Rounding out the cast and getting to the good stuff
Creative Staff
Story: Io Sakisaka
Art: Io Sakisaka
Translation/Adaptation: Emi Louie-Nishikawa
What They Say
Futaba Yoshioka has encountered her first love again in high school, but he seems different from the boy she once knew. Kou has confessed to Futaba that in junior high he liked her too, but they can never return to those times. However, a leadership training session brings the two closer together.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This volume of Ao Haru Ride opens up with Futaba having just had her first heart-to-heart discussion with Kou since realizing he has returned and not entirely sure how she feels about it. The fun, outgoing boy that she once knew has been replaced by a cold, disdainful individual, and she mourns the loss of the outgoing Kou she once knew. And yet, though he continually pushes her away, he also goes out of his way to help her out of jams, confusing her even more.
In this volume, after something resembling a pep talk from Kou encouraging her to follow whatever path she chooses without regrets, she decides to step up and take on the role of female class representative, and Kou joins her as the male class rep. after it appears nobody else wants the job. From there, Yuri, Kaminato, and Murao join them as members of the events committee, and the main cast is rounded out. When the school decides to send the events committees on a team-building field trip, it is an opportunity for the five would be friends to start breaking the ice, and also for Futaba to explore exactly what her feelings for Kou are farther.
This section is the main thrust of this volume, and it moves us out of the initial setup phase and adds some nice little intrigues to boot. As can be expected, there are some good misunderstandings between our would-be lovers, but each one seems to break the ice a little more, and the dynamics of the other three and how they fit in just complicates things even more. But through this, we begin to see Futaba finally starting to chill out and figure out who it is that she wants to be, and in the process, her feelings for Kou become a little clearer.
In Summary
This volume moves the plot of Ao Haru Ride into the main arc well. We get the introduction of the rest of the main cast, start developing the friendships between the five of them, deepens Futaba’s confusion over what she wants from Kou, and ends on a nice little complication that will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next few volumes. Highly recommended.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: December 4, 2018
MSRP: $9.99
