Perfect shoujo.

Love the relationship between the three girls. Love the relationship between Kou and Ayu. The author took time to craft and develop characters outside of Futaba and Kou. Kou and Futaba had thoughts going on in their minds beyond each other (although that was the focus).

Kou was frustrating when Narumi showed up, but isn't that the point? I think this poor child was still in mourning and felt guilty about moving forward with his life. It was painful, but he didn't want to feel like he was letting go of his memories. So, at the point where he was really moving on.. Narumi gave him a reason to cling to his memories and pain.

That being said he thought it would be "easy" to let go of Futaba, which is why I'm happy she dated Touma. It made Kou suffer for thinking she would be so easy to forget. Although he was determined they would be together in the end, his jealousy and seeing him fight for Futaba was worth it! No matter how hard they both tried they could not forget each other.

As for Touma. Ha! I don't know why people would feel sorry for a guy who outright says he plans to take advantage of a girl who is messed up because of another guy. Futaba was heartbroken and easily swayed by Touma acting like she's the center of the universe. She rejected his confession and he pushed her, promising that he would replace Kou and never hurt her. She was so desperate to heal her broken heart, she made herself believe him. He dated a girl knowing she was still in love with someone else and felt HAPPY whenever Kou pushed her away. She thought that would help her move on, but that's what you call a REBOUND.

No pity for Touma. I LOLed when he said Futaba had never even said she liked him. He got what he deserved in the end!

I picked this up because I'm a sucker for pretty drawings. I really loved the art. But that's about it.

This manga was "so shoujo" that I couldn't take it anymore; I stopped after finishing ch 14. And I'm glad I did, because I'm seeing lots of people complain about the latter part where more characters get introduced (oh no).

From the beginning, you can already see how the story is going to go. What I mean by this manga being "so should" is that the plot moves forward in an unrealistic way. The characters are likeable up to where I stopped, but you can't help but think "seriously, these kids aren't real".



Maybe I'm growing old and cynical, but I couldn't take the shoujo-ness of it anymore. My tolerance has a limit and even good art couldn't save it. Maybe one day if I want to kill time, I will finish it -- but I feel like I'd regret finishing it. This was a nice part to end off at, so I better not ruin the impression even further...

At first I watched the anime and I liked Kou and Futaba together. Although we all knew from the start that they would be together in the end. But Kikuchi appeared I was thinking about reading omoi, omoware... but now I am not so sure anymore...

This review is for the one shot. It's cute! I like that the male lead was just a push for the main to go in the right direction and not the sole purpose for her change. It's important that she wanted too than have someone say it for her.
8.1

It's hard for me to write a review since it was such a long time ago. I remember when it was released, it was one of the first shoujos i've ever read and got so attached to it. But i remember after some drama and denial parts i got tired and dropped it for some time and eventually forgot about. Then I reread it and I'm glad i did. Not sure if its just me being biased but it was nice getting a closure with this manga. so thats why I'm rating it high even tho its been a while since i reread it.

Your crush didn't show up on a date, he just went poof after that. He showed up later after a few years as a new persona, acting like a jerk to hide his 'I'm like a puppy abandoned in the rain'. And he didn't show up on a date again. Twice he asked, twice he couldn't make it. It got cancelled lightly and he got distanced again. Realistically, at this point you should move on girl. But the MC still confessed got rejected and the guy kept clinging on her. Yes, she 'tried' to move on here but as many shoujo out there, somehow she can't forget this guy, she can't move on even when there is a great guy on her side (who doesn't need your maternal instinct to save him). And she returned to the first guy's side. And it becomes a happy ending. It's a good story but no, not realistic. Very safe/standard story for shoujo.

The main selling point of this series for me is the arts. I like the artstyle and its sweet atmosphere.
Plot/story is average/very cliche, nothing special. There is part that it's getting frustrating but in the end I like the ending. Especially the Murao part.

I'm not a huge fan of shoujo, but I do read them once in a while to change my manga routine. That's why I'm probably more tolerant towards shoujo tropes, since I don't read them all the time. And this kept me reading it without feeling frustrated at all, but otherwise there's a good chance I would've dropped the manga.
The first part is your typical shoujo story of a heroine pining after the mysterious kind-of-a-jerk-but-nice male lead. It's not groundbreaking, but the characters are likeable enough, so it's all good. The first reveals were handled really well, felt real and actually managed to make me sympathize for both the main characters. Then, to stir more drama, the second part happens:

It's still readable, though, just really unnecessary.

Overall, the manga is a good read for someone who likes the genre, even if it gets dragged down a bit by its middle part.

Fianlly a manga where the girl isn't chasing after the girl or the guy after the girl and the story becoming some type of tsundere *sigh* Very realistic and most enjoyable. Thanks for a great manga to the scanlators and mangaka

At first I was really into this manga. I really liked the way mangaka described growing up and the romance was really sweet. Kou's faces were unbearable cute, the art in this manga is a true masterpiece. And the fact that both parties were good-looking, just as the rivals, made it really easy to read. Maybe it's because of the things I was reading lately but I really had enough of the "ugly duck and beautiful prince" plot.
But then the drama came...

Anyway, together with the awaken chapters, the manga is very much complete. I really like this feeling and the fact they showed quite some things after the couple got together, not ending with them getting together.

The best thing about this series was the art. It's nice and well-proportioned. However, I found the story itself immensely boring. I think the hype around Ao Haru Ride gave me unrealistic expectations and when I actually sat down to read it, I found everything so underwhelming and cliche. Neither main leads are particularly memorable and the tone of the storytelling felt...lukewarm. It just couldn't hold my attention no matter how many chances I gave it. There are other romance series I'd recommend over this one any day. For better characters, see Ouran High School Host Club. For better drama/angst, see Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu. For better plot, see DNAngel. A romance story can be done well, there just has to be an X-factor to it, which in my opinion Ao Haru Ride does not have.