Blue Flag, Vol. 7

青のフラッグ [Ao no Flag] #7

by Kaito

Love is already hard enough, but it becomes an unnavigable maze for unassuming high school student Taichi Ichinose and his shy classmate Futaba Kuze when they begin to fall for each other after their same-sex best friends have already fallen for them.

Rumors spread like wildfire after Toma’s shocking confession during the culture festival, and Taichi feels confused and uncertain. The others in their circle are soon affected as well. Meanwhile, Toma’s brother Seiya sits him down for a frank talk. All the thoughts and emotions everyone has kept hidden are finally coming to light, and relationships begin to change.

Genres: Manga, LGBT, Romance, Young Adult, Queer, Contemporary, Comics

248 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2019

About the author

Japanese mangaka.

Reviews

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

that flashback and chapter from touma's pov is everything 💕💕

Only last volume is left and I am not ready to say goodbye.

“At the time…I…was simply happy. But…there was probably more to it than that. It was so painful and embarrassing…But I…didn’t want to let go of that hand. I was just happy to see you smiling beside me.”

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was interesting… I feel like it’s still so focused on the side characters and I just don’t care about them as much. Also some of the conversations involving gay characters made me super uncomfortable because of the homophobic comments being made by certain characters and nobody really addressing how fucked up that is?

But also the end when Toma had a conversation with his brother and then the flashbacks from Toma’s POV, this got to me! They were so cute 😭 I just need more Toma and Taichi because this is the slowest burn ever

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cómo hace uno para no llorar con este tomo si es que es imposible.

Amé la conversación de las chicas y los chicos porque por un lado ellas expusieron como Kensuke es la representación viva de un hombre hetero con masculinidad frágil y mucha homofobia interiorizada. Hay otras cosas buenas en la conversación como hablar de la complejidad de las emociones y los sentimientos; como estas son exteriorizadas y verlas más que como algo negro o blanco sino acorde al contexto en el que se dan. Sobre como si solo vas abrir la boca para despedir odio y asco, mejor no lo hagas. Sobre el acoso y lo terrible que puede ser generalizar y encasillar a los demás a base de experiencias que solo llevan irremediablemente a estereotipos nuevamente. Sobre victimizarse y enfrentar dos ideas contrarias solo para encontrar villanos. De parte de ambos encontré cosas en común acuerdo y desacuerdo pero eso, que es un disfrute ver ese tipo de discusiones.

Por otro lado, la sororidad entre Futaba, Mami e Itachi es otra cosa que me calienta el corazón, como las dos últimas priman el sentir de Futaba al verse ella afectada también por el conflicto de Touma ya que se ve inmiscuida por tener una relación con Taichi. Y luego está ese gran ejercicio de empatía por parte de Mami que me hizo llorar demasiado, protagonizando una escena con Itachi que me puso la piel chinita.

Y otra cosa que me gusta mucho es que la presencia de los adultos en la historia es un poco más notoria y teniendo a personajes como Akiko y Seiya que están allí para aconsejar, para hablar y darle confianza a los chicos es simplemente genial. Y sí, conocer al fin el punto de vista de Touma es doloroso, verlo todo a través de sus ojos es cuanto menos nostálgico y muy agridulce.

[Katie Colson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has taken a social and political turn I wasn't expecting and don't like at all.
There are so many long discussions between characters on how they should feel about someone else being gay and how that affects THEM. There are several characters who are completely accepting and are fighting for that person's rights. But there are even more characters who are loudly against it and not only throwing insults but throwing fists. And we're supposed to understand where they're coming from and feel compassion for them? Um...no. I was not okay with any of the conversations that were had about that. Rubbed me the wrong way.
This whole storyline has taken a serious turn. I'm scared to read the last volume. I already know I'm going to be upset.

[Lauren Lanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blue Flag never fails to pull at the heartstrings; volume 7 in particular featured many deep and insightful conversations that I could draw back to my own high school experience! I was delighted that Touma and Masumi’s journeys were given the spotlight this time around, they’re both so precious.

Each character in this manga is incredibly multi-faceted; even the side characters engage in introspective conversations that keep me emotionally invested in the story. Mami and Shingo are the first that come to mind—best friends with similar values but very different ways of demonstrating them. The protagonists are something amazing, though. The tension regarding Touma’s confession was more moving than I could have ever imagined.

It’s near impossible to flip through this manga without stopping to marvel at how wonderfully an expression, background or full panel was illustrated. Kaito’s art style has improved with each volume, which surprises me, since I loved it so intensely from the very beginning. I can’t believe there’s only one volume left, this manga means so much to me!

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some spoilers in this.

Well, in the last volume people finally found the capacity to be honest with each other. In this one you see that saying your truth may not immediately achieve happiness! So maybe it's safe to say what most people have known from the beginning, that Toma "confessed" that has loved Taichi for a long time. But what does Taichi, now committed to Futaba, do with that information? Well, we don't know yet, but I think we will know soon as this is the penultimate volume.

What we do get in this volume is a fight between Toma and Kensuke, who does not handle the news of Toma's confession/coming out. So in the absence of a heart to heart between Taichi and Toma, Mami and Shingo, lead a discussion on acceptance, which also includes an admission from the homophobic Kensuke that he is views (spoiler alert!) are influenced by himself having been sexually assaulted. So can we tolerate his intolerance? Can Toma? Can they find a way to still be friends? This discussion goes on a long time, and is part of the generally high drama of this particular volume, but I still liked it.

In the process of figuring out how to accept yourself and others, Taichi has to come to terms with his love of drawing/toy design, which he had decided was worthless (in the eyes of others). Be yourself. The same point gets made by the long-winded brother of Toma, Seiya, in a kind of preach way, but in the end Toma cannot bring himself to speak to his well-meaning brother.

I'll say I like it a little less than the last volume, as the talk gets less subtle and more preachy, but on the whole I still really like it.

[Nina Quill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ne me demandez pas où j’ai trouvé le courage d’enfin lire la fin de cette série…même moi je ne sais pas !! 😭😭 Une de mes séries de mangas préférées. (si ce n’est MA préférée…)
C’est en même temps rempli de romance, d’humour et de pleins de questions hyper importantes sur les relations, sur l’identité, sur la vie en général. Ça fait réfléchir et (surtout pour les derniers tomes) c’est parfois dur de voir ces personnages débattre de ces sujets qui nous concernent tou.te.s mais le format manga rend le tout beaucoup plus digeste et la romance et l’humour apportent des petites pauses dans tous ces questionnements.
Incroyable cette série. Ça y est j’ai décidé : CEST MA PRÉFÉRÉE !!!

[Hector Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

PERO ES QUE NO ME LO CREO, QUE FINAL MÁS HERMOSO, NECESITO UNA ADAPTACIÓN Y NECESITO UN PEQUEÑO EPÍLOGO SOBRE TOUMA Y TAICHI😭❤

[Ray Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ Re-read in 2022, mexican edition. ]

When you’re a teenager it’s really hard to know and understand what we want in our lives. Truth be told, at that age you kinda feel like the world is on your shoulders and whatever you decide to do, will shape your adult life –which is a lot of pressure for people like me.

Honestly, I’m just like Touma. I never knew what I wanted to do with my life, unlike so many other classmates. I just wanted to be happy but I didn’t know how to achieve that –now I know it’s just a state of mind.

Just like Touma’s big bro said, I think you have to make mistakes in order to learn and grow. We are shaped by our experiences and the people we keep close. But then again, figuring out things about yourself might come off as shocking to some, but don’t let that close your heart. Some people will love you as you are and asking for help should never be seen as bothersome.

We, as adults, are meant to help the younger people understand that they’re not alone and even if we like different things and have different identities and sexual orientations, we sure are alike. We all want a happy, easy going life.

But with that being said, I do not tolerate homophobic shitheads just like the bald guy. One thing is to have an opinion, to be ignorant about something, but it’s entirely different to be proud of a bigotry posture.

PREVIOUS REVIEWS:
Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4 | Volume 5 | Volume 6

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toma is out of school, out of sorts, and, after the tumultuous events of last volume, basically out to his classmates. With Taichi at the centre of all this and his other friends involved both directly and indirectly, Toma’s certainly thrown a lot of dynamics into total chaos. Don’t worry though, there’s never been a moment that Blue Flag couldn’t speechify.

Hoo boy. Slap on your baloney mittens because this volume is about to get ham-fisted. Blue Flag has definitely had several large wads of text thrown at the reader over its run, most notably Mami’s amazing speech about the way people judge her. This time it feels like everything is an essay being delivered by somebody and not a character moment.

The book does a couple parts well - there’s a great section between Mami and Megumi (I guess Futaba technically exists at the same point in space) where they go on about Toma and then Mami wordlessly (a rarity for this volume) puts two and two together waaaaay ahead of everybody else. It’s such a good moment and the way she and Megumi turn out to have a lot in common in terms of unrequited love is pretty sweet.

There’s also a very good scene between Futaba and Taichi as they’re studying later on, where they both ask one another why they love each other and there’s no real answer - which is good because I still don’t get it either.

We get a little bit on the nose dialogue about Taichi giving up his dreams because people might not understand them which I am surprised wasn’t hammered with more force, but really doesn’t need it because it’s still super obvious.

Toma’s un-chat with his brother is pretty good, even if it’s some really onerous ongoing narration and blah blah from one character. It at least makes the older brother less of a jerk than he’s been, although Toma still won’t admit the truth to him. This also presages a reasonably effective first-person flashback sequence at the end of the book.

No, where this book dies hard is in a really awful five-way bedroom conversation that arrives like a garbage scow pulling into port and stinks about as much. It is just this looping, relentless conversation about acceptance that by and large drove me insane.

As I noted above, this particularly reads like a prepared speech rather than natural dialogue and is full of incredibly stupid rationalizations and at least one particularly ‘after school special’ moment that doesn’t work for me at all.

And the false equivalencies are flying - is Futaba really going to explode if she finds out that Taichi sat between two fully clothed girls on a bed? Really? Hell, go for it, book, it might mean she has more than one emotion beyond ‘scared squirrel’.

Then the girls in question, who have been lambasting the dudes for slugging Toma, get the old ‘perhaps by saying this to us, you are just as irrational and trying to stamp out what you do not like’ which is utterly childish (and I suppose believably teenager in a way) and doesn’t work when you acknowledge that the girls didn’t try to punch out a gay dude.

There’s definitely a lot to chew on in this volume, but in a rarity for the series it caves in under its own tropes and mixes in just as much gristle with the meat for me this time around. If you love that bedroom conversation, well, you’re going to eat this book with a spoon. It will satisfy you completely, and that’s a promise.

3 stars, however, for me. It’s got some strong parts, some really strong parts, but they in no way overcome that bedroom scene, which is 100% the nadir of the series for me thus far. Blue Flag’s been really good about mixing drama and nuance and layers through its run and seeing it fall all over itself in the penultimate volume gives me exactly zero joy.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The aftermath of the confessions and Toma’s fight with Kensuke and Shingo. There’s a lot of more metaphorical, grand concept discussion here. This series has always been about the differences in how girls are perceived as opposed to boys in interpersonal relationships.

Admittedly, it looks like toma’s friend group is trash. Not just Kensuke being homophobic and misplacing childhood trauma with a reason to generalize all homosexual men. It’s also Shingo telling his girlfriend (that poor girl) that they’re in the wrong for judging Kensuke for being a homophobe. It’s odd, but I can’t really say the series is implying that he was right for saying that? On account of the fact that his girlfriend calls him and ass and leaves and it doesn’t really sound like the narrative suggested he and Kensuke were in the right. It was a frustrating scene though.

Anyway, there’s Kuze being so concerned with putting her feelings after whatever Taichi’s may be that Mami literally yells at her to put herself first for once. Kuze says she can only imagine how Taichi might feel if someone like her best friend Masumi confessed love to her and Masumi runs off because, of course, she does love Kuze.

It’s interesting that Mami runs after Masumi and honestly, I thought a few volumes back it’d be interesting if those two ended up together. Mostly because Mami has expressed so much frustration over being forced into a box re: gender roles. Anyway, she’s the third person (4th?) Masumi has confessed to.

The ending with Toma hit the hardest for me. There’s an overview with flashbacks to explain when and why Toma is so in love with Taichi and what Taichi meant to him. Coupled with the start when Toma was the one that first started pulling away from Taichi and telling him that boys weren’t allowed to hold hands anymore, it’s an interesting story.

I don’t really know how this series will end because it’s just building up to how everyone’s applying to college and graduating. When I read the first volume, it seemed like everything was up in the air in terms of potential endings. As the series has gone on, I really see it ending one way:
- Taichi and Kuze try to make a relationship work, regardless of if they end up going to the same college.
- Taichi and Toma repair their friendship and Toma tries to embrace his future and fall in love with someone else
- Masumi gets into college (maybe the same as Kuze) and tries to embrace her future and fall in love with someone else. Hopefully learning to accept herself.

This series ends more as a discussion of what it’s like to be awkward, lacking in confidence but fit within society in terms of sexual orientation v being popular, outwardly conventionally attractive, but wanting to change yourself and be someone else because your wants and desires don’t fit within what’s expected from society. Kuze and Taichi weren’t popular, but their desires made them “normal”. Toma, Masumi and Mami were popular but their desires made them “abnormal”.

[Jen (thisbeereads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this series definitely specializes in deep and profound conversations on complex topics from the messy lens of growing teenagers - but they maybe got a bit too above my pea brain in this one 😅 emotions all coming to a head and i’m not sure i understood hardly anyone’s pov on the matters, but my gut is in KNOTS

[debs ༉‧₊˚. · Rating 3 out of 5]

╰┈➤ 3.5 stars

[Johnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My heart. Oh gosh. This volume would’ve gotten 5 stars if it weren’t for the over-explaining parts of the initial chapters. To some degree it’s wonderful hearing all this insight but at some point, it’s just like… ok, let’s get this rolling!!!

Favourite part - the little drawings of the hamsters. I laughed out loud. Why are they so cute?

[jemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lloro. Qué buen tomo.

[agajae · Rating 5 out of 5]

It deserves more than 5/5.

[jut · Rating 4 out of 5]

this......made me cry and only god knows why, the last chapter? chef's kiss!

[emery · Rating 4 out of 5]

they're stressing me OUTTTTT

[Olly · Rating 3 out of 5]

ultimi capitoli molto toccanti, ben realizzati.

[Adam M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I sat on this review for a long time. Here's why this is a lower rating from me: I loved this series and it was a combination of "right place/right time" when I read it to land so hard with me. As it reached the end it got both heavy handed and overly-scripted. For instance, chapter 44 is so densely crammed with speech bubbles the characters kept getting crammed into corners of the panels. There are lots of confessions, some pretty one sided conversations and a couple of discussions that are straining themselves to show every side and angle you could take. This series does better when it has a chance to breath and let some tension build. There was still tension here, but at times it felt a little forced. Also, Seiya doesn't get nearly enough credit - he's a good brother.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have biases or prejudices, does that mean that you shouldn't speak of them? Is it wrong to view others using the same lens through which you view yourself? What happens when you can't even whisper the truth that you want to shout?

This penultimate volume of Blue Flag is, it must be said, more heavy-handed than it perhaps needs to be. Three-quarters of it is characters sitting and talking things out, trying to find their way through the aftermath of Toma's confession and the rumors caused by his fight and suspension. These are all things that need to be talked about and said aloud, but there's almost too much of it - it makes for a denser book than we strictly need. On the other hand, having everyone else talk while Futaba, Taichi, and Toma are largely silent emphasizes how this is less about their own feelings and more how the world views their shared drama, and once again, we are guilty of doing the same thing. How many people want Taichi to end up with Toma because Toma "deserves it?" Or because a straight love story is "boring?" Or simply because you, the reader, like Toma better and have made it about your feelings and not Taichi's?

As 19th century New England author Joseph C. Lincoln said, "It may be true that Love is blind, but it is equally true that all the rest of creation has their eyes wide open to watch the sightless god upon his way." But really, is it our place to judge?

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue Flag goes into the final act as the truth is now out.

Without spoilers I really love ALOT here. I think there's some powerful speeches from people. I think feelings finally are starting to get resolutions. I think people are being HONEST with each other. I think the truths of why people have certain view points are finally coming out in interesting ways. I think a lot of it works.

I will say it gets ham-fisted at points. This happened before but there's a 5 way argument that feels WAY to scripted at points. It goes on too long. There's great parts in there but overall it's a bit disjointed.

But a lot of the rest works. There's a theme here of learning, accepting, respecting, and living life the way you see fit. I just hope our characters can do that in the final volume coming very soon.

[Leila ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Todo el capítulo de Touma y el hermano... don't touch me I'm emotional.

Este volumen se me hizo bastante insoportable. Todos los "amigos" de Touma intentado justificar por qué son unos homofóbicos de mierda, y cómo está bien que no lo acepten porque "no es normal": desagradable. En realidad todos los ideales retrógrados japoneses me parecen desagradables. ¿Tanto les cuesta no meterse en vidas ajenas y dejar que la gente ame a quien quiera amar?

Estoy muy preocupada, porque no siento que la historia vaya a terminar como yo quiero que termine. Y si sí llega a pasar lo que quiero que pase en el siguiente volumen, no sé cómo podría hacer la autora para desarrollarlo apropiadamente en menos de 8 capítulos...

3 de 5 estrellas.

[Marc D. ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 estrellas.

Admirable, tanto los diálogos como el arte están a otro nivel 🥹

Tardé bastante en leer este, cerca de 11 días porque me agarró un pequeño bloqueo en el medio y me costó lidiar con personajes y su homofobia, sentía que me incomodaba demasiado.

Pero bueno, ahora he terminado este tomo, que nos dio un vistazo desde el punto de Touma, y eso me pudo por completo 🥺😭 tanta ternura y tanto dolor ahí juntitos. Sentí que fue el cierre perfecto para el tomo.

Ahora solo me queda el último y el miedo de cómo se resolverán las cosas 🥺 Kaito sensei no me decepciones 🛐

[Al S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Damn.. the homophobia is real. Sure there were characters that stood up and called it out, but the excessive dialogue about how they weren’t seeing things from “both sides” was droll and didn’t convince me of anything. What sides?? Homophobic and NOT homophobic?

All for these characters to remain friends anyway.

Don’t get me started on the reasoning why.

Justice for Toma.

[Ana Fleitas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gimme a sec to get my heart right out of that blender. This is ending next month and I'm WRECKED!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The facts and history are really being laid out here between all these friends. Someone who comes out can feel like the newly informed people are too judgemental, but there are two sides to this coin. These 'judgemental' people are surely allowed to have their own thoughts. If everyone just smiles and gets along superficially, then do we truly have real friends?

There was drama, but this came from feelings being expressed. So much involves the timing: someone who comes out has already been dealing with who they are inside for a very long time, whereas this revelation to friends/classmates/family might all be new, even if it was slightly suspected.

There's no way you could understand what it's like
for people who don't dare whisper what they want to shout.

Everyone has their own internal baggage too. None of us is perfect and we all have life-experiences that might predispose our acceptance levels. Some of this history might not be pleasant, and even if we know it exists within us, we still remained steered by our life events.

Feelings aren't "good" or "bad." They just are.

We all have trouble following our true inner-self.

It can make you really uneasy when other people don't validate what your like.

Words of wisdom here in conversation punch through to the reader per being invested in wanting all these characters to be their true selves.

Live your life freely, however you want.

Strongest volume in this series so far.
4.75*

[Rachel Kathryn Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has been nonstop pulling on the heartstrings typically with Taichi, Futaba, and Toma, but in this it expanded to even more characters. There were more insightful conversations that continued from the last volume and new ones. There was also so much character growth and development including the side characters. Like Masumi, started to show a lot more in the last volume but in this we see so much more from her. And Toma’s brother Seiya, we got to see another side of him from looking back into Toma and Taichi’s childhood and his conversation with Toma. Also we learn why Kensuke reacted the way he did when he heard Toma’s confession. We also get to see more from Mami and Shingo, who also help some of the other characters express themselves and try to understand other perspectives. The story continues to get more intriguing and I am really excited to see how the series will come to an end. While the storyline and characters continue to get better so does the art, it is so beautiful and well detailed. Overall, this is one of my favorite manga series and I can’t wait to see what is to come next.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a lot of discussion about homophobia in this volume, and in an unfortunate misstep for the series, it came off a little, well, homophobic to me, with one character seemingly getting a pass for his position due to . . . special circumstances? Mixed message to say the least.

The teen drama of the early volumes has given way to preachy teens who are very earnest but whose arguments don't seem well thought out.

[Lau Suigeneris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Demasiados sentimientos, no puedo con vida. Entre Touma, Masumi y Mami me están haciendo llorar MAL, les amo demasiado.