Love hurts.
What They Say:
“PAGE.7”
At the end of her first year of high school, the main heroine, Futaba suddenly has a chance encounter with her first love, Tanaka Kou. Three years ago, he transferred schools before she was able to say how she felt about him. After meeting each other again, Futaba realizes that he has gone through many changes. He acts more cool and even had his last name changed to Mabuchi. Gradually the two rekindle their love while piecing together what had happened in the time that they were apart.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
There’s a shot that’s almost always in anime when there’s a high emotion moment. The camera points to the ground and we see tear drops fall to the ground. The camera pans up or cuts (usually cuts) to the character that’s crying and there’s a dialogue either between him/her and another character or him/herself. It always gets me. ALWAYS.
Blue Spring Ride does it well, though. This moment with Futaba is not just about hurting her friend, it’s losing her friend and it’s losing the one she loves and it’s doing something that could be irreparable to her life as a whole. It’s terrifying. It’s always terrifying to try and confess to someone you know, even if you don’t admit it. You could not only ruin your relationship with that person, but the people you mutually know. Love is sometimes an incredibly petty thing, especially in a high school setting. Blue Spring Ride is capturing that raw emotion so well; the emotions where the characters don’t quite know how to grasp onto anything yet, but cling so hard.
It’s epitomized in the shampoo scene. Both of them. First, Kou “jokes” that Futaba’s shampoo smells good. He’s the perv, but it’s actually incredibly sweet and changed Futaba. She’s conscious of her shampoo choice now. There’s a line they flash back to from episode two, I think, that goes, “Everyone puts on nice clothes and makeup to look good for other people, right?” Makita says that. Makita that dresses herself up. Makita that looks cute. Makita that the girls hate and the boys love.
It’s a shallow love. And Makita realizes this. She gives no interest in the boys that like her. She looks like she does because it feels good to be liked on a superficial level. It’s not especially vain unless you’re vain about it—though there is still some vanity to be had about her actions. But those little things Makita does are exactly what Futaba does for the one she loves. Because you want to look nice. Anyone does. Makita’s character is the very representation of that.
Love—and especially high school anime love—doesn’t come without consequence or sacrifice. Futaba loves Kou. Makita loves Kou. “Today, I might lose a precious friend of mine,” Futaba says.
She experienced this same thing in junior high. It flashes back to her only friend, Yumi, sticking up for Futaba. But eventually she leaves, like everyone else because Futaba might like Naito, the guy Yumi likes. This is running exactly parallel with Futaba, Makita, and Kou right now. Except Futaba might be Yumi and she never wants that to happen. She never wants to feel that and she never wants to make anyone feel that again. No one does.
There’s a subtle jealousy from both Futaba and Makita though. When Kou goes up to Makita, Futaba has the worst thoughts she can have. She acknowledges this, but it doesn’t deny the fact. We all can have these thoughts and they feel the worst to have because we’re thinking the worst kind of thoughts about sometimes our friends, sometimes just people that don’t deserve it. But after, Kou walks up to Futaba and Makita has the same reaction. She turns her head quickly when she’s caught glancing and probably thinks and feels the same thing as Futaba.
It must be awful for both of them.
In Summary:
Blue Spring Ride is capturing this high school romance perfectly. It’s rarely overwrought with drama, like a lot of high school anime are, and its characters are believable. More importantly, they’re relatable. This is a show that’s consistently about identity—first denying, then accepting, now changing. To what ends? The most powerful force of all: Love. And it works.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Equipment: PS3, LG 47LB5800 47” 1080p LED TV
