Jul 10, 2022
Before I really begin wanted to mention that there are many discussions around the topic of Blue Lock vs. Ao Ashi, which one is better and so on. I don't think we should compare them. They are both football/sports manga, yes, but they tackle the theme of wanting to become the best in a completely different way, and both are completely fine. Both are great manga, I personally just like Ao Ashi's approach more.
Well then, let's start with the real review.
Story 9/10:
Ao Ashi is about Aoi Ashito, a football fanatic, that wants to make it to the big stage, so he can support his rather
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poor family and especially so he can pay back his mother for everything she has done for him. That's why Aoi decides to move from the small city of Ehime to Tokyo, where he joins the Tokyo City Esperion's youth team. There he learns all the basics of football from a new and overcomes his struggles by finding realistic solutions by training extremely hard and utilizing his personal abilities and innate talent. That's also what makes this manga so good in my opinion. Aoi doesn't just try harder and then suddenly get's better, because he had a morale boost. No, getting better is a long, hard and jarring process that recquires much devotion. The solutions in what ways Aoi has to improve and how he trains make so much sense and the tactics involved are easily understandable.
The one thing I didn't enjoy about the story and found a bit annoying (and why I didn't give the story a 10/10) is the romance part, which gladly doesn't play that big of a role, but felt kind of unnecessary to me.
Art 8/10:
The art is nothing to special, especially not in the beginning (It get's better though). However I think the dynamic panelling and the depiction of movement is first class. Sometimes I have a hard time imagining very dynamic scenes in manga and understanding what's really happening, but that was not the case with Ao Ashi. While the art itself isn't outstanding, it is very much enjoyable.
Characters 9/10:
If you look at my profile, you can see that Akutsu Nagisa is in my top 10 favorite characters. I think that shows how great I think at least he is.
Not all of the characters in Ao Ashi are exceptionally well written and deep, conflicting characters (some I think are OK are Takeshima, Asari, Kuroda, Yuuma, Ootomo and Tachibana), but then there are some that really make you feel with them and think about their actions and why they do what they do. The best characters, in my opinion, are Aoi, Akutsu, Kuribayashi, Fukuda and Togashi. Especially those all have motivations that lead them and act very much understandably. You learn more about them as the story goes on and grow really attached, as the character drama really unvolves.
Also Akutsu, Fukuda and Togashi are just the biggest badasses and it's epic to watch them.
Enjoyment 10/10:
This rating might be very subjective, because I myself have played football for a long time and always wanted a great football manga I could relate to. That's why Ao Ashi's realism hits just the right spot for me. The games are extremely fun to read through, the character drama is interesting, the goals do make sense (as opposed to every goal in Blue Lock haha) and overall every chapter is just fun to read through.
Overall 9/10:
I don't think Ao Ashi is a 10/10 yet, but it's also not finished, so that might change. I think it is the best sports manga I have read (Haikyuu coming in as a close 2nd) and deserves so much more attention. If you like football and enjoy sports manga, definitely give this one a read, it doesn't get much better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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