this is the first review i've ever written on this site--please forgive me if it's a little messy--but after finishing this manga just minutes ago i felt i really needed to put my thoughts into words. ao no flag, in the first few volumes, proved to be an incredible staple in not only the slice of life manga genre in general, but the lgbtq genre too. the characters, their relationships, and each of the unique insights they had on life made each of them so lifelike and believable that i was sucked in and just HAD to keep reading. this si why a lot of
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my ratings for the art, characters, and overall enjoyment are so high: i genuinely had so much fun with it in the beginning to the middle. however, like i think many people agree on, the manga starts to lose a lot of it's initial charm as it progresses. having all of these lovely concepts i mentioned (and more) is always great; but if the story doesn't end in a rewarding way, it really just puts everything that was established down. and that's exactly what, unfortunately, happened to ao no flag. let me see if i can break all of this down.
before i kick into my thoughts, i do want to say that the art of ao no flag is simply fantastic, and the manga is honestly worth reading just for that. it has so many positive elements to it that kept my thorough enjoyment the whole time, and i do believe it's a good read. however, it's important to note that the ending does really fall short--and that may ruin the experience for a lot of people.
[spoilers ahead ]
for some context, i am lgbtq, and find that i naturally gravitate towards stories that have people like me. that's why, when i learned the premise of this manga, it made me really intrigued to see if any of the gay couples might actually get together. there were even points were, though i absolutely adore futaba and taichi's relationship and dynamic, i was internally routing for their gay best friends win out in the end and earn their own form of happiness in a relationship with them. it was really complicated for me, because, on one hand, i could really see taichi and futaba living out their lives together. both of them are so adorable and fit together so nicely... but then, when i would consider how masumi and touma felt for years of their lives (and throughout the course of this manga) i really deeply desired for them to have any ounce of happiness in a relationship with the person they loved. maybe that isn't quite realistic but... it felt as though the gay characters were always internally struggling with themselves, facing so much hardship from those they loved at every turn--only to never really have a satisfying conclusion for them.
i mean, look at masumi. her development throughout the entire manga was simply rooted in the fact that she loved futaba but always felt so much like an outsider that she could never do anything about it. and that leads into my discussion about the ending, because even though it, theoretically, gave me everything i was wishing for before, no parts of it felt satisfying in the slightest. masumi never got what she wanted, never got conclusion for her volume-long internal conflict, and married a man instead even while the story time and time again drove into our heads that she never once liked men--breaking up with them only months after she started dating them. it just... didn't feel right for her in any way, and now that i think about it, she really didn't get the ending she deserved. she was never truly happy, even in her future, and that doesn't sit right with me.
yes, taichi and touma got together, but there was no buildup to this in ANY satisfying way. yes i'm gay and yes i want more gay storylines in media, but if it's just hamfisted it doesn't feel satisfying. futaba, a character whose adorable quirks we had grown to love was just pushed aside at the end for the sake of an ending that we didn't even get to explicitly see, and it just makes you wonder, "why did any of this happen? why did we even bother getting close to futaba if she was just going to be thrown aside in the end?" it just doesn't feel correct at all, and i really feel bad for her character, in a way. it's sad, honestly!
long story short, if taichi and touma really were going to get together by the end, i would want to see it happen naturally. if there were more chapters, if touma's confession was just the beginning to a natural progression in their relationship, if we got to see them slowly fall for each other while taichi has to come to terms with his bisexuality, THAT would be something really interesting. but... we just got nothing. so, yes, i still did like the process of reading ao no flag. there are aspects of it that i love that will stick with me forever. but as many have stated, when the ending just casts everything aside that led up to it like this... it just doesn't feel like reading it was worth anything.
while this manga was a great jumping off point for lgbtq stories, it just didn't get there just yet. there's still a long way to go.
 Alternative TitlesJapanese: 青のフラッグ More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 8
Chapters: 54
Status: Finished
Published: Feb 1, 2017 to Apr 8, 2020
Genre:
Romance
Theme:
School
Demographic:
Shounen
Serialization:
Shounen Jump+ Authors:
KAITO (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #7162 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #246
Members: 65,066
Favorites: 3,564 Available AtResources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 56 / 74
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Aug 8, 2021
this is the first review i've ever written on this site--please forgive me if it's a little messy--but after finishing this manga just minutes ago i felt i really needed to put my thoughts into words. ao no flag, in the first few volumes, proved to be an incredible staple in not only the slice of life manga genre in general, but the lgbtq genre too. the characters, their relationships, and each of the unique insights they had on life made each of them so lifelike and believable that i was sucked in and just HAD to keep reading. this si why a lot of
...
Mar 26, 2021
This is one of the best written (yet somehow criminally underrated) manga I have ever come across.
Taking a look at the premise, one would not exactly expect this story to go as deep into certain issues as much as it did. A simple "love triangle" is not merely enough to describe the intricate relationships between all of the characters. The writing flows with the characters, their words reflecting and foreshadowing things in the future that the reader can't help but to be curious about. The absolute realness of their words, of their actions, is beautifully portrayed by KAITO alongside of seemingly simplistic drawings that actually ... 
Mar 1, 2024
I can't say anything after finishing reading this manga, I thought this manga was about an ordinary story about schoolboy romance but I just got a surprise at the end of the story. the story was also interesting at the beginning until the middle, but it seemed to change 180 degrees from the conflict that began to open, the past of the cast was really crazy. Especially entering the final part, the author really knows how to play the feelings of the reader, the emotions are really felt. Although in the end I was still disappointed after seeing the last chapter, but for the overall
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Mar 13, 2024
Ao no Flag changed the way I view love.
When I read "Ao no Flag" for the first time I had a mixture of feelings, it was something I had never experienced with any other work and it was much more when I finished it completely. And the fact is that ..... How can you put into words a manga that manages not only with its dialogues but also with its art, the looks, the silences and the fear reflected in the faces of the characters to represent you in a different way what we know as love. When you read the synopsis of this manga it seems that ... 
Sep 19, 2019
At first glance this seems like your typical shojo manga, though on the more well drawn side of shojo, the lame dude gets close to a girl to help her with a guy and they end up falling for each other, love triangles etc. However, as the story progresses I was really pleasantly surprised by the depth of these characters and their interactions, ESPECIALLY in the more recent chapters! (say 30 onward). It touches on some difficult topics and the mangaka was able to really accurately depict a number of opposing biases, in a way that makes you question your own standing in the conflicts
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Dec 1, 2019
I have never before heard about this manga by anyone online or in real life and im so thankful that i did find it. By accident i came across a manga that fully embraces what "Slice of life" means by giving a story that fills us with all emotions we experience in our lives. I would recommend it for most people who like romance stories. I hope more people will find and read this great manga.
Story: 9/10 Although the story is by no means a brand new plot that has never been done before, its still great at what it does. It doesnt need or try ... 
Apr 16, 2020
At first Ao no Flag seems like a basic and tropey, but still decent enough, sort of romance. Eventually it becomes clear that this isn't really so much a romance at all, but rather a drama with heavy focus on LGBT+ issues.
I really take it as a positive sign that times are changing for the better, as I would never expect to see such a story in manga twenty years ago. Even more surprising, (though some reviewers have incorrectly categorized this as shoujo), this is a shounen manga. Really the only criticism I have of it is that I feel like it's still ... 
Dec 7, 2021
While I'm not entirely sure how I felt about the ending, this series is one of the best I've ever read.
It features incredibly well-developed characters with deep and complicated feelings that they do a great job of expressing at some point or other. This series didn't have the typical misunderstandings because people were too shy to say something simple. Instead, you can understand every fake smile or secret kept and it's so heartbreaking...and gripping! I've never seen something capture the essence of bitter sweetness until I read this. It grabbed me so tightly and made me feel every emotion for every character. I smiled ... 
Oct 16, 2023
The story was good overall but was rushed in the end. That kinda makes it hard to understand, and leaves an impression of story being empty or incomplete.
It would have been better if the last chapter wasn't there, that chapter messed up the ending. By the end of 53rd chapter it seemed that everything was back to normal. But what happened in the last chapter (54th) everything was totally random and downright unexpected. Like why the heck someone wanna do like that! Whatever happened till 53rd chapter didn't make sense all the relations, character and personality which slowly took shape over the course ... 
Jul 8, 2023
(This is my first review, so this manga must be something to drive someone to do so, don't you think?)
I found this story by chance when looking for a good romance manga. Boy oh boy, that was one of the best choices for a way to amuse myself because I received so much more... This story is relatable even if you haven't lived anything resembling it, it just seems real for the authentic characters; lifelike struggles; substantial talks, and doubts. Beyond a distraction from the toughness of life, this series showed me some of the dilemmas that make living so challenging and dubious in ...
Aug 15, 2020
Ao no Flag is one of the rare series that draws me in so much with the characters and relationships that it makes me feel somehow empty every time I finish it. At its core it is an emotional and realistic coming of age story about understanding and accepting who we are and the decisions we make. While the ending is sudden and controversial, I personally enjoyed it and felt it was appropriate for the themes and goals of the series. Finally, I present some bullet point that would have convinced at least me to pick up this series (mild spoilers):
* Every single ... 
Aug 4, 2022
(no spoilers) (2nd to last paragraph is basically a tldr)
Blue Flag made me bawl my eyes out, and for multiple reasons. 1. Not so much I was exactly one character but a picking of almost every character in some way, shape or form. Emotions following how unsure the future can be, how your future can be (whether its highly anticipated by others, or something that you're unsure of), feelings of not being enough and doubts you have about any ability or talent (regardless of how proficient you are at it), and not really knowing if you can be yourself or if you can ever be comfortable ... 
Jan 15, 2021
This manga tackles a lot of issues around homosexuality, relationships, and gender roles in society. There are a lot of complaints regarding the pacing but I personally felt that the sudden increase in pace added a sense of explosivity that seemed appropriate for the situation. Though, I do believe that the author could have done a slightly better job at easing people into it - maybe by letting the tension grow a bit more or giving more time to sit on certain topics rather than suddenly jumping from one topic to the next.
The art HUGELY helps in conveying the subtleties of the emotions of ... 
May 7, 2022
Blue Flag became an incredibly compelling manga with just the first page. It was also incredibly subjective: If given a choice, would you choose your best friend over a lover? This manga doesn't give a straightforward answer to a straightforward question, but it gives a damn good explanation why it's a bad question. The manga is able to mix drama, romance, and friendship to blend into a confusing medley of philosophical instances while refusing to answer any obvious straightforward questions. However, that is a good thing, because not every circumstance has a simple answer!
I gave this manga an overall 10. Story: 9/10 (NO SPOLERS) The story ... 
Jan 25, 2021
I don't like to repeat the typical phrase "it's a typical teenage drama with a love triangle" I prefer to think about THE WORK. with a creative and sweet character construction, with a cute setting, that only makes you remember those school days, with your friends, with a possible partner. With your hormonal situations, as each situation around affects your state of mind, it is simply BEAUTIFUL.
I can only applaud kaito's work. for making me laugh and cry, for making me feel so adolescent, more than I already am. with all its messages and questions of sexuality, gender, friendship vs love. SO well composed ... 
Dec 27, 2021
I really loved this story from the first moment, the situations that were presented to us from the protagonist's point of view, the way I react to them, the decisions and consequences of them are something that I could understand from various points of view, they also give us very human characters each with their own personalities and complexes. I was honestly able to identify with some aspects of Touma and Taichi, so much so that this story marked something significant in my life. My favorite character was definitely Mami, I loved being able to know much more about her and hers, her problems since
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Sep 29, 2021
IMPORTANT:
This manga is not only about romance, it's also about reality. It's main goal is to tell japanese teenagers about real life, real love and real struggle. The main characters have strong and meaningful conversations about sexual orientation, love, prejudice and sexism, which is EXTREMELY important because this was published on Shounen Jump. I point this out because people are arguing for reasons such as "X character didn't end up with Y character" or "the ending was rushed" when it actually doesn't matter at all. *There may be spoilers below* As previously mentioned, this story is about reality, and in real life, relationships aren't perfect nor last forever. Sometimes they ... 
Sep 4, 2021
I had no expectations for Blue Flag, yet within the first chapter I was hooked. I could see where the story was going, and I painfully anticipated what might happen.
Story: 8/10 If there is one place this manga struggled in, its the story. Don't get me wrong, the story was great, but it had a few issues. I felt like the climactic moments just didn't quite have the oomph that they could have. Maybe it was the context of those situations and the suddenness of them. I personally didn't mind the ending, but I can see it being flawed for sure: I just liked it ... 
Feb 13, 2021
This manga was the best thing I had ever read, right up until it was not. Incredible story, but the last chapter felt like the worst kind of betrayal--a knife to the chest of every queer reader who really empathized with the narrative.
I highly suggest reading it, but never touching the ending; if done this way, you'll be left with an incredible experience. (Spoilers) It starts out looking like a typical love triangle, and reads that way for a while. And it's a cute love triangle, a very enjoyable shoujo-esque romance. But then it slowly starts getting more complicated, and as characters develop it feels like ... 
Feb 9, 2021
I saw this manga on tiktok (the part when taichi saved the cat) and thought this is some sort of tragedy manga. But when i read it, i was amazed. We all thought this was a normal love romance kind of manga, but boy it was a rollercoaster. I love every character, my favorite is still Mami. She gave me all the emotions and that is what good character development. We get to see stuff from everyone POV, the reason of their actions. The ending was kinda suprise to me but i still loved it. I must say this is some good quality i have
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