Do you remember your first love? If you do did you ever get a relationship started with that first love and if you did has it survived to this day? If you didnt.... have you ever wondered if you still have a chance? I first heard about Ao Haru Ride through its anime adaptation it caught my attention before it started airing because of its beautiful artwork so I decided to watch it. Needless to say I loved it enough to want to read its manga adaptation and.... well I still loved it In fact it wouldnt be too much of a stretch to say that it got a bit better past the point the anime ended at is it? Ao Haru Ride known as Blue Spring Ride in English is about a girl named Futaba Yoshioka who in middle school had a hatred for all boys save one Kou Tanaka. However she couldnt get her feelings across to him and soon enough he moved away. Now in high school she acts as unladylike as possible as her previous popularity among boys has caused the girls to hate her. Soon enough however she ends up running into the one boy she ever liked except not only has his name changed to Kou Mabuchi but his personality has also taken a drastic change. He says that he had returned Futabas feelings in middle school but things between them can never be the same.... Thus the story starts.... The reason why I fell in love with the anime adaptation of this manga is how realistic it is its true that people change with time and the relationship between others can become different if they havent seen each other for a long time. To a certain degree thats the same thing for the original manga I could feel how realistic it is. However I cant deny the fact that some elements of the story were kind of irritating but I dont want to say what those elements are because of spoilers. All in all though the story of Ao Haru Ride is quite a touching one and its got quite a decent amount of character development especially for Kou. If were going to talk about the characters in Ao Haru Ride were NOT going to leave out the two main leads Futaba and Kou. Yes Futaba can be a bit of an irritating protagonist to follow at times mostly in the postanime parts of the manga she just cant seem to make up her mind. However I loved her character to a certain degree and actually some aspects of her reminded me of myself. As for Kou.... well I loved this guy through and through Not only is this guy ABSOLUTELY HANDSOME I enjoyed seeing him grow as a character and he had quite a number of funny moments. The relationship between Futaba and Kou was cute as heck whenever there was a moment between them I couldnt help but grin like an idiot. Of course most of the supporting characters were very likable especially Kominato I loved his personality and I rooted for him and his feelings for another character Murao. However perhaps the best part of this manga is its artwork done by the same person writing this manga Io Sakisaka. Of course Ive read some of her other manga like Strobe Edge so I know what her style is like however the artwork in Ao Haru Ride is just ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. From the scenery to the character designs even to the occasional chibi its all just a pleasure to look at. As if the story wasnt already beautiful the artwork just HAD to add to it its definitely one of the most beautiful shoujo manga out there. Overall Ao Haru Ride was a real pleasure to read I got to relive the memories of its anime adaptation and more. If youre looking for an amazing shoujo manga Id recommend this one on the spot. After finishing this manga the tears that come out of your eyes.... well theyre really pouring down arent they?