Ao Haru Ride manga review

Synonyms: Aoharaido

Type: Manga

Volumes: Unknown

Chapters: Unknown

Status: Publishing

Published: Jan 13, 2011 to ?

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School, Shoujo, Slice of Life

Authors: Sakisaka, Io (Story & Art)

Serialization: Betsuma

When i started reading Ao Haru Ride, my expectations were very high since i LOVED the mangaka Io Sakisaka's previous manga strobe edge. However Ao Haru Ride still succeeded to reach my expectations, yeah maybe even more than that. Note: I only read the 21 chapters that can be found on the internet.

I really like the story. I started to read this manga because i wanted a good shojo and that's exactly what i got. The story starts out with showing the past of our two min characters, Futaba & Kou. Futaba dislikes guys, but she likes Tanaka kou (Tanaka-kun) , he is different to her. Kou also likes Futaba, but overhears her saying she dislikes all boys, and things get difficult. soon after this, Tanaka suddenly transfers to another school and disappears out of Futabas life. 

Then we jump forward to 15 year old Futaba whos in high school. Her personality is very much different from the innocent cute girl we saw at first; the reason for this change is that Futabas friends started to dislike her for being cute and taking all the attention from the boys. As a given, Futaba soon meets Tanaka-kun, however he looks different and acks like a totally jerk. And he even changed name to Mabuchi Kou.

I like the story pretty much, since it's a typical shojo story, but not in a bad way. You won't get the "meeeh..." feeling while reading this. If you like Shoujo, there is no way you won't love this.

Io Sakisaka's art is ADOREABLE. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. really, it's just so pretty, shiney-shiney, fluffy and cute without being the usally shojo-style. Io Sakisaka haves her very own beautiful and remarkable drawing style.

The Characters is fine, i specially like our Main hero. Our main heroine, Futaba, is pretty standard shojo girl, She's not too plain and very likeable. At first she's trying to be all un-cutey and such, to make "friends" but soon realizes that she can't go on like that. She manages to make new friends, but is still the lively, not-so-cute girl, but in a way she developed a little. Next time where she develope, -- and this is what make her VERY likeable to me -- is when she realizes she loves - and want to be Kous girlfriend. I can't say WHY this is so special, but read the manga and you will understand, since you will surely think "Oh no.. not this type of manga.. dont tell me she.. oh.. she didn't. YAY!"

I find Kou very interesting. He's not this typical emo-like guy, but he also hides some troublesome past behind him. Everytime i read a chapter, i just want to know more about Kou. 

I enjoyed this manga very much. I looked for a good shojo, and i sure found one! It's also have good comedy in it and good moments between our main characters which just makes you go "Kyaaaa~" (And the art i so pretty too, it's just perfect). And i will recommend this manga to ALL shojo-lovers. Read it!