Ao Haru Ride Season 1 and 2 (2023) / アオハライド Season 1 and 2
aka Blue Spring Ride
Starring:
Deguchi Natsuki as Yoshioka Futaba
Sakurai Kaito as (Tanaka Kou) Mabuchi Kou
Shida Sara as Murao ShukoNiihara Taisuke as Kominato Aya
Year: 2023 and 2024 (Season 1, Season 2)
In middle school, Yoshioka Futaba is on the verge of being an outcast in her class for having a pretty face and supposedly popular as her female classmates see it. One day, to avoid the rain while returning home from school, Yoshioka Futaba runs to a nearby temple and also meets Tanaka Kou standing there as well. She recognizes him and addresses him since he is her classmate. He covers her with a spare shirt so that she can dry her hair and their friendship blossoms. It was not long before they start glancing at each other in the classroom and Tanaka Kou waits for Yoshioka Futa after school to invite her on a date to the Lantern Festival since the next day is officially their summer school break.
Riko as Makita Yuri
Kanechika Daiki as Tanaka Yoichi
Sota Ryosuke as Kikuchi Toma
A new major character appears in season 2:
Fujiyoshi Karin as Narumi Yui
Fujiyoshi Karin as Narumi Yui
Year: 2023 and 2024 (Season 1, Season 2)
Episodes: 14 (8 espisodes in season 1, 6 episodes in season 2)
Network: WOWOW
Genre: Romance, Mystery
This drama is based on a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Io Sakisaka.
Synopsis:
In middle school, Yoshioka Futaba is on the verge of being an outcast in her class for having a pretty face and supposedly popular as her female classmates see it. One day, to avoid the rain while returning home from school, Yoshioka Futaba runs to a nearby temple and also meets Tanaka Kou standing there as well. She recognizes him and addresses him since he is her classmate. He covers her with a spare shirt so that she can dry her hair and their friendship blossoms. It was not long before they start glancing at each other in the classroom and Tanaka Kou waits for Yoshioka Futa after school to invite her on a date to the Lantern Festival since the next day is officially their summer school break. Unfortunately, Tanaka Kou never showed up to the Lantern Festival and also did not come back to school when starting the new school year, leaving Yoshioka Futaba heartbroken. Still, Yoshioka Futaba wanted to fit in at school so until high school, she forces herself to hang out girls who despise any type of girls that are deemed as popular and pretty.
Surprisingly, Tanaka Kou also transfers to Yoshioka Futaba's high school as well, but under a different surname, Mabuchi Kou and a different personality where he does not care for school or friends anymore. Little by little, Yoshioka Futaba and Mabuchi Kou learn to appreciate who they are and to move beyond the obstacles that lay before them.
Reasons to watch it:
This is a beautiful coming-of-age story with so many obstacles and imperfections for the main couple and also the side characters, but this is what growing up is all about. I think the "Blue Spring" title is in reference to Mabuchi Kou's sadness.
Yoshioka Futaba is already a flawed character who works so hard to make her female classmates like her and she lacks confidence to show who she is and never thought that she could become a leader and class president had it not been for Mabuchi Kou's indirect encouragement. She is not particularly smart, but she works hard on any task that she decides to do.
Mabuchi Kou, hurt by family matters, closes his heart for most of the series, but he shows on many occasions that he cares about his friends. He also does not realize that he hurt his family members, especially his older brother without thinking about his older brother's feelings. Mabuchi Kou seems to be punishing himself for not realizing that his mother was sick. He takes a long time to realize who he wants to be and to find out his attitude in life, but he would not have done it without Yoshioka Futaba, who never gave up on him.
Yoshioka Futaba's friendships with her two female friends are also commendable. Even though her new best friend, Makita Yuri, also had a crush on Mabuchi Kou, they did not let their friendship get in the way of liking the same man. This is what I call a mature friendship.
The arrival of fellow student, Kikuchi Toma, in Yoshioka Futaba's life was also a beautiful relationship to watch. I think Yoshioka Futaba could have been also very happy with Kikuchi Toma as her boyfriend if she truly decides to give up on Mabuchi Kou and want a perfect boyfriend instead. Kikuchi Toma is a very ideal boyfriend. However, Yoshioka Futaba is not interested in perfect men.
Kominato Aya is a very good and loyal friend to Mabuchi Kou. Mabuchi Kou should be very grateful that despite yelling at his friend, Kominato Aya several times, Kominato Aya never gave up on their friendship. Kominato Aya also has low self-esteem since he is constantly being rejected by his friends, but his loyalty to his friends makes him somebody really precious in this drama.
Reasons not to watch it:
Murao Shuko's character is very confusing to me. I think there is a lot of undeveloped story to her character and how she would change from liking Mabuchi Kou's brother, Tanaka Yoichi, who is also a teacher at their school to her loyal classmate, Kominato Aya. The only reason why Murao Shuko could not be with Tanaka Yoichi is because of their student/teacher relationship. However, in real life, Tanaka Yoichui could have still pursued Murao Shuko later on in life since he resigned from the school to somehow go overseas, which is very strange to me.
During the series, Tanaka Yoichi continuously gives Kominato Aya chances to pursue Murao Shuko. Kominato Aya knows that Murao Shuko has set her feelings on Tanaka Yoichi and even I thought there was no hope for them. However, I didn't see any particular pivotal moment that would make me believe that Murao Shuko no longer loves Tanaka Yoichi. While I am happy that Murao Shuko made her choice at the end of the drama, I have a hard time believing how she can change over time.
Season 1 and Season 2 must be watched together if the audience wants a complete story because Season 2 is the continuation of the story from season 1. On top of that, season 1 ended on a cliffhanger.
I didn't like the drama of Narumi Yui entering Mabuchi Kou's life. At the time when Mabuchi Kou would have been certain that he wanted to date Yoshioka Futaba, he allows Narumi Yui back into his life. I do not really understand why Mabuchi Kou wanted to be so secretive about it. He could have been more frank and if anything, introduce Narumi Yui to more friends so that she can have a better outlook on life just as Mabuchi Kou did. Mabuchi Kou also could have called Narumi Yui back at a more convenient time instead of dropping everything he was doing just because she called. I felt really bad for Yoshioka Futaba during this time period. The worst part is that Mabuchi Kou made a conscious decision to not have a romantic relationship with Yoshioka Futaba. What was he thinking?
Favorite Couple and Chemistry Factor:
Favorite couple has to go to Yoshioka Futaba and Mabuchi Kou, two friends who are imperfect, but perfect for each other. They rely on each other and I think their lives would have been so sad without each other. I do not know why Mabuchi Kou came back to the same high school as Yoshioka Futaba or maybe he made a conscious decision that he cannot live without her in his life, but not necessarily to date her, but to be around her. There is little talk about Mabuchi Kou's father, but I guess they are financially well off enough to live separate lives. Mabuchi Kou tries to stray so many times to hang out with seemingly delinquent youths, but I love how Yoshioka Futaba would never let him do so.
Yoshioka Futaba and Mabuchi Kou were always more than friends, but it took them a while to be comfortable with it, accept it, and be confident with their decision. They make a very sweet couple if we ever get to see it.
Favorite Scenes:
My favorite scene was a sweet scene at the beginning where Tanaka Kou and Yoshioka Futaba were secretly and not-so-secretly staring at each other in the classroom. I can feel love in the air.
When Yoshioka Futaba made an internal bet with herself that if Mabuchi Kou did not get off the train when she made an excuse to go back to school, she will forget about her feelings for him and as she opened her eyes to see if Mabuchi Kou was there after the train left, Mabuchi Kou stood in front of her nonchalantly saying that he would accompany her.
I can't forget about the cliffhanger scene in Season 1 where Mabuchi Kou and Yoshioka Futaba argue about their accidental kiss and as soon as Yoshioka Futaba mentioned that Kikuchi Toma told her that it was meaningless, Mabuchi Kou, triggered, had a strong inclination to prove Kikuchi Toma wrong and kisses Yoshioka Futaba with meaning and purpose so that Yoshioka Futaba cannot mistake it as an accident anymore.
The most pivotal scene in which Yoshioka Futaba and Mabuchi Kou meet at the temple despite Yoshioka Futaba telling Mabuchi Kou that she would forget him is very impactful and also highly anticipated. Prior to this scene, Yoshioka Futaba admits to Kikuchi Toma that she liked Mabuchi Kou for his imperfections and his inner strengths and weaknesses are still a mess. She sees how Mabuchi Kou is changing bit by bit for the better and she didn't want to miss any of it. Back at the temple scene, Mabuchi Kou admits his mistakes and asks Yoshioka Futaba if she would be willing to watch how dependable he will become. I think the audience knew in their hearts what Yoshioka Futaba was thinking at this moment.
Least Favorite Scenes:
Leaving Yoshioka Futaba stranded on a date twice by Mabuchi Kou is brutal. I am highly surprised that she would still want to be friends with somebody like that. In today's world, we have internet and text messages so I don't know why Mabuchi Kou never bothers to explain himself to her and he had summer months to do so.
I wanted to include that every time they show the school's indoor shoes with the rubber front, I thought it was not attractive at all. I wish they had better looking school shoes.
The Lesson:
Life is imperfect and finding who you are and improving yourself is a process, little by little. It's better to have friends by your side during these times.
OST songs:
I also loved the fast piano opening song, but I can't find it anywhere.
Kana Adachi feat.Yuito Takeuchi - Konoamegayandara この雨がやんだら
Wehaiyo’s Viki Recommendations:
If you liked this drama, then consider watching these coming-of-age Japanese dramas:
Black Cinderella - Another coming-of-age story in which a beauty pageant contestant learned to appreciate who she is and her true beauty despite having her face scarred in the process.
Brother Trap - A drama in which a female university student with low self-esteem finally finds a great guy to date, only to find out that she dated his older brother in the past. The two brothers also struggle to adapt to the new change and to take care of their sick mother at the same time.
In Time With You - Two lifelong best male/female friends who rely on each other a lot stay in the friend zone all their lives with missed chances to officially date each other. They stay in limbo with each other until one of them decides to marry someone else.
Silent - Two high school students who bond over music almost fall in love only for one of them to disappear from their lives. Eight years later, the female friend was overjoyed to accidentally see her male friend again only to find out that the male friend became mute and wanted to avoid all his past relationships and memories.