Ao Haru Ride - Reviews

so much drama and the characters r so unbelivably frustrating sometimes 

This manga is great, and I say this because I'm not into shoujo manga, but this manga captured my interess and made me want more of it.

I mean, the moment when Futaba and Kou meet for the first time it's genius, there's like this group of friends who want to play "cops and robbers". Futaba and a friend of hers join them and she ends up a robber. She then runs and finds the same exact hiding spot that kou chose. And it's just sweet how a simple game can join so many good emotions into a scene.

And when they meet for the second time, both of them are completely different, as stated by Futaba in almost every chapter.

 That is one thing that I like about this manga, the fact that it could have been completely different, depending on one simple thing that happenend.

 The moments shared by the protagonists are just delicious to the eyes, and there are love triangles and new possible loves introduced. At some point in the series I didn't know who to root for anymore.

  And Futaba's feelings and the way she develops trought the entire story is just beautiful, she smoothly is changed by kou and everyone around her.

  Her two best friends are jsut amazing, they make the story even better with their own personal (love) problems. And then there's Kou's "friend", the most enthusiastic in the group.

  Kou is just simply the best. I think that one of the good things in this manga is the fact that Futaba's choices in love are realistic and not poorly made like in some mangas. Io Sakisaka is definitly a great mangaka.

   Oh, and we can't forget the art! The art is just... AMAZING! You fall in love the second you see it... it's true!

This manga, I highly recommend it.

Ao Haru Ride is a staple of the shoujo genre, a tale of young girl Futaba who falls in love in love with a classmate Kou only for him to suddenly disappear and transfer from their school. Years later, he comes back barely resembling who he was and with a name, but him and Futaba are still drawn together, both trying to close the distance between them. On my MyAnimeList, Ao Haru Ride is the most popular shoujo manga ever, and once of the most highly rated, an endearing tale of two leads unable to hide their love for each other. And yet it's painfully generic and cliched. Plot devices and cliches are not necessarily bad: when well executed we remember why they became so popular. But Ao Haru Ride isn't original, nor does it execute these cliches particularly well. It is mediocre in all facets, from its characters to their emotional growth to its story and to its art. Every single theme is better executed by manga that preceded it.

Want an emotionally distant lead afraid of letting someone in their life due to the death of their mother? Try Fruits Basket. A story with every staple plot device in a romcom set in high school, from piggyback rides to confessions at school festivals to maid cafes? Try Maid Sama or Kimi Ni Todoke. A romantic lead who warns the female lead of spending time alone with men? Try Yona of the Dawn. Except, as creepy as Hak is in a few scenes, he never threatens to rape Yona, unlike Kou who pins Futaba down and says he could rape her at any time. This is even worse when Futaba thinks she would probably enjoy that. A girl who eats as much bread as she can from the school cafeteria to cope with a heartbreak? Try Chizu from Kimi Ni Todoke. An emotionally manipulative character who spreads rumors to separate the leads and contrives reasons to spend time with the male lead? Try Kimi Ni Todoke. A "nice guy" who inserts himself at every scenario to try to win over the heart of the female lead, unintentionally harming her? Try Kimi Ni Todoke. Where two characters fall in love with each other years earlier and wait for each other? Try Weathering With You and Your Name. An unmotivated, likely depressed male lead who lost all motivation due to complications with his family, before finding a purpose after meeting the female lead? Try Maid Sama. Leads who try to reconnect after years drifting apart? Try Chihayafuru.

The worst sin of Ao Haru Ride is the lack of character development, ironic because that's what the series is supposed to excel at. Outside of a vague platitude about spending time together, we never learn anything about Kou's late mother. In Fruits Basket, Kyoko (Tohru's late mother) is a ray of sunshine who transforms the lives of nearly everyone she meets, using her past as an infamous gang leader to show even the most jaded that redemption is possible. Kyo's mother commits suicide due to the verbal abuse she receives from her husband and how she is shunned for giving birth to the cat zodiac. Kou's mother just exists, despite being central to Kou's transformation as a character. She is introduced and never elaborated on.

None of the characters have well-developed arcs, interests, or compelling personalities. Do Futaba and Kou even have interests outside school and few friends? We never learn. Futaba's main growth is seemingly her rejection of the contrived tomboy personality she adopts to make female friends in high school, and becoming close with two social recluses who she actually cares about. Except, she adopts a hyper-feminine personality soon after, which a love interest of hers even comments how contrived it is. Later, she goes on a diet and wears makeup to show a love interest what he's missing, only to drop that instantly when he tells her he likes girls with some weight to them and without makeup. Despite the claims of her growing into her own, her personality is still defined by the opinions of those, specifically men, around her throughout the story. Although this is a realistic portrayal of high school students, fixated on the opinions of others, it's not particularly interesting.

We have none of the eccentricities of Sawako from Kimi Ni Todoke. None of the empathy of Tohru from Fruits Basket. None of the abuse and rejection Kyo faces that justifies his cold and abusive tendencies. None of the emotional growth that bring Tohru, Hanajima, and Arisa together. None of the backstory on how a deceased parent influenced the lives around them. None of the cleverness of Kurumi and how she manipulates others to win Kazehaya. Ao Haru Ride may be cute, but it never rises above perplexing mediocrity. It deserves none of the accolades or acclaim it has received. It does nothing special.

This is extremely overrated, I can't stand the characters. They're so contradicting and either annoyingly secretive or just a jerk. This is exactly how not to do the childhood friend troupe. And the lack of fucking communication is so irritating.

I definitely recommend reading Ao Haru Ride, it has all the cuteness expected from a Sakisaka Io work, amazing character development and incredible art. I'm detailing it more below but overall it's a must read shoujo!!!

Story:

My thoughts are sort of mixed about the story. Not because it's bad, I actually really really love this. I've reread two or three times already and every time, I get butterflies from all the adorableness. But there are certain tropes (spoilers: love triangle, jealous "ex" trying to interfere in the relationship) that I've gotten tired of already. That's one reason why I can't give this a full 10.

In the middle of the story I get somewhat bored and impatient with the drama that could be settled easily but is dragged way too long for my taste (considering the manga is not even that long). But after I finish reading i think "wow it's perfect I love this". That's an endless cycle for me.

Art:

I LOVE the author's art. It's beautiful and cute and I can't get enough of it. As someone who's heavily biased by the art, this ends up being one of my favorites. That's all I have to say.

Characters:

The characters in general are really likeable, and the relationship between all of them is squad goals. The main characters, Futaba and Kou... I can't even put into words. I ABSOLUTEY LOVE THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND CHEMISTRY. I don't feel that awkward cringy romance vibe that often comes in shoujos where the MC (usually the girl) is so shy and pure and fragile so the relationship with the guy ends up with a huge "power difference" that doesn't sit well with me. This one feels a lot more natural, so I end up enjoy it more. The way both of them, specially Kou, grow with the story is one of the best things in this manga. Also their friends are so adorable and their interactions are heart-warming.