Day 4 - Ao Haru Ride Vol 1 Review

Yesterday, my partner and I procured this manga since I always heard good things about it and well, let’s say that today it took me no time to finish it. Honestly, I am glad I listened to all the people who said it’s an amazing series and I am glad to have started it. 

Let’s start with the art since it is the first thing you will see. 

Cover

It’s really appealing to the sight and one reason why, even without the high raves about it, I would pick it up and give it a look. It’s soft, bright and striking compared to the limited mangas at Harry Hartog and it stands out since it’s not a usual popular title like Bleach, Naruto or My Hero Academia. The cover is just a start of simple and gripping art style between the pages where I have fallen in love with how it looks, especially the hair being my favourite part.

Next, we have the blurb, it tells me a lot of what to expect in the series. Futaba being a girl who is not fond of loud and obnoxious males but finds Kou to be the opposite of the usual riff raff and finds herself liking him, until he leaves and she is left wondering, then he reappears later and she wonders what happens to the Kou she use to know and love.
That’s just my take on the synopsis but this is just the beginning of the story where it not just looks at Futaba and her finding out more about Kou but also about her and the world around her as she navigates through school and friendships, finding herself and her place but again, this is the beginning and I am guessing at what the manga will present in the future.

The characters in the series have only just been introduced and I feel a lot about them, some I can relate to such as Futaba and Makita. While other characters I want to smack upside the head like Chie and Asumi cause they look down on others that they assume stuff about and I find it quite unfair but this alone tells me how well Io Sakisaka wrote the characters and story that it can easily invoke feelings in the reader and I praise that notion since it’s basically an art, an amazing skill for creators to have.

Back

Sure, this is like many series like Ao Haru Ride but the one thing that made me really like this manga is the main protagonist, Futaba, it’s only been one volume, but I find her funny, charming, cute and so very emotional in her own way. I even love the way she cries with the big flowing tears and I find that so odd in a shojo manga, but I really like it. I really look forward to seeing what she does in future volumes and I plan to get two and keep up to date with this series like I do with Shortcake Cake, Platinum End and The Promised Neverland.

Again, I cannot wait to read more of this series and eventually write more about it because I love series that can invoke such excitement in me to the extent that I can write so much and share it with people like this. I do recommend this manga to everyone. It’s fun, cute and it’s just a start of one emotional story that is going to leave a hole in the reader once the series ends and that makes me so excited. I cannot wait to be able to read this more.