Considerations This is a spoilerfree review. 80+ in my rating means really good. Ive got to read this work on a friends recommendation. I was aware of it being a really popular romance. With that in mind I just dived in. The Story Yoshioka despises boys and their violent and uncivilized behavior. Everything changes when she meets Tanaka. Hes different from the others as he has a low build and a soothing voice. When they finally get close enough to go on a date Tanaka disappears. Later Yoshioka gets to know he has transferred. Years later in high school Yoshioka meets Tanaka once again but now hes a totally different person. The story of Ao Haru Ride is good. It has all the romance and drama that you could ask from a Shoujo manga. The story can seem predictable at times but that doesnt ruin the development. Its still nice to see how everyone will sort themselves out romantically. A nice point is that the story has a good sense of closure. When its over you dont have a lot of loose ends that keep you thinking about what happened to some character. The Art Style The art style is good. I especially like the tones and effects that are used to represent feelings especially the warmth effect used when romantic thoughts are being developed. 420https://animesher.com/orig/0/99/997/9971/animesher.commangakouaoharuride997112.jpg The art screams Shoujo with very white panels fewer shadows and less detailed background in general. Overall I think the only thing that I can complain about is the character design. Initially I had difficulty distinguishing a few characters because they wore similar clothing and had similar hairstyles. Besides that everything else is okay. 320https://i.pin.com/originals/9d/ae/39/9dae3912cd69b85869015dde76d06451.jpg Shes so cute The Characters There are a moderate number of characters in this manga Yashioka Tanaka their high school friends and a few other supporting characters. Each character has their own personality and conflicts that add drama to the main story. As I always like to talk about the main character Yoshioka was average for me. I liked her at the beginning until midway through the manga. Later on she appeared very indecisive IMO making it a constant Will They or Wont Theyhttps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WillTheyOrWontThey Click for details. Conclusion If youre like me you skip everything and read only the conclusion because you dont want to get spoiled with other themes. So I will try to be brief on this point: Maybe read it. I know Shoujo mangas arent for everyone but if youve never read any of them Ao Haru Ride is a good introduction to the genre with a nice story good drama and nice characters.