As I read along Futaba and Kou’s journey, I reminisced about high school and first crushes. Though a typical shoujo, I believe this one holds special, personal meaning because it reminded me of my time as a youthful teenager. Yet, despite the many problematic elements (and I guess against my better judgement) I couldn’t bear to give this series a lower rating because I related to the characters and still managed to adore the story to bits. There are a myriad of ridiculous tropes, cliche scenes left and right, predictable plots, and a dreaded love polygon. Will they finally face each other after all this time? And will the attraction they shared from the past be rekindled?īlue Spring Ride is far from a perfect or unique manga series amongst other existing shoujo titles. And then years later, fate makes them enrolled in the same high school. But on the day of the new semester, Futaba discovers that Kou has already transferred schools to another town. With a lot of loose ends left and the strength of first love, the two never forget each other in spite of the distance. Futaba believes that he stood her up for the outburst that he overheard, but really he couldn’t make it because of family issues. So she decides to address this misunderstanding when they return to school. Kou hears her exclamation, and doesn’t meet up with Futaba the day of the event. However, misunderstandings arise after Futaba accidentally blurts that she hates boys because of their obnoxious behavior.
The story begins with two middle schoolers, Futaba Yoshioka and Kou Tanaka, that like each other making plans to attend a festival together during their school break. And Blue Spring Ride made me feel just that. As a non-native and amateur learning the foreign language for my own fun, how I’ve personally interpret natsukashii is the feeling you get when you’re reminded of the past. This term is difficult to translate into English accurately and completely, but it is often used to express a yearning for something, or a slightly nostalgic feeling of missing. If I had to choose one word to describe this manga series, it would be the Japanese adjective, “懐かしい” (natsukashii).
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