Blue Spring Ride

Blue Spring Ride
Cover of the first volume, featuring one of the main protagonists, Futaba Yoshioka
アオハライド (Aoharaido)
Genre	Comedy-drama, Romance
Manga
Written by	Io Sakisaka
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Bessatsu Margaret
Original run	13 January 2011 – 13 February 2015
Volumes	13
Light novel
Written by	Akiko Abe
Illustrated by	Io Sakisaka
Published by	Cobalt
Imprint	Cobalt Series
Original run	27 December 2011 – present
Volumes	5
Anime television series
Directed by	Ai Yoshimura
Written by	Tomoko Konparu
Music by	Hiroaki Tsutsumi Keiko Osaki Shota Hashimoto
Studio	Production I.G
Licensed by	NA Sentai Filmworks
Network	Tokyo MX, MBS, BS11, TUT, Anime Network
Original run	8 July 2014 – 23 September 2014
Episodes	13
Live-action film
Directed by	Takahiro Miki
Written by	Tomoko Yoshida
Music by	Yuki Hayashi
Released	13 December 2014 (2014-12-13)
Runtime	122 minutes

Blue Spring Ride (Japanese: アオハライド, Hepburn: Aoharaido, written Ao Haru Ride within Japan) is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Io Sakisaka. It began serialization in the February 2011 issue of Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret and ended in February 2015. An anime television series, produced by Production I.G and directed by Ai Yoshimura, premiered in Japan at midnight on 7 July 2014. A live-action film adaptation was released in December 2014. A drama CD has been released as a tie-in with the 10th volume of the manga. An OAD has been released as a tie-in with the 11th volume of the manga. Translations of manga volumes have been released in Germany, France, Italy, Taiwan, Poland, and Mexico.

Plot

Futaba Yoshioka wants to "reset" her life. In junior high, girls ostracized Futaba because too many junior high boys liked her. The only boy Futaba liked, Kou Tanaka, moved away before she could tell him how she felt. Now in high school, Futaba is determined to fit in with all the other girls. She acts unladylike so her new friends won't become jealous of her. While living her new life contentedly, she meets Kou again, but he now uses the name Kou Mabuchi and has a cold attitude. He tells her that he liked her too in junior high, but feels differently now.

Main characters

Futaba Yoshioka (吉岡 双葉, Yoshioka Futaba)

Voiced by: Maaya Uchida

Since middle school, Futaba has always believed that boys were too rough and violent. Kou Tanaka was the only exception, and Futaba wanted to know him better. The two share brief, sentimental memories—including a plan to go to the summer festival together. After accidentally telling Naitou, Kou's friend, that she hates all boys within Kou's hearing proximity, she worries about his opinion of her but convinces herself that he understands he is an exception. The summer festival arrives, and Kou doesn't show up. Returning from the summer vacation, Futaba hears that Kou transferred to another school without explanation. Futaba realizes how much she liked Kou and regrets not telling him how she felt.

In high school, Futaba's character is drastically different. No longer feminine or cute, she makes herself as unattractive as possible. Futaba was an outcast in middle school because the girls were jealous of her popularity with boys. Determined to have friends in high school, she sacrifices her true, girly self for her classmates' approval. Although Futaba is strong-willed, stubborn, and passionate, she prefers to be accepted for who she isn't than ostracized for who she is. Futaba eventually falls in love with Kou again. However, she constantly worries that he has no feelings for her and believes he only sees her as a past crush. After confessing and being rejected, she decides to move on. After being rejected, she dated Toma. By chapter 45, she decides to reconcile with Kou and they start dating afterwards.

Futaba is portrayed by Tsubasa Honda in the film.

Kou Mabuchi (馬渕 洸, Mabuchi Kō)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji

During his time in middle school with Futaba, Kou Tanaka (田中 洸, Tanaka Kou) was rather small and gentle. He became very fond of her throughout their experiences together but seemingly disappeared during a summer break. Making an appearance in Futaba's high school, it is revealed that he was unable to attend the summer festival because of familial issues. No longer "Kou Tanaka", he is now referred to as "Kou Mabuchi". His personality has also taken a turn, for he is now more masculine, sarcastic, and crude. In addition, he has extremely pessimistic views about his brother and himself. Despite these changes, Kou remains a kind person. When Kominato visited his house and found his secret box full of things from middle school, Kou confessed to Kominato that he still likes Futaba. To him, Futaba seems to be a remainder of his happier days—the days before his family experiences turmoil. He is trapped in his sympathy for Narumi, his old junior high school mate from Nagasaki. However, he can't forget Futaba. When he settled things up, Futaba is already Kikuchi's girlfriend. Realizing that Futaba is already Kikuchi's girlfriend, he comes to realize how many people he has hurt in his life. He discusses to Kominato about how he had hurt everyone around him that he dearly cared about especially Narumi, Futaba, and himself. At the same time, Narumi comes to final confrontation with Mabuchi saying that she will never stop loving him and pleads to make him understand that she is the right person to be with Mabuchi, and how Futaba does not understand him at all. Mabuchi however; cannot stop thinking about or loving Futaba therefore he decides to reject her feelings, but still considers her as a friend along with an apology for hurting her. Narumi leaves Mabuchi a kiss saying that she doesn't want to end things in a negative way, and decides to let him go. Mabuchi finally realizes that he doesn't need to hide his feelings anymore, and decides to finally pursue Futaba in order to be with her. Instead of confusing Futaba's feelings and pursuit for him, Mabuchi decides to do it himself and becomes more honest with others including himself. Him and Futaba later on reconcile and start dating.

Kou is portrayed by Masahiro Higashide in the film.

Yūri Makita (槙田 悠里, Makita Yūri)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano

Introduced in the first chapter, Yūri's high school life is parallel to Futaba's middle school life. She is very cute, causing her to be despised by many girls in her class, and she is often left alone. Yūri gets by very well, however, for she prefers to be hated for who she truly is than to be liked for someone she isn't. Yūri and Futaba soon become best friends. She falls in love with Kou after he helps her during a class leader's camp. Yūri greatly treasures her friendship with Futaba, but often gets jealous of Futaba's closeness with Kou. After getting rejected, she finally moves on and is now dating one of Toma's friends, Uchiyama.

Yūri is portrayed by Izumi Fujimoto in the film.

Shūko Murao (村尾 修子, Murao Shūko)

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu

Much like Yūri, Shūko is another "lone wolf". She is very beautiful but has a cold exterior that drives others away. Due to experiences in middle school, Shūko fails to trust girls. She has been in love with Tanaka-sensei, Kou's older brother, since her first year of high school after attending a guidance session between the two of them. Eventually, her trust in female relationships was restored after becoming friends with Futaba and Yūri. She softens up and also becomes close friends with Kō as well,so close that Aya mistakenly implied her having feelings for him.

Shūko is portrayed by Yua Shinkawa in the film.

Aya Kominato (小湊 亜耶, Kominato Aya)

Voiced by: KENN

Outgoing and spontaneous, Aya seems to be the only character without social problems. He is very open, caring, and sometimes even dense. He has an unrequited crush on Shūko. Aya harbors a hatred for Tanaka-sensei, and initially did not like Kō due to his relation to him. Eventually Kou and him become close friends. His rivalry with Tanaka-sensei has not changed; on the other hand, he has grown closer to Murao. He is good at mathematics.

Aya is portrayed by Ryo Yoshizawa in the film.

Yōichi Tanaka (田中 陽一, Tanaka Yōichi)

Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa

Kou's older brother by eight years. He works as an English teacher at Futaba's high school. Entering high school, Futaba was initially interested in Yōichi as he reminded her of Kou. However, she was unaware that the two were brothers. Yōichi knows about Shūko's crush on him but always rebuffs her advances, telling her that he will never see her as anything more than a student. However, he never hesitates to help her in times of need and is happy whenever he sees that she is fitting in. He enjoys a playful 'rivalry' with Aya over Shūko. He often gives Futaba advice whenever she feels unsure about herself or about Kou. Although it is hinted that he actually does have feelings for Shuko him saying to Aya "Before I can't keep my feelings under control, I've been hoping for some great guy to come by and swoop Murao off her feet."

Yōichi is portrayed by Yū Koyanagi in the film.

Tōma Kikuchi (菊池 冬馬, Kikuchi Tōma)

Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

Tōma is a boy in Futaba's year, making his first appearance in chapter 12 or episode 11. He initially has a very bad impression of Futaba, during which she trips and ends up accidentally grabbing him. However, he eventually softens up to her when he notices how remorseful she feels about the incident. Due to his earnest appearance, his intentions after often misunderstood, usually causing Kō to get jealous over his interaction with Futaba. His friends call him "Goodie-goodie" and "Hasabe" due to his strait-laced and honest behavior. He has a piercing on his left ear and likes wombats. He falls for Futaba's good nature and finds himself wishing that she would shift her affections onto him. Despite this he constantly supports her and gives her confidence. He eventually confesses and ask her out.

Tōma is portrayed by Yudai Chiba in the film.

Yui Narumi (成海 唯, Narumi Yui)

A classmate of Kō's from junior high. Her father was in the same hospital as Kō's mother. They got to know each other. Yui's father has recently died causing Kō to keep in touch with her more frequently, sparking jealousy by Futaba but Kō states he is just helping out a friend because he can relate to her. However, after finding out about Kō's interest in Futuba, Aya addresses concern about Kō getting too close to Yui which he believes is causing a strain on Kō's relationship with Futuba. Yui attends the Cultural Festival where she notices Kō's closeness with Futaba. It is revealed in Chapter 22 that she still has feelings for Kō. In Chapter 43, Narumi decides to visit Mabuchi and pleads him to be with her. She then starts to explain how she understands Mabuchi more than Futaba, and how she doesn't understand why he can't return his feelings for her. Mabuchi, still in love with Futaba, rejects and apologies to her about how he had hurt her all this time. He admits that he cannot stop thinking and loving Futaba, and how she isn't the "happiness" that he had wanted in his life. Narumi begins to cry and yell at Mabuchi pleading for him to understand. As Mabuchi walks away, Narumi realizes that she alone cannot change his views, and that she needs to accept for who he is and what he wants.

Yui is portrayed by Mitsuki Takahata in the film.

Media

Manga

Blue Spring Ride is written and illustrated by Io Sakisaka. Serialization began in the February 2011 issue of Shueisha's manga magazine Bessatsu Margaret. The first tankōbon volume was released on 13 April 2011, and the twelfth volume was released on December 12, 2014 along with the anime's 12th and final episode. The manga series ended on 13 February 2015.

Tokyo Pop released a German translation of the first volume in December 2012 and, as of June 2014, has released seven volumes under the title Blue Spring Ride. Kana released a French translation of the first volume on 5 July 2013 and, as of July 2014, has released six volumes under the title Blue Spring Ride. Panini Comics released an Italian translation of the first volume in September 2013 and, as of May 2014, has released five volumes under the title Ao haru ride - A un passo da te. Tong Li Publishing released a Chinese translation of the first volume in January 2013 and, as of June 2014, has released seven volumes under the title 閃爍的青春. Waneko released a Polish translation of the first volume in February 2014 and, as of June 2014, has released three volumes under the title Ścieżki Młodości.

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	13 April 2011	ISBN 978-4-08-846647-7
2	25 August 2011	ISBN 978-4-08-846690-3
3	22 December 2011	ISBN 978-4-08-846731-3
4	13 April 2012	ISBN 978-4-08-846759-7
5	24 August 2012	ISBN 978-4-08-846818-1
6	25 December 2012	ISBN 978-4-08-846869-3
7	25 April 2013	ISBN 978-4-08-845028-5
8	23 August 2013	ISBN 978-4-08-845085-8
9	10 January 2014	ISBN 978-4-08-845151-0
10	23 May 2014	ISBN 978-4-08-845211-1 (Regular Edition) 978-4-08-908208-9 (Limited Edition + Drama CD)
11	25 August 2014	ISBN 978-4-08-845256-2 (Regular Edition) 978-4-08-908214-0 (Limited Edition + OAD)
12	12 December 2014	ISBN 978-4-08-845314-9

Anime

An anime television series adaptation, produced by Production I.G and directed by Ai Yoshimura, premiered in Japan on 7 July 2014 (8 July 2014). Weekly broadcasts started at midnight on Tokyo Metropolitan Television (Tokyo MX). The opening theme for the series was performed by a collaboration between two Vocaloid creators CHiCO and HoneyWorks, while the ending theme was performed by Japanese rock band, Fujifabric. In addition, the three-member girl band Chelsy provided an insert song for the series. An Original Anime DVD is also slated for release tie-in with the 11th volume of the manga series. The anime has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks. It premiered with subtitles in 2015 on Anime Network On Demand.

Episode list

No.	Title	Original air date
0	"UNWRITTEN"	25 August 2014
Futaba and Kou's relationship in middle school.
1	"PAGE.1"	7 July 2014
At the end of her first year of high school, Futaba Yoshioka has a reunion of fate. She meets Kou Mabuchi, her first love from middle school, who suddenly disappeared but actually changed schools. The Kou she meets appears before Futaba for the first time in three years. She realizes he has changed his surname to "Mabuchi" and has become a different person, with a cold personality.
2	"PAGE.2"	14 July 2014
With memories from middle school, Futaba has continued to be socially superficial with her friends in high school. One day, Futaba encounters her classmate Yuuri Makita who is eating lunch alone and realizes that she is just "playing at friendship", like Kou told her.
3	"PAGE.3"	21 July 2014
Mr. Tanaka is revealed to be the brother of Kou. Futaba hears some of their family story and learns why Kou did not come to the meeting place before the summer festival in middle school. As they enter their second year, Futaba is determined to try to start from scratch again in her new class. Kou, who was supposed to be in a special advanced class, for some reason appears in her class.
4	"PAGE.4"	28 July 2014
Futaba and Kou become class representatives but must participate in leader camp, along with event representatives Makita Yuuri, Murao Shuuko and Kominato Aya. Troubles are evident from the first morning and there is tension among the team.
5	"PAGE.5"	4 August 2014
Futaba starts to care about Kou again. Yuuri finds out by chance that Shuuko has feelings for Tanaka Yoichi, the teacher and Kou's brother. While confused about their feelings, the team begins their training. During the orienteering activity, they get hopelessly lost in the forest.
6	"PAGE.6"	11 August 2014
Yuri confesses that she has fallen in love with Kou to Futaba. Futaba does not want to hurt Yuri but cannot reconcile that feeling with her own love for Kou, and is unable to decide what to do about her own feelings.
7	"PAGE.7"	18 August 2014
Futaba comes to realize that she also loves Kou. Although he is different than from middle school, she has feelings for this new Kou as well. Yuuri also begins to realize the full difficulty of being friends with someone who loves the same person she does. Futaba meets an old friend from middle school, Yumi, and knows that she must tell Yuuri how she feels about Kou.
8	"PAGE.8"	25 August 2014
Futaba finally is able to work up the courage to tell Yuuri and Shuuko how she feels about Kou; in turn, Shuuko admits she is in love with their teacher, Mr. Tanaka. On the way home, Futaba encounters Kou and follows him downtown to see him meet up with a group of teenagers.
9	"PAGE.9"	1 September 2014
Futaba becomes worried about Kou after he says that caring for things is a lot of trouble. As she tells Yuri about his words, Shuuko comes up and tells them that Kou has failed his midterms. Worried about Kou's future, Futaba, along with Yuuri, Shuuko, and Aya Kominato, invades Kou's home and prepares a study session so he will not fail finals as well.
10	"PAGE.10"	8 September 2014
Futaba realizes that there is tension between Yuuri and Kou during the study session. Trying to figure out why, she questions both Yuuri and Kou; in reply, Kou guides her to the room where he keeps a shrine for his mother. Futaba begins crying and tells him that she wants "to know the Kou now". Kou's brother walks in while they appear to have a moment.
11	"PAGE.11"	15 September 2014
It is revealed that when Kou disappeared in middle school, it was because his parents divorced and he moved with his mother to Nagasaki. However, his mother was terminally ill, leaving Kou to feel helpless and alone. Futaba learns that Kou is suffering even now because he blames himself for being powerless. She wishes Kou had told her earlier and she wants to break open the door to his heart.
12	"PAGE.12"	22 September 2014
Kou showed his weak side to Futaba for the first time and she finds it to be docile and cute. That evening during dinner, Kou joins his brother, Tanaka, and his father to eat together for the first time since his mother's death years ago. He confesses that he never hated them, but that he was always confused whether or not he should get to enjoy the things that his mother will never experience again. The next day, at school, Kou surprised his friends by suggesting to do a study group, ultimately scoring higher than all of them on the finals. In the final scene, when they are deciding where to go for the summer vacation, Futaba reminisces about the past but also looks forward to create more memories with Kou, Yuuri, Shuuko, and Kominato.
13	"PAGE.13"	12 December 2014
Futaba, Kou, Shuuko, Yuuri and Aya go to the firework festival.

Film

A live action film directed by Takahiro Miki was released on 13 December 2014. It stars Tsubasa Honda as Futaba Yoshioka and Masahiro Higashide as Kou Mabuchi. Izumi Fujimoto plays Yūri Makita, Yua Shinkawa plays Shūko Murao and Ryō Yoshizawa plays Aya Kominato.

Reception

The manga has sold over 5.84 million copies as of 9 May 2014.

The film has grossed ¥623 million at the Japanese box office.

External links

• Ao Haru Ride at Bessatsu Margaret
• Anime official website (Japanese)
• Live-action film official website (Japanese)
• Blue Spring Ride (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia