Ao Haru Ride anime adaptation review

Ao Haru Ride is a shoujo manga series created by Io Sakisaka. Its anime adaptation, which is produced by Production I.G. and directed by Ai Yoshimura, was aired from July 8,2014 to September 23, 2014 with a total of 12 episodes (and hopefully more seasons in the future). The title literally means Blue (Ao) Spring (Haru) Ride, but I discovered secondhand information claiming that the title actually means Youth Ride, according to the author.

Apparently, shoujo manga and anime are targeted for girls who are around their teenage years or older because these things are usually about cheesy high school romance. I'm a dude...I shouldn't be enjoying anime or manga like these. I'm supposed to enjoy things like gigantic robots with laser swords,warriors saying some epic lines while fighting for at least 4 episodes, or girls exposing their tits accidentally in front of the main character. Well, I actually enjoy these shoujo anime shows. They are like my purifiers after watching so many shows that depict lewdness and violence.

Now, let's talk about the two main characters of the story.

YOSHIOKA FUTABA - Way back in junior high, she was one of the popular girls of the school. The boys really admired her beauty, but most of the girls were jealous and despised her, thought that her cutesy looks and personality made the guys pay attention only to her. She disliked all guys because she sees them as rowdy and noisy individuals, except for Kou Takanashi who was also in the same school as her. Tired from the kind of attention she had, she decided to change her personality as unfeminine as possible on her high school life.

My impression on her is that though she has somewhat a nape fetish on Kou (lol!), she's a real beauty! She's the most beautiful heroine I've ever seen so far from all the shoujo anime that I watched. I like girls with long hair. Her beauty is so simple, and I definitely like it. Her comical expressions throughout the episodes are so funny, and adorable!

KOU TANAKA (Kou Mabuchi) - Yoshioka described (Junior High) Kou as different from all the other boys. He was short, and had a bit of feminine look and voice, but a kind and cheerful person. He suddenly transferred to a different junior high school due to reasons, and returned to his hometown as a student of the same high school as Yoshioka. He's taller, voice is deeper, and a stone-faced person. His personality changed from cheerful to cold towards others. He's not popular with the girls.

My impression: He's not like your typical shoujo male main character who has their own overly ridiculous Mr. Perfect-like features. Kou's not the type who comes dashing like a knight in shining armor or Prince Charming in the first few episodes. He's like an average, realistic guy just like us, and that's what I like about this dude. I thought that Usui Takumi from Kaichou wa Maid-sama was the best dude I had ever seen, but if I have to choose between Usui and Kou, I pick the new guy because he was a realistic male character.

What do I think about the anime adaptation of Ao Haru Ride?

Since this is a shoujo anime, I assumed that I'd be seeing ultra cheesy scenes that make girls scream their hearts out, but I was wrong. There were really sweet moments that made me smile, but the story really did not focus on who will confess their love first towards the other, and other things like rivalry just like in any shoujo anime. It focused more on how Yoshioka will break Kou's cold personality and be open towards her and their group of friends. The supporting characters were great and well- balanced. There were no dumb-looking girls who only like make-up, guys who suddenly challenge the male MC for a duel, or any character that looked out of this world. The art style is really nice. I like what each character look. I also like the opening and ending songs of the show.

Are they really going to kiss? You have to find that out if you haven't watched it.

To summarize things up, I want to say that this is the BEST SHOUJO ANIME THAT I EVER WATCHED, so far. I'm looking forward to read the manga. I hope that there will be a new season of it!