Ao Haru Ride

While most young girls make an effort to show off their feminine charms, Futaba Yoshioka deliberately behaves like she wants to repel anyone who might be attracted to her. Ostracized by her female classmates in middle school for being a little too popular with the boys, she desperately strives to avoid a similar situation in high school by being unnecessarily noisy and graceless.

Nevertheless, scattered among Futaba's unpleasant memories are the treasured moments with the boy she had a crush on, Kou Tanaka. Unfortunately, that spell abruptly ended on a sour note when he suddenly stopped attending school and never came back. When Futaba finds out that Kou has returned—with a different last name this time—she can already feel the butterflies in her stomach. However, Kou Mabuchi is not the warm boy that she remembers from her days in middle school; he is now taller, more charismatic and withdrawn—making him far less approachable.

Futaba believes that if she returns to her former self, Kou will begin to take notice of her again. But is she prepared to sacrifice her bubble of normalcy and risk losing her friends in the process?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mabuchi, Kou Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Yoshioka, Futaba Main

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Kikuchi, Touma Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Murao, Shuuko Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Tanaka, Youichi Supporting

Hirakawa, Daisuke Japanese

Kominato, Aya Supporting

KENN Japanese

Makita, Yuuri Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Uchimiya, Haruhiko Supporting

Akabane, Kenji Japanese

Tanaka, Father Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Yumi Supporting

Makino, Yui Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Takei, Katsuhiro Producer

Kuroki, Rui Producer

Reviews

Jul 2, 2024

petethecatt

Recommended

Blue Spring Ride

Watched this years ago but I still remember that I was really captivated by it. Would recommend to anyone starting to get into anime, it's a classic shoujo. Would recommend reading the manga after watching the anime because for me at least the anime left me wanting more like something was missing plus if your frustrated by the male lead Kou Mabuchi like I was his character gets better in the manga. Also in the manga the relationship between the main characters really flourishes, there are lots more cute moments too :) Overall it's such a cute and clumsy anime I love it ... !!

im still hoping for a season 2 even after all these years :(

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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May 30, 2024

LevixAckerman

Mixed Feelings

*Title: Ao Haru Ride

*Story

- Who doesn't know the feeling of first love between two people? That's what *Ao Haru Ride* is about. Kou Mabuchi and Futaba Yoshioka were in love as children but never acted on it because Kou changed schools, and they hadn't seen each other since. In high school, they meet again and are initially unsure if they still have feelings for each other. If you like the story so far, you might want to give the anime a chance.

*Characters
- Kou Mabuchi and Futaba Yoshioka are the main characters.

- Kou Mabuchi: He always seems calm, composed, sad, and as if ... he's not really present. The fact that this all stems from his troubled past makes it at least believable. He has trouble opening up to others and prefers to be alone rather than letting people in. The problem is that there is no character development for him because this continues until the end of the series. Here and there, he talks about his feelings or shows compassion, but nowhere near enough to see any real change.

- Futaba Yoshiko: She is almost the complete opposite of Kou. She is cheerful, shows emotions, radiates warmth, thinks about her friends, and is my favorite character in this series. She can be stubborn and a bit of a hothead, but without intending to hurt others. Her character develops nicely until the end, very beautiful!

- Side Characters: Somehow, I didn't like them much. Whether it was Yuuri, who tried to compete with Futaba, or Shuuko, who was just there to make the group look bigger. Aya is also just a plot device to change Kou. The only one I liked was Kou's older brother, Youichi.

*Music
- There were a few nice songs here and there. The opening and ending were also okay.

*Animation and Character Design
- It fit the anime, and I liked it. Only Yuuri's bangs looked strange.

*Conclusion
For people who want to watch a romance anime, I'm not sure if this one is for them. It was rather one-sided love with hardly any romance. There were some moments of getting closer, but that was it. Moreover, the ending was quite disappointing. As is often the case with many animes, it was completely open and leaves you hanging, wondering if anything will ever happen between Kou and Futaba. You can certainly watch this anime, but you shouldn't go in with too many expectations.

Rating (7/10)

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 11, 2024

thysupremefriend

Not Recommended

I wish I knew what I was getting into before I started this anime. This anime is shoujo in the shallowest way possible.

Do not watch if you dislike when the male lead shows interest in another woman.
Do not watch if you dislike an annoying female side character that is interested in the male love interest and tries to sabotage the relationship between him and the female lead.
Do not watch if you want a happy (romantic) ending.
Do not watch if you enjoy closure.

The fact that this anime is considered shoujo is baffling. Do women enjoy love triangles centered around the male lead as opposed ... to the female lead? This anime only appeals to women who like drama. Framing interactions between the male lead and female side character as romantic made this anime unbearable to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Poll: Ao Haru Ride Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Aug 25, 2014	137 replies	by JunSekitani »» Yesterday, 8:27 AM
	Poll: Ao Haru Ride Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Aug 4, 2014	178 replies	by JunSekitani »» Nov 17, 7:43 PM
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