Yagate Kimi ni Naru: Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite
Bloom into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka

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Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka, a spin-off novel from an incredible piece of art like Yagate Kimi ni Naru manga. And for me, it was lived up to it.

This light novel was my first I have ever read. I couldn’t give a try to this format before because I am more a person of manga but since Yagakimi is my favourite series, I had to. And I also love Sayaka, so it was impossible to not give it a try.

It was an incredible reading.

[From now on, there will be some SPOILERS from both the manga and this novel while I'm telling ... my thoughts. So, the warning is done].

This story was written by Hitoma Iruma, the author of Adachi to Shimamura. Nakatani, as she said in the final of each volume, was very satisfied with the result and I’m agree with her, too.

The novel explores the story of Sayaka from her perspective, that is to say, in first person. Something that it’s hard to do well in a manga, I think.

As we know, Sayaka was three years in love with Touko and she couldn’t “win” her love in return because of Yuu. We also learned from Yuu that she had gotten a girlfriend named Haru (someone who I think is the perfect match for her and I will explain why after talking about the third and last volume). But we didn’t know how was her past in details, although we knew about her Senpai in Junior High.

The first volume tells the living experiences of Sayaka from Elementary School to Junior High. We have the possibility to learn how Sayaka was at that time and how much she has changed through the years due to a lot of events told in the novel. We also learn that these changes were heavily influenced by love.

First, a girl from her former swimming classes when she was in Elementary School and then a Senpai (Yuzuki) from her chorus club of the Junior High. As we know, this last one was the worst experience for her, as well the first approaching to "love" because she was very young to understand what had happened with the girl from the swimming classes.

So, Yuzuki was her first love. A girl who confessed her love to Sayaka in the school's courtyard, which became a common place for them to pass the time. Sayaka was not confident at starting a relationship with her but eventually, she falls in love. But there was a problem: Yuzuki had never loved her. She wanted just having an experience of love and Sayaka had the bad luck of being her test subject. Plus, Yuzuki’s behaviour was horrible and she breaks up with her after spending months without willing to see her. To the worst, her excuse was that they were not children anymore and that they don’t need to keep on playing as if they were real girlfriends. These words destroyed Sayaka’s heart, leading to a first love experience as the worst posible. At the end, we learn that she changed school to avoid her in the High School and that was how she met Touko, listening to her in the aperture ceremony.

Probably, also influenced by the experience with Yuzuki, Sayaka realized she could only fall in love with women. And in that way, she had a love at first sight with Touko due to her beauty and also, as she mentioned it, her curiosity of how someone got better grades than her.

We have read the manga, so we know about their relationship. The second volume explores all her experiences through High School, even the first year when obviously they hadn’t met Yuu yet. This volume was the “weakest” for me in terms of history and storytelling but that doesn’t mean it was bad. I liked the first more because it tells a new story and I think the personality of Sayaka was portrayed in a very good way. This second just add some things to the three years of Sayaka in High School from her perspective. That is to say, the same timeline of the manga.

During that time, her intelligence was enough to realize Touko was hiding her real personality, trying to imitate her sister, although she never stopped being in love with her even with that knowledge. But she couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t win over Yuu to unmask the real Touko. So, was Sayaka really happy at the end of the manga with how the things had gone on?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, two years after their graduation, Sayaka got a girlfriend in college named Haru.

The third volume, and my favourite of the novel, makes way for a new Sayaka. Her unrequited love with Touko ended in a good way with her because she could fully express her feelings and that didn’t stop them from continue being friends.

We have a college student Sayaka. We learn she has become very good friends with Yuu, what I find beautiful because she could left behind her little jealousy to form a great friendship with someone incredible like Yuu. Plus, they live close to each other, so this helped to reinforce the relationship now that they had both graduated. We have even seen this at the end of the manga, when Yuu talks about Haru and Touko didn’t know anything about her. Sayaka chosed Yuu to be the first to know about her new relationship and even introduced them to each other.

Haru Edamoto, new Sayaka’s girlfriend. A very energetic person, as the same Sayaka describes her. She met Sayaka while crying after being dumped by her ex. The fate made that this encounter was the first of much others in the future. And that’s how they formed a very good friendship leading Sayaka to experience new and unknown feelings. She is very serious, thoughtful and cautious as we know, so being friends with someone as energetic and carefree like Haru leads her to be first bewildered but then happy. Because, how can you not fall in love with someone such cheerful and happy like Haru spending the time everyday with her?

But, Haru was the first in confessing her love. She said it was at first sight. Like the love of Sayaka for Touko, so she understood that feeling putting on the spot of Haru. But she was scared. She immediately remembered her horrible experience with Yuzuki-senpai, due to starting a relationship with someone that she didn’t really love and then ending in the worst way posible. She didn’t want to experience the same thing again. So, she took her time. She thought a lot. She understood her feelings for Haru were different from her Senpai. She understood Haru’s feelings were real, not like Senpai. She understood she was happy spending time with her despite of her carefreeness, something unusual in someone like her. She understood she would fall in love with her even if it not was equal at the moment. Because Haru made Sayaka experience sort of new beautiful things and, of course, this include real love. That's why I think Haru is the perfect match for her, even though Sayaka found problematic to face her personality when they first started their friendship but we know how love works.

By the way, these thoughts that Sayaka had to go through are similar to what Yuu had to face to realize she had fell in love with Touko. Iruma captured very well the scence of the manga with this.

Lastly, what happened to her relationship with Touko? Well, although it was mere coincidence that she found about Haru because of Yuu’s commentary, Sayaka was capable of talking with her about her new relationship months later and in that way, clearing her true feelings. Sayaka understood it could be possibly that they would talk less and less often due to her new lives, but she also understood that Yuu would make her happy. And that was everything she wanted for her. Because she knew that the Touko who was sitting in front of her, was the real Touko and not an imitation of another person as she was in her past. And that, of course, it's thanks to Yuu.

I am really happy Sayaka could find the love she was looking for, and of course, her real happiness.

I highly recommend this to everyone who loves YagaKimi. And thanks Hitoma Iruma for expanding this beautiful story which I love to the point of literally crying. So, I would like to finish the review with Nakatani's words at the end: “I asked Iruma-san to make Sayaka happy in the last volume. To her and everyone who watched over Sayaka to the end, thank you very much”.

Regarding Saeki Sayaka is a spin-off novel of Bloom Into You, in, you guessed it, Saeki Sayaka's point of view.

Hitoma Iruma, the author of Adachi to Shimamura (another popular yuri work), takes the wheel in writing while Nakatani Nio illustrates.

I didn't plan on reading this series. The writing switched from manga to light novel, which can easily mess up the flow and feel revolving a character. As this spin-off is made to expand Sayaka's side of the story, the world-building of fairly normal people could crumble down at a moment's notice, let alone the fact that this is written by a completely different author. But ... my worries turned to dust after a mere few pages.

Taking the form of first-person perspective, we dive into Sayaka's head as an elementary schooler. We come to understand how hard-working she is as well as her demeanor. Her attitude during her younger years should reflect on why she acted the way she did during high school years and, well, Hitoma hit the nail on the head. How he displayed her tolerance, seriousness, bit of arrogance, and overall thought process was not something that worsened the reading experience. It's more likely that you'll get caught off guard by how well Hitoma could present Sayaka's opinions in a way that suits her character. Many writers fail to get into a character's head and voice their thoughts, making characters feel sloppy and inconsistent. But Sayaka's point of view is truly well done. The way she acted never contradicted what was shown in the manga throughout all three light novels.

Setting aside Sayaka, how were all the other characters carried out? To summarize how well the other characters were written in four words: It was well done.

Since you're planning to read the Saeki Sayaka light novels, then I'm assuming you've finished the Bloom Into You manga.

[Spoilers]

Sayaka's past and future were briefly mentioned in the manga. Her interaction with a girl in a pool is the first in this story, unmentioned in the manga. That one girl who only appeared for a couple dozen pages had her energetic and childish qualities distinctly highlighted. Whether Sayaka realized it or not, this was the start. The start of a rollercoaster of emotions. Just in this short start can I already grasp how characters will be handled. With care and emotions. If elementary schoolers can be written so well, then it would certainly be impressive with characters who have a different set of beliefs. Yuzuki Chie is Sayaka's next encounter. A person who pursues the idea of love instead of actually loving her significant other. But Sayaka fell in love with the other person, not the concept itself, leading the story into a spiral of Sayaka learning to accept and overcome as time shifts Yuzuki's ideals.

What I found most displeasing is not volume 2, but volume 3. Volume 2 was great as expected. It gave us insight into Sayaka's relationship with Nanami Touko, her interactions, and how she views and loves Touko in her first year. If there's anything to complain about, then I would say how offsetting this volume felt. It did its job perfectly, but since we're looking through the lens of what technically is a side character, the volume felt oddly stagnant. We don't get to better know the person Sayaka fell in love with at all, since it's already done in the main work. We only get to know what Sayaka knows, but since Touko and her are so emotionally distant, Sayaka might as well be a viewer or a bystander who can never close in such distance. This is most likely what the novel was trying to emphasize, but it nonetheless carries a strangely different feel to the story than I'm used to. Nevertheless, volume 2 served its purpose with its never-failing careful consideration of portraying characters. It's the bridge to volume 3, Sayaka's future.

There are two main things I can mention regarding volume 3. The first is how Sayaka has already matured. She's not growing and changing in the same way she did in the first two volumes. This volume is solely on her pursuit of love and finding happiness. This brings me to the second point.

At this time, I feel like the author doesn't want to stray away too much from the original story. It's in the same way how fanfiction writers don't want to mess with the plot too much. Was he afraid of changing the tone of the story by a notch? It would've been much better if certain disputes were resolved. Perhaps the confrontation with Yuzuki be changed? Perhaps the conversation with Touko be expanded on? There are many ways I can't come up with to make volume 3 have a broader scope. But it decides to focus on Sayaka falling in love yet again. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing at all. Though the execution fell short of my high expectations. Great, but not a 10/10. It was forced. Sayaka falling in love with someone is a given, but the way she fell in love lacks the chemistry of previous occurrences. It's as if she could've fallen in love with anyone on the street given time. Sure, in real life you don't need any particular reason to love someone, but remember that this is a story. She slowly came to love Yuzuki while her attraction to Touko came with a bang. With Haru? Apparently it's because Haru is loud and energetic.

Haru- The girl Sayaka ends up with. How they act are vastly different, but they end up together anyway. Whatever energy Haru has is the quality Sayaka lacked throughout her childhood. But the line of love is undistinctive, as Sayaka isn't much different than how she was portrayed during her high school years. She changed as a person if she can come to love someone so vastly different, but her characterization now is lacking in the sense that we can't differentiate her from the person who loved Touko and the person who loves Haru. All there really was in volume 3 is interactions with Haru, written in a still captivating way. This is an ending that wants her to be happy, and that's all there is to it.

Overall, I rate this light novel series a 9/10. Although the execution for the last volume could be better, Sayaka's journey of love is something I can accept. I enjoyed it dearly, this take in love.

If you enjoyed the original series, then these three novels are a must-read.

Regarding Saeki Sayaka is a realistic slice-of-life that follows ordinary events in Sayaka's life: She falls in love, she goes to high school, she joins the student council, she goes to college, she has lunch together with a friend. Despite how normal the story seems, Hitoma Iruma delves into every last detail about Sayaka's thoughts on her surroundings and feelings, and the result is an engaging and thoughtful product of Sayaka's perspective on her romantic experiences, which are explained in YagaKimi on a surface level.

Saeki Sayaka is a deeply unique protagonist who is ... wonderfully characterized by Iruma. She's observative and serious. She gives off a mature and collected aura, but she doesn't think that of herself. At a first glance, the winter-cool type image seems to suit her perfectly. However, we can see at certain moments in the anime and manga that just like anyone else, Sayaka has her own flaws that one might not expect, yet she's vastly different from other characters with this archetype. By laying all of her thoughts bare, the author takes us much further into her personality; every tidbit and opinion; by the time I finished the novels, I realized that I had never before encountered a character like Sayaka anywhere else. The sheer complexity, yet simultaneously the simplicity of Sayaka's character, is what makes this book so interesting.

Furthermore, Sayaka's coming-of-age experiences are ordinary, yet inspiring. Romance and selfish desires, sexuality and homophobia, moving forward and becoming an adult; numerous motifs are tackled in this story. As the story progresses, Sayaka grows older, which means that the themes also become more mature and are able to appeal to more people; however, the core of her character remains the same, and all three novels are enjoyable experiences.

Iruma's writing style suits the original series fairly well. It's like taking the dialogue out of the manga, and adding monologues from Sayaka in between them. He also implements some symbolic elements that make the ordinary scenes feel a little more special, and it'll last in your memories a lot longer. The pacing is difficult to pinpoint due to the sheer amount of inner monologues there are, but it will definitely feel comfortable.

Saeki Sayaka is a great character. This series is not extraordinary in every way, but it does exactly as the title says: "Regarding Saeki Sayaka." This alone will provide you a truly one-of-a-kind experience, and many valuable lessons.