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Chasing After Aoi Koshiba #4
Chasing After Aoi Koshiba, Vol. 4
A yuri romance about the intense feelings of youth, and the perspective and regrets that adulthood can bring, for fans of manga like Bloom Into You and Orange . From the creator of Masamune-kun's Revenge Hazuki Takeoka and acclaimed yuri artist Fly.
Sahoko had lots of friends in high school, so there's no shortage of people to catch up with at her reunion. But the one face she wants to see is that of Aoi Koshiba, her classmate and first love. A star of the basketball team, Aoi caught Sahoko's eye as an easy way to score social points. But when Aoi quits the team, an unexpected kiss pulls Sahoko closer to her than she intended to be. With a difficult home situation, Aoi is in need of more than just a cynical social climber. She needs a true friend, and something more...
Sahoko had lots of friends in high school, so there's no shortage of people to catch up with at her reunion. But the one face she wants to see is that of Aoi Koshiba, her classmate and first love. A star of the basketball team, Aoi caught Sahoko's eye as an easy way to score social points. But when Aoi quits the team, an unexpected kiss pulls Sahoko closer to her than she intended to be. With a difficult home situation, Aoi is in need of more than just a cynical social climber. She needs a true friend, and something more...
208 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 2022
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55 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 14, 2023
The reunion is ending and without the appearance from Aoi that Sahoko craves. But, she and Aoi made their feelings clear in the past, so what happened? Or did anything? Or maybe, just maybe, relationships are more complicated than simply saying the right things…
Catharsis is had, I will tell you that much. After being kept on the hook for all these volumes, there will be a resolution to all this anticipation. Is it worth the wait? Yes, it is. Is it painful? Yes, it is. Do we get a happy ending? Like I said, relationships are complicated.
If anything, this final volume reveals the double meaning in the title, which I could kind of kick myself for not noticing. I suppose the focus being on the romance angle kind of kept me from looking that way at it. But this is a story as much about friendship as it is love, when it comes down to it.
Aoi and Sahoko admire one another and have been chasing each other, but this volume suggests that the end result of that might not have been purely romantic and untangling that knot proves both sad and enlightening. They finally talk, but amidst a snarl of miscommunication that almost implies that they don’t necessarily want anything but the ideal of one another (at least at this stage of their lives), which the distance maintains.
Little details that might not have seemed especially relevant are revealed and, while it might not have me leaping to read the whole series again immediately, suggest another spin through the story might make it even more impactful the second time around.
And poor Anna. She goes way, way too far trying to pursue Sahoko, like, across boundaries, but you can tell that she just loves her so much that it’s killing her to see Sahoko so keen on Aoi (not an excuse - bad Anna!). One of the most brutal images occurs at the end of the reunion, when Sahoko literally slips out of Anna’s grasp once again (Fly is one of my favourite artists, here is why).
There are some people who would be so good together and just never manage to have the timing line up. That may be the case here, but it might not. This is one of the rare stories that ends nebulously in a way I really enjoyed - there is the hint that love is still there, just waiting, for two people. If they can ever grasp it.
It goes to some really interesting places. I don’t love Sahoko’s handling of her tormentor, but she’s definitely a better person than I am. Sahoko is a big mess when it comes to being into girls too - she’s got a stigma about making the jump to the physical and if I had one request, it would have been seeing that explored even further.
This story ends messy and was messy in the past and that’s human relationships. Yeah, I love a good old pure yuri, but the complicated stuff like this I could eat up with a spoon. Sahoko’s defensive reaction to Aoi’s jealousy is emblematic, as it’s maybe true, but it’s also a cover for her insecurities.
The whole finale breezes by, honestly. It moves all the pieces around and gets everybody where they need to go. The game they’re all playing might be different than expected, but it’s part of the fun. Where is the line between admiration and love anyway?
I hoped a volume of this was going to get this all perfectly right, and while none of them did, this one is so close that it might not matter at all. It was a truly compelling look at the incredible messiness (yeah, I said messy too much, but… it really is) that is high school and it mixes in some great scenes without going completely overboard. And, of course, has Fly’s artwork, which is always so good at conveying the little details.
4.5 stars - I felt sad at the end of this, really, but not in a way that felt bad. More a regret that things ended as they did, but it made perfect sense for the characters and that just sold it completely and lifted my already positive opinion of the series as a whole. Not everything you chase should necessarily be caught.
Catharsis is had, I will tell you that much. After being kept on the hook for all these volumes, there will be a resolution to all this anticipation. Is it worth the wait? Yes, it is. Is it painful? Yes, it is. Do we get a happy ending? Like I said, relationships are complicated.
If anything, this final volume reveals the double meaning in the title, which I could kind of kick myself for not noticing. I suppose the focus being on the romance angle kind of kept me from looking that way at it. But this is a story as much about friendship as it is love, when it comes down to it.
Aoi and Sahoko admire one another and have been chasing each other, but this volume suggests that the end result of that might not have been purely romantic and untangling that knot proves both sad and enlightening. They finally talk, but amidst a snarl of miscommunication that almost implies that they don’t necessarily want anything but the ideal of one another (at least at this stage of their lives), which the distance maintains.
Little details that might not have seemed especially relevant are revealed and, while it might not have me leaping to read the whole series again immediately, suggest another spin through the story might make it even more impactful the second time around.
And poor Anna. She goes way, way too far trying to pursue Sahoko, like, across boundaries, but you can tell that she just loves her so much that it’s killing her to see Sahoko so keen on Aoi (not an excuse - bad Anna!). One of the most brutal images occurs at the end of the reunion, when Sahoko literally slips out of Anna’s grasp once again (Fly is one of my favourite artists, here is why).
There are some people who would be so good together and just never manage to have the timing line up. That may be the case here, but it might not. This is one of the rare stories that ends nebulously in a way I really enjoyed - there is the hint that love is still there, just waiting, for two people. If they can ever grasp it.
It goes to some really interesting places. I don’t love Sahoko’s handling of her tormentor, but she’s definitely a better person than I am. Sahoko is a big mess when it comes to being into girls too - she’s got a stigma about making the jump to the physical and if I had one request, it would have been seeing that explored even further.
This story ends messy and was messy in the past and that’s human relationships. Yeah, I love a good old pure yuri, but the complicated stuff like this I could eat up with a spoon. Sahoko’s defensive reaction to Aoi’s jealousy is emblematic, as it’s maybe true, but it’s also a cover for her insecurities.
The whole finale breezes by, honestly. It moves all the pieces around and gets everybody where they need to go. The game they’re all playing might be different than expected, but it’s part of the fun. Where is the line between admiration and love anyway?
I hoped a volume of this was going to get this all perfectly right, and while none of them did, this one is so close that it might not matter at all. It was a truly compelling look at the incredible messiness (yeah, I said messy too much, but… it really is) that is high school and it mixes in some great scenes without going completely overboard. And, of course, has Fly’s artwork, which is always so good at conveying the little details.
4.5 stars - I felt sad at the end of this, really, but not in a way that felt bad. More a regret that things ended as they did, but it made perfect sense for the characters and that just sold it completely and lifted my already positive opinion of the series as a whole. Not everything you chase should necessarily be caught.
September 6, 2024
what a disaster of an ending
May 11, 2023
Hmm.
I'm disappointed in this last volume. The character I liked (the mixed best friend) just turns out unerhanded and still pining. The main characters have a short encounter that's supposed to illustrate that they realized they didn't want a long-term romantic relationship without actually showing the growth that allowed them to understand that about themselves over the years. (To be clear, I didn't want them to meet and have sex and realize they want to date now, so that's at least that I guess.) And like, why can't they be friends now that they've understood it?
I'm disappointed in this last volume. The character I liked (the mixed best friend) just turns out unerhanded and still pining. The main characters have a short encounter that's supposed to illustrate that they realized they didn't want a long-term romantic relationship without actually showing the growth that allowed them to understand that about themselves over the years. (To be clear, I didn't want them to meet and have sex and realize they want to date now, so that's at least that I guess.) And like, why can't they be friends now that they've understood it?
November 11, 2024
I'm feeling conflicted about the ending. This story feels like it could have used another volume to be honest. I would have liked to have seen the few interactions Aoi and Sahoko would have had during the college years. I felt like there needed to be tension build up more.
The reader also doesn't get to see what changed her mind from feeling "disgusted" when she kissed Aoi after they started dating. Again, I feel like this issue could have been resolved with showing a scene in college where she's experimenting with another woman or maybe she starts dating Anna.
The art is stunning and I enjoyed the majority of the story, but yeah I'm left wanting more to make the ending hit harder.
Series overall: 3.75
Volume: 3
The reader also doesn't get to see what changed her mind from feeling "disgusted" when she kissed Aoi after they started dating. Again, I feel like this issue could have been resolved with showing a scene in college where she's experimenting with another woman or maybe she starts dating Anna.
The art is stunning and I enjoyed the majority of the story, but yeah I'm left wanting more to make the ending hit harder.
Series overall: 3.75
Volume: 3
November 13, 2025
The series up to the final chapters was so engaging and interesting! I was ready for them to reunite, bittersweet or painful, but to reveal that it was never actually romantic felt like a bit of a slap in the face after being so engaged with the dynamic between the two leads. I kind of felt like the story just went and insinuated that romantic love between two women isn't ever real. The ending also left me wondering about the position of the friend set up as the rival in love - her story feels unresolved, and in context of the final reveal, a bit pointless? The art is beautiful as always, I just feel that the ending could have still been a 'never meant to be' without having to insinuate that the love was never really valid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2023
I just…it actually pains me to have been so disappointed/betrayed by this series. I’m used to various series being cut short and clumsily being wrapped up, but this was truly next level. It felt like the mangakas were given 200 pages to wrap it up, and they proceeded to fast forward what they thought should remain of the plot, cheapen everyone's character arcs, and dissolve the romance in the laziest way possible. Not every Yuri manga is going to succeed, but I guess it's harder to accept one that had so much promise, and have ultimately been reduced so cheaply.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2024
ah a bittersweet ending... but im a sucker for them.
❗tw: there is a scene where the mc gets kissed non-consensually (which im a bit upset about because i don't think it was necessary).
not sure what the general consensus is, but definitely from this volume I'm interpreting Sahoko as somewhere on the ace/aro spectrum. i hope she is able to put her feelings into words better in the post-story world🩷
❗tw: there is a scene where the mc gets kissed non-consensually (which im a bit upset about because i don't think it was necessary).
not sure what the general consensus is, but definitely from this volume I'm interpreting Sahoko as somewhere on the ace/aro spectrum. i hope she is able to put her feelings into words better in the post-story world🩷
August 20, 2024
Il finale mi ha lasciata talmente delusa che è meglio se non mi esprimo fino in fondo.
Francamente mi limiterò a dire soltanto questo: che spreco…
Quella conclusione nonsense ha vanificato tutta la bellezza e il pathos dell’opera! Tra l’altro, io la considero una svolta finale assurda e per nulla logica.
Francamente mi limiterò a dire soltanto questo: che spreco…
Quella conclusione nonsense ha vanificato tutta la bellezza e il pathos dell’opera! Tra l’altro, io la considero una svolta finale assurda e per nulla logica.
August 26, 2023
El final: 🤨😞
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2024
What a bittersweet ending. The story and characters were just OK though.
December 27, 2024
:( I NEED MORE
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2024
horrible ending
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews