[Review] Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 3 - Io Sakisaka

Summary: Futaba Yoshioka thought all boys were loud and obnoxious until she met Kou Tanaka in junior high. But as soon as she realized she really liked him, he had already moved away because of family issues. Now, in high school, Kou has reappeared, but is he still the same boy she fell in love with?

Futaba Yoshioka has encountered her first love again in high school, but he seems different from the boy she once knew. She realizes her feelings for Kou are not because of who he was in the past, but who he is now. When she discovers that her friend Yuri has a crush on him, Futaba is unsure what to do. (Pub Date: Feb 5, 2019)

If you haven't read the first volume yet, this is the story of Futaba, who meets her first love some years after never getting to fulfill her feelings for him. Now he even goes by another family name so much he's changed, but deep down the kindness from those days shows.

You can check our review here!

If you're wondering if the manga is worth it, YES! To be honest, I felt it was cute and well written from the start, but I couldn't see the reason for the hype. Now I'm done with the third volume, nothing that big has even happened and I'm eating my fingers, my hands, my arms to get to the fourth. This is one of the good, memorable shoujo mangas.

4.5!

Now this will have spoilers from the previous volumes, so refrain from reading further.

As I said above, this volume made me see the value of this manga. I'm so invested in Futaba and in learning how this couple will get together...! It's been a while since a shoujo made me feel this excited.

What I think was the best here are the interactions between Kou and Futaba. They're so cute, I can't not cheer for them. The main story is the anxiety Futaba's friend having feelings for Kou has caused in Futaba, so again we also have lots of friendship moments. So far, things seem to be going fine. Seems to, being the key word.

By the end of the main story, we also get a short one about Kou's brother and how his relationship with his student started. It's too short but definitely cute, don't miss it.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 4 out of 5.