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A fresh romance from Io Sakisaka, leading shojo manga creator and author of Ao Haru Ride!

Fast friends Yuna and Akari are complete opposites—Yuna is an idealist, while Akari is a realist. When lady-killer Rio and the oblivious Kazuomi join their ranks, love and friendship become quite complicated!

Love and friendship have become quite complicated for these four friends. Even though their feelings are mutual, Akari and Kazuomi can’t get their timing right. Rio realizes he likes Yuna, but he suspects his friend Agatsuma likes her too.

184 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2017

25 people are currently reading
308 people want to read

About the author

Io Sakisaka

95 books1,556 followers
Io Sakisaka (咲坂伊緒) is a Japanese manga artist. She also designed the characters for the anime movie HAL. Her works are:

-Call My Name (2001)
-Watashi no Koibito (2002)
-Bye-Bye, Little (2002)
-Blue (2006)
-Mascara Blues (2007)
-Strobe Edge (2007)
-Ao Haru Ride (2011)
-Sono Omokage o Shitteru (2013) (oneshot)
-Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare (2015)
-Otome no Itari (2020) (oneshot)
-Sakura, Saku (2021)

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5 stars
655 (42%)
4 stars
619 (40%)
3 stars
226 (14%)
2 stars
19 (1%)
1 star
5 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
Profile Image for Shae.
3,221 reviews353 followers
December 26, 2020
This volume was just want I needed in this series. Lines are drawn in the sand, and miscommunications are being cleared up. The only thing I didn't like about this volume was the very clear interloper for one of the relationships. But, we had to have some conflict there. So, I hope it's resolved quickly like a lot of the other conflicts.
Profile Image for Belle Sabattin.
509 reviews42 followers
December 19, 2021
¿Qué sería de un buen manga escolar sin un festival cultural? NADA. Tiene que haber un festival cultural y aunque sean un cliché a mi me encantan porque siempre pasan las cosas más divertidas y romanticas.
Profile Image for Angigames.
1,425 reviews
May 23, 2018
Quest'autrice riesce sempre a sorprendermi, anche quando mi sforzo di fare la pignola.
La storia è dolce, semplice, ma scalda il cuore proprio per questa sua semplicità!
AMO io suoi disegni, amo come mi fa battere il cuore, in poche pagine ritorno un'adoloscente innamorata!😍
RIO, è ora che tu ti dia da fare!
Spero che l'inghippo amoroso sia gestito bene!
Profile Image for ♡Kayla♡.
992 reviews78 followers
June 24, 2021
"I was always in pain, and from that place Yuna-chan pulled me out of it. She's definitely- definitely my goddess!"

I don't know how much more my little heart can take! This series is honestly just too precious, and all of the characters are so pure and adorable!! That cliffhanger really sent me, and I'm just dying to know what'll happen next.
Profile Image for Aliix.
170 reviews88 followers
March 5, 2020
A veeeer que hace Rio ahora que tiene competencia *guiñoguiño*


Profile Image for D.T..
Author 5 books80 followers
August 12, 2021
“You can… forget that too.” Pretty smooth!

Ahh, these characters are pining for each other. The frustration. The misunderstandings. The shoujo!!!



This is one of the cutest manga I’ve read in a while. I love the artwork and the characters too. It almost makes me forgive it for that earlier step-sibling nonsense.

Something, I enjoy about this series/mangaka is that she captures subtlety well (in body language), like, the nervousness, shy touches, and the need for closeness.
Profile Image for Ady Weasley.
1,803 reviews43 followers
February 11, 2024
Muchas confusiones en este tomo, pero también es un tomo de aclaraciones.

Akari sufre por el rechazo pero trata de seguir adelante.
Rio tiene un rival y le duele porque es un amigo. Kazu tiene sentimientos encontrados y no sabe cómo actuar con Akari.
Lo único que me encanto es que Kazu y Rio hablaron de lo que realmente sienten
Profile Image for Caahpinotti ⋆ ˚。⋆୨୧˚.
381 reviews
April 18, 2022
« I was always in pain, and from that place Yuna-chan pulled me out of it. She's definitely- definitely my goddess! »┈┈•༶💝🫀💐

i can’t believe this volume made me realize i was also in love out of stubbornness and pride. damn. imagine being a rio kinnie.. ha ha ha ha
Profile Image for Laura A. Grace.
2,002 reviews318 followers
March 15, 2024
VIDEO REVIEW HERE: https://youtu.be/X2Egrujlhfc

"I don't want to think less of myself. I like the me I am now."

I'm loving this series more and more!! If I thought the last volume was my favorite, this one just might be a favorite too! I don't know! They're both so good! LOL!

Seriously though, I'm really enjoying the growth of all the characters and how everyone is taking small steps at a time to become the person they want to be.

Though the beginning had me laughing at the misunderstanding that took place and how Rio thought he was "behind." LOL!!!

But oh my heart quickly twinged and felt sad because Akari is trying SO hard to move on and "flip her switch," but it's just not working. Plus when she thinks it will help Kazu, it really just seems to backfire on her. 😭 At least Kazu FINALLY heard Akari's feelings and FINALLY went to talk to Rio about what he saw a few volumes ago. Definitely appreciating how these characters may have misunderstandings or not say something, but that it never lasts for long!

Oh my goodness, the butterflies I felt with the scenes of Yuna and Rio! I REALLY need them to just be a couple at this point! LOL! I have a feeling that the ending of this volume is going to lead to something happening that I won't be fond of, but going to be hopeful because Rio is growing in strides, and just so proud of him! 😭😭😭 (Also! YUNA LOOK AT YOU SHINE GIRL!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! 😭😭😭)

I will say that out of any "love rival" Io Sakisaka has written, I like Agatsuma the most. He really is a great and kind guy! I feel if I wasn't cheering so hard for Rio, I would definitely (and easily) be cheering for him. He's so sweet!

The school festival has been a blast!! Rio the Prince needs to come save the day at the beginning of the next volume, please!
Profile Image for Valeria NM.
78 reviews50 followers
October 24, 2022
I see a lot dislike towards Akari as many don’t like her bc she’s “more popular” than Yuna
The thing is that Akari is much more similar to an actual person while Yuna is definitely more of the typical FL we see in shoujo, but I find Akari very relatable in the way she tries to fit in and appease others.
It is precisely that approach to things what makes Akari more “popular” than Yuna in the story, it’s just a case of being more used to performing socially.

It’s not sitting right with me that people are hating on her just because of the gap between the FLs (-᷅_-᷄๑)

Other than that I feel that the series has definitely improved volume by volume, I am glad I didn’t drop it and trusted the mangaka
Profile Image for Maryam.
95 reviews
Read
October 30, 2024
Sincera adesso non sopporto Agatsuma e ho tifato contro di lui quando al festival voleva interrompere Yuna e Rio, ma dei ragazzini gli hanno chiesto il timbro e lui poi li ha persi di vista.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Utha.
825 reviews405 followers
May 12, 2019
Namanya perasaan emang rempez ya haha.
Profile Image for Mark.
2,850 reviews280 followers
January 7, 2021
The school festival is in the air, along with a lot of other stuff that could probably use clearing up. Everybody is assuming the wrong things and being ever so careful and yet... maybe, just maybe... there’s the faintest whiff of love in the offing...

I’ve arrived at the point where I think I could read a book blind and I’d be able to tell in very quick fashion that it was written by Io Sakisaka. The first clue to my confidence is that I refer to her by name every single time I talk about one of her books.

I genuinely like her work; I may get frustrated, but I never put down one of her books and think my time got wasted. However, and I know I have said this before, she leans hard on her own particular tropes which are based around characters causing as much trouble as possible for one another and never talking frankly about things, which would literally solve 90% of the problems.

If you thought this episode was going to be any different, I assure you it is not. Everybody has sorted their feelings out, but miscommunications and being overprotective of said feelings mean that things are being stretched as thin as possible.

It’s not particularly sensible, although, to be fair, at least one important talk manages to happen (though in typical fashion it has the legs partially cut out from under it due to machinations happening elsewhere).

And in a way it’s a shame because when she aims straight for the heart, Sakisaka does good work. This is one of the more enjoyable school festival arcs I’ve read simply due to its simplicity (although I would LOVE to know how actually popular folk dances still are in Japanese high school...) - it makes use of the setting but the setting itself is not the point.

In fact, there is a shared moment between Yuna and Rio (and Akari, after a fashion) that’s probably my favourite scene in the book because it’s just a nice, quiet bit of charming. It’s like water in the desert after these four have been tormenting themselves for so long.

Sakisaka’s art is as brilliant as ever - there’s a conversation between Inui and Rio towards the end that goes quite meta with the manga format itself for a panel and is both a clever joke plus visual shorthand for what (and how) things are being discussed. There’s also the early moment where we see Akari through Inui’s eyes and the effect is incredibly impressive without being too obvious - it takes a lot of skill to pull that off.

It’s just... aggressively competent without wowing me enough to push it higher. There have been some amazing splashes of brilliance in this series, literally some of the best this author has ever done, but the characters themselves are some of her least memorable (Ko and Futaba from Ao Haru Ride mop the floor with this bunch).

3 stars, 3.5 in the odd moment, but certainly not enough to hit 4. I think if this was your first rodeo with this mangaka you might love this to bits, but I’ve been on this ride before and I know a lot of its twists and turns quite well. I enjoyed it, but the novelty isn’t quite there.
Profile Image for Stella.
162 reviews15 followers
May 26, 2019
3,5 (entre el "me ha gustado y el "me ha gustado mucho")

[Un apunte: los shôjo de instituto utilizan los siguientes eventos escolares para estructurar sus historias: entrada al nuevo curso, la estación de las lluvias, el verano con los festivales y la playa, el festival cultura, invierno y su navidad (que en Japón es un evento para parejas), Nochevieja y Año Nuevo (que en Japón son importantes), San Valentín, White Day, las vacaciones entre curso y curso y... vuelta a empezar con un curso nuevo a no ser que los protagonistas vayan a graduarse.]

Con el festival cultural la historia empieza a tomar velocidad de nuevo, con muchos momentos doki doki entre las dos parejas. Rio y Kazu resuelven (al fin) un malentendido. Yuna decide que va a seguir valorándose más, como le enseñó Rio. Y Akari abre más su 乙女心 (otomegokoro, corazón de doncella) a la SEISHUN!! (juventud, para los menos weaboos que yo), como ve hacer a Yuna y otras chicas en el festival. Y por último tenemos a un tercero, Agatsuma, que no tiene nada que hacer contra Rio pero, en fin, es buen chico y se agradece que alguien más aprecie las cualidades de Yuna.

Quizás mi parte favorita de la historia, llegados a este tomo, es la complejidad de los sentimientos entre Akari y Kazu. Dentro de todo lo que ha escrito Sakisaka creo que son los que más te transiten un sentimiento adulto o maduro, a pesar de tener 16 años. Creo que se debe a esa mezcla de atracción sexual sutil y una comprensión mutua que se manifiesta en conversaciones íntimas donde a veces lo que no se dice tiene tanto peso o más que lo que se dice. Hacen que me entren ganas de ver que haría esta autora con un jôsei.
Profile Image for Lou (Lou and Life).
740 reviews1,531 followers
December 28, 2020
An advanced reader of this book was provided to me by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love this series so much. When I saw that volume 6 was available to request on NetGalley, I clicked the request button so fast that it could have broken my laptop keyboard. This manga series has helped me get through 2020 with how cute, relatable, and nostalgic it is of high school.

This volume starts right from where the cliffhanger ended the story in volume 5. The readers were quickly put out of our misery and we saw the ending of it. The story then moves to the school festival. I really love the school festival sections in mangas because I feel like that's where we get to see the most progression with the characters relationships and we see it here in this book. I won't say much because I don't want to spoil it for others, but I really liked seeing both of the relationships develop. I read this book in two sitting and really fast. I was really sad to get to the cliffhanger endings again but I can't wait to pick up the next volume. I would highly recommend this series if you are a fan of high school romance shojo manga!
Profile Image for Julie.
2,670 reviews197 followers
November 1, 2020
Irrelevant to the actual content of the manga, but why the heck does Edelweiss offer manga if they're not going to actually put text in the speech bubbles??

Yuna is so cute!! I just want to pinch her cheeks! I like how cute the art is, but it's weird I see all of the characters as like children. Like compared to other manga set in high school they seem younger like sometimes I see them as middle schoolers. They alluded to sex in this volume and I was like huh?? Not in front of the children!! But high schoolers are pretty young huh? I'm getting old.

I'm glad everyone got their feelings out of the way. I guess the only one in the dark about all the drama is Yuna. She's just being precious and cute and blissfully unaware. Although, I don't want to discredit her, because she's pretty intuitive. She's just not involved this time. Then again, Akari still has to get herself sorted so nevermind everything is still a mess. The next volume is probably going to involve a lot of confessions, so it's sure to be juicy.
Profile Image for Jenna | Bookmark Your Thoughts.
196 reviews100 followers
August 16, 2018
Some character set backs in this one, but it's ALL for the eventual character growth haha. It gets frustrating when you see all the character thoughts and want to yell "that's not what they think" almost every page. However, this is a common theme with slice of life romance manga, so I anticipated this. Rio and Akari are maturing a lot more; however, Kazu frustrated me a bit. Hopefully he gets his act together in the next volume. P.S. Yuna is still my favourite...she's just so darn cute!!

The other part that I really enjoyed is the connection between Yuna and Akari. This isn't just the parts with them talking about their feelings to each other, but the parts where they think to themselves how wonderful the other friend is...I just love that! Even when the one is down, the other friend picks up for them and routes them on. I miss stories with strong female relationships like this!
781 reviews4 followers
March 11, 2021
The folk dance approaches! But will there be any confessions to our two heroines?

Rio and Kazu have sorted out their feelings. So, how & when would it be best to confess? Also, Rio and Kazu have a talk at the school festival, and realize they aren't in competition. Kazu wants Akari, while Rio wants Yuna. However, Rio has competition in the form of Agatsuma. He's a nice guy, buy rather vanilla, especially compared to the flashy Rio. But who will Yuna pick? I think we already know how this is going to turn out. Yep, someone's gonna get hurt. This IS a work from Io Sakisaka, after all! She loves throwing in turmoil, just when things are looking good! Anyways, the volume ends... with Agatsuma and Yuna... forcibly joined at the hip?!?!?! Let's hope Rio doesn't see!
Profile Image for Sonnie.
28 reviews4 followers
February 8, 2021
This volume was really cute! The famous school festival finally made its appearance so you know that drama is going to go down. Lots of feelings were exchanged and revelations were made. Io Sakisaka captured the feeling of youth and transformation from Akari's perspective really well. The bittersweet feeling of watching your friends and peers move on in their own lives, whether it is moving away or getting into a relationship, etc. This volume flew by really fast. I can't wait to see certain characters' reactions in the following volume after the cliffhanger that we were left with at the end of this volume.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews

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