

can everyone else just fuck off I only want kou and yoshioko to be together 😃

[Flor ):) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le tengo mucho cariño a estos personajes pero eso no quita que les quiera dar zapeas de vez en cuando. Touma me ha reconquistado con este volumen y Kou me da tantos sentimientos encontrados, no me gusta como se cierra pero no lo culpo y sólo lo quiero abrazar. Futaba también probablemente tome decisiones que me irriten pero no importa porque estoy disfrutando estos mangas muchísimo y ya quiet seguir leyendo!

[Charlotte]

Relecture le 18/02/2022

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The depiction of the aftereffects of loss is quite good in this volume. We get to see a little bit of Kou's inner life, which we haven't seen much or anything of until now. It would have been nice for the reader to get this insight two or three volumes ago, so he didn't come across as a hot-and-cold running jerk.

Still, none of this has been revealed to Futaba. Thus far, they haven't been close enough for Kou to do that, so his behavior in this volume has to be pretty baffling for her.

In the meantime, poor, doomed Kikuchi makes his move...

I liked the short story at the end of this volume a lot. I often skim or skip those, but I was curious about how Sakisaka did with a limited page count. (It's going to fall down the memory hole just like every other manga short story I've read. I have to appreciate those in the immediate moment, because that's all there is.)

[Angigames · Rating 4 out of 5]

Futaba sei mitica! Tu si che hai subito una vera trasformazione!
Ko è ora di prendere la bicicletta e pedalare! E vedi di farlo velocemente!

[Rin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy right here (the second male lead) I want him 💔

[Winna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touma is a good guy but I dont like him together with Futaba

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I love Touma more? Uh, yep, I can.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally!!! Kou talks about his emotions and how he feels for Futaba. He will, however, have to tell her before it's too late.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was really good, I'm starting to like Kou now that he has figured out what his feelings are.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, a really cute series and I love the deeper emotions this volume touches on as well. I wonder how all of this will play out in the end...

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐ Como siempre la falta de sinceridad y comunicación es un problema 😞 Futaba por lo menos ya se confesó 💔

[Kayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dios mío Kou actúa ya por favor! Date cuenta hijo.
Todo esto está muy tenso Diosito
5/5⭐

[Abbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I low key feel bad for the other dude

[Aparna]

I had to take a little break because Kou started pissing me off. He’s still pissing me for rejecting Futaba for no good reason…

… then it starts to rain and they meet at their childhood spot and I forgive him for all of his sins.