Some good complications and realizations lead Futaba down a surer path
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. She realizes her feelings for Kou are not because of who he was in the past but who he is now. When she discovers that her friend Yuri has a crush on him too, Futaba is unsure what to do.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
When the last volume ended, Yuri had just admitted to Futaba that she has developed a crush on Kou, throwing Futaba’s emotions into even more of a state of confusion. While at first coy about it to spare Yuri any hard feelings, Futaba soon realizes that she does in fact also have a crush on Kou. There is no confusion about it anymore, but now she cannot help but be concerned about how Yuri will feel after she finds out her best friend is interested in the same guy. After meeting with an old friend from middle school with whom Futaba had a falling out over similar reasons, she realizes that she has to be truthful with Yuri before the situation gets any more complex.
This volume is characterized by expanding Futaba’s field of confusion. As she grows more accepting of the feelings she realizes she has for Kou, it increases her anxiety concerning the other friends that she is making, particularly Yuri. However, because she can start being honest about her feelings for Kou, it also gives her more perspective on how to approach her other friends. When she meets with Yumi, who admits that she stopped being friends with Futaba in middle school due to the mistaken belief that Futaba liked the same boy, she realizes how easily misunderstandings can crop up and how much damage they can cause, and knows that she has to be honest with everybody if she is ever going to navigate the troubled waters of high school. I particularly love the moment when her former “friend” Asami rolls her eyes at Futaba now being friends with Yuri, and Futaba just brushing her off, knowing that Asami’s fake attitude was always the problem. It’s a nice little bit of character work.
In Summary
Ao Haru Ride continues to build interesting characters and give real depth to the relationships of them. The complication of Yuri also liking Kou could easily go in directions that would ruin that effect, but at least so far, I like the shades of grey the story is playing with where the two girls still desperately want to be friends but are stuck in this rough situation where at least one of them is going to have to lose out on Kou. It’s very well done so far, and I hope it continues to be so. Highly recommended.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz
Release Date: February 5, 2019
MSRP: $9.99
