Ao Haru Ride

While most young girls make an effort to show off their feminine charms, Futaba Yoshioka deliberately behaves like she wants to repel anyone who might be attracted to her. Ostracized by her female classmates in middle school for being a little too popular with the boys, she desperately strives to avoid a similar situation in high school by being unnecessarily noisy and graceless.

Nevertheless, scattered among Futaba's unpleasant memories are the treasured moments with the boy she had a crush on, Kou Tanaka. Unfortunately, that spell abruptly ended on a sour note when he suddenly stopped attending school and never came back. When Futaba finds out that Kou has returned—with a different last name this time—she can already feel the butterflies in her stomach. However, Kou Mabuchi is not the warm boy that she remembers from her days in middle school; he is now taller, more charismatic and withdrawn—making him far less approachable.

Futaba believes that if she returns to her former self, Kou will begin to take notice of her again. But is she prepared to sacrifice her bubble of normalcy and risk losing her friends in the process?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mabuchi, Kou Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Yoshioka, Futaba Main

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Kikuchi, Touma Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Murao, Shuuko Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Tanaka, Youichi Supporting

Hirakawa, Daisuke Japanese

Kominato, Aya Supporting

KENN Japanese

Makita, Yuuri Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Uchimiya, Haruhiko Supporting

Akabane, Kenji Japanese

Tanaka, Father Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Naitou Supporting

Yamashita, Daiki Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Takei, Katsuhiro Producer

Kuroki, Rui Producer

Reviews

Jul 11, 2025

JoSuke_98

Recommended

Ao Haru Ride is a touching anime that perfectly captures the awkwardness, excitement, and pain of young love and growing up. The characters feel real and relatable, and their emotional journeys are handled with sincerity and nuance.

The animation is soft and expressive, complementing the gentle tone of the story. The chemistry between Futaba and Kou is heartfelt and believable, making their moments together truly memorable.

While the story follows familiar shojo tropes, it brings enough fresh emotional depth and character development to stand out in the genre. The pacing is smooth, and the soundtrack beautifully enhances the mood.

I gave Ao Haru Ride a 9/10 because it’s ... a beautifully told romance that resonates emotionally, making it a must-watch for fans of heartfelt coming-of-age stories.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jul 5, 2025

hirensuva30

Mixed Feelings

This anime seriously feels like it was made by two completely different people. One was trying to create a 10/10 masterpiece, and the other was just throwing random drama and bad writing in for no reason. One moment, I’m really into the story and connecting with the characters and then the next moment, everything just falls apart and the characters start acting super unlikeable.

There’s one character in particular I couldn’t stand: Yuuri Makita. She is so annoying, man. At first, I thought maybe I was being too harsh on her, but nope, she kept doing things that just made me more and more irritated. Every ... time I thought, “Okay, maybe she’ll redeem herself,” she’d do something that reminded me why I couldn’t stand her in the first place. So yeah, my hate for her feels pretty justified.

That said, the comedy in this anime is actually really solid. It’s not a full-on comedy, but there are one or two funny moments in each episode, and they always got a genuine laugh out of me. I just wish the rest of the writing had that same consistency.

I really wanted to like Blue Spring Ride. It had so much potential, but the writing is just all over the place and that made it hard for me to enjoy overall.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Aug 11, 2024

thysupremefriend

Not Recommended

Funny

I wish I knew what I was getting into before I started this anime. This anime is shoujo in the shallowest way possible.

Do not watch if you dislike when the male lead shows interest in another woman.
Do not watch if you dislike an annoying female side character that is interested in the male love interest and tries to sabotage the relationship between him and the female lead.
Do not watch if you want a happy (romantic) ending.
Do not watch if you enjoy closure.

The fact that this anime is considered shoujo is baffling. Do women enjoy love triangles centered around the male lead as opposed ... to the female lead? This anime only appeals to women who like drama. Framing interactions between the male lead and female side character as romantic made this anime unbearable to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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