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Ao no Flag
Blue Flag
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Alternative Titles

Japanese: 青のフラッグ

Information

Type: 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

Score: 8.01¹ (scored by 28,024 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #718²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #246

Members: 65,218

Favorites: 3,568

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Reviews

Filtered Results: 56 / 74

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Apr 1, 2021

bells576

Recommended

This manga was an amazing story, and made me question my own preconceived notions and opinions. Multiple times I was rooting for a certain characters during the many debates that happen, but then leaving that chapter with a new viewpoint and becoming more aware of the fact that we don't know what other people are going through. (which sounds very cliché but it's true)

Although the manga contains lgbt themes, I would still recommend it to everyone. There is a variety of characters to enjoy for people with different experiences, so you are bound to find one that you relate to.

The one thing I didn't enjoy ...

Jul 13, 2021

sarahlouu12

Recommended

I thought I was in for a whimsical manga that would be like bubblegum for my mind. Turned out to be a different and more authentic story. I really love this story, it had me laughing and crying. More than just being entertaining, it made me think a lot about how I respond to and pass judgement on others; and how important it is to strengthen my ability to empathize and treat people with respect and kindness, especially my friends. I like stories that cause you to reflect on yourself.

I thought the ending was very sweet, I don’t know if my heart could handle any ...

Jul 21, 2021

Tiramisiu

Recommended

I've discovered this manga randomly and I'm glad I did. It's quite an unique manga in its themes and execution.

The main story revolves around 3 high schoolers and their personal relationships. But what could seem like a banal school life love triangle actually touches a lot of interesting and deep themes. The psychology and the personal development of each character are well done. Even secondary characters that looks stereotypical or single layered at first are explored and it makes the viewer then understand their motive and personnality better.

One particular plus of this manga is the way the author treats sexual orientation in a realistic ...

Aug 5, 2021

parvin002

Recommended

SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly one of the best romantic mangas I have ever read.
The plot was perfect, the development between specifically the romantic aspect of Taichi and Kuze's romantic relationship was really good, and it made total sense (for me at least) that their relationship might not have lasted forever.

I liked how love was portrayed in this story, messy, complicated and confusing nonetheless.

Even though I overall loved this manga, there are just some things that really didn't make sense for me.

story: 8/10
...

Feb 6, 2021

yukimoruuuu

Recommended

Where can I even for the most part begin with this manga in a sort of major way. This manga will kind of destroy you and particularly tell you to actually go cry about it in a subtle way. Okay that essentially was an exaggeration but this essentially was particularly such a sad for the most part read but it still for the most part was so very worth it, or so they mostly thought. If you essentially are someone who generally is tired of reading some romance manga that just does not specifically satisfy you then this mostly is the one, demonstrating that this ...

Feb 5, 2021

mmaakkaaii

Recommended

Dang that was beautiful. I never really cry while reading manga because I have a feeling I have become desensitized to many things but this made me cry so hard. If you are a fan of complicated romance this is the one for you. The art can go from really funny chibi sprites to extremely realistic and beautiful drawings that perfectly convey what the character is feeling in that scene. The issues this covers are so real for so many people and every volume made my stomach turn with how realistic it was becoming. You feel horrible for the characters when something happens to them. ...

Aug 7, 2021

AGiantWeeb

Not Recommended

Funny

Warning: Potential Spoilers

I wasted 54 chapters of my life on this. The story was good, until the final two chapters. I'm not bashing the characters for being who they are, I'm bashing the story for having such a shit twist at the end.

If you want to tell a story like that, then tell a story like that. Honestly, I was ready to give this an 8/10, until the final two chapters. Seriously a twist like that pisses me off, especially when you become invested in a particular couple.

This story needs a Shounen AI tag. I'm not against gay people, but as a heterosexual male I'm ...

Jul 29, 2021

Dextrus

Mixed Feelings

I read the first chapter and understood what I was getting into - or so I thought. The story seemed like a very standard love triangle setting. I became far more engrossed when the story took time to delve into each individual character. When it became evident that this was not a "normal" boy loves girl it had me quite hooked.

The art was great and the comedy had me laughing quite a lot! It was a very mature take on the topic of "can boys and girls REALLY be friends?" And I honestly related pretty hard to this having experienced many friendships with the opposite ...

Jul 1, 2021

Danno

Mixed Feelings

- - - SPOILER WARNING - - -
There are some spoilers here. The spoilers basically involve the premise of the story, but not the ending.

- - - STORY - - -
It's your average high school slice of life romance thing... except some of the characters are gay. So, we're basically here to see if a gay romance can be written well or to see what struggles gay people face in a straight society. Sure, I'll bite. What's it like to be a gay teenager trying to find their place in this world?

The story and drama is generally fine and moderately entertaining. The matchmaking stuff ... is a little dumb, especially when we know it's pointless for a straight character to try and win the affection of a gay character of the opposite sex. It adds a little bit of drama fluff for amusing scenarios, I suppose.

I think the writing kinda tanked in the later half of the story. It got really preachy and the debates between the characters didn't really feel like a genuine conversation. Throwing words such as "like" and "totally" into a preachy wall of text just kinda made it hard to read, like it's really hard not to just skim through those parts. I read manga for character driven stories, not for detached essays on tolerance.

The ending is certainly underwhelming. I'm not upset about the ending itself, I just don't think it was delivered well. They didn't lead up to it properly.

- - - ART - - -
It's fine. Frequent chibi drawings are kinda low grade and cheap. Some characters are occasionally drawn with a lot of detail, but it's not really clear why. Masumi probably had the most detailed drawings, like they're trying to make her look really pretty or something. Is this from the character's perspective - the way they see her? It kinda gives some flirty undertones that are never explored in the story.

Toma's "simpleton" face is fun to look at (basically just a generic smiley face). His hair looks good despite not being a cool haircut.

- - - CHARACTERS - - -
One character changes pretty drastically at one point in the story, which I found a bit annoying. They basically go from being a generic annoyance to being a complicated "you don't know me" type with their own unique gender role to explore (complete with their own essay). Really, it just feels like the author is talking to themselves instead of two characters talking to each other. It mainly just seemed dumb for a one note character to suddenly act like they're really complex.

It seems weird that the popular kids are casually talking or hanging out with the shy nerd protagonists at times. I swear they started tossing in some generic new characters at the end of the story just so the heroes could be antagonized by someone. You'd think the popular kids would have more control over the school's general atmosphere.

- - - OVERALL - - -
It's okay. It's different compared to other high school romance stories, maybe it could give some people at least some small insight as to what homersexuals think about or go through. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't recommend going out of your way to read it.

May 9, 2021

outsidethemox

Not Recommended

Preliminary (44/54 chp)

I was so close to finishing this series (about 10 chapters away from doing so) and I just couldn't bring myself to do so. I don't remember at what point the series plummeted into preachy bullshit monologues every chapter, but it became unreadable - a problem when your book's focus is on the dialogue. I found all of the characters guilty of this to be intolerable, and often glossed over these diatribes so I could continue on with the main characters and their conflicts.

As for the rest of the story, Ao no Flag doesn't offer anything too special outside of the rare glimpses of homosexual ...

Feb 25, 2021

RohitKun

Mixed Feelings

This is my first review ever. I never bothered to write a review but i have to write one for
Blue Flag. Not because i liked it very much, i am writing this review because i felt betrayed and i am so angry i wanted to rant somewhere so here i am.

This is a spoiler Free review.

So someone recommended me this Manga on reddit and it has a great MAL score so i picked it up and start reading. I really liked this Manga, NO let me correct myself i really LOVED this Manga *until CHAPTER 53 PAGE 38*. This Manga was perfection for ...

Mar 25, 2020

Qoaleth

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (5/54 chp)

When I first picked up "Blue Flag" there was a lot that was making it difficult to get into the story but by the end of the first volume I would have to say I was at least mildly enjoying this stock shonen romance story. The narrative centers on a basic love triangle, or maybe it’s a love quadrangle, or perhaps even a love pentagon? While it is obvious the focus will be on a core of three high school students that need to sort out their feelings for each other, every side character that is brought into the early story seemingly adds yet another ... layer to the network of relationships in which everyone appears to be in love with the wrong person. I wouldn’t say the characters were boring, but the angst of the main character, the earnestness of the girl, and the bubbly optimism of the best friend felt a little too convenient. Now for some these things will be exactly what makes the reading juicy, but in general people should brace themselves for an extensive use of misunderstandings to drive the plot alongside fairly predictable character growth moments. And in short that summarizes my take on this story – it looks like it’s going to play it close to the pre-constructed script of a romance manga, albeit with a shonen flair, and so anyone that is looking for a fresh take is unlikely to find anything too original to keep them going. Nonetheless, those already converted and looking for more in their favored genre of high school shonen romance will undoubtedly find plenty that keeps them turning pages.

As for the art, I felt it was really lacking throughout the exposition chapters. The pacing between the opening panels felt really stilted with gaps often forming as it tries to leave a little too much implied rather than shown. Similarly, each panel is incredibly sparse with next to no background art to help one feel like the world is full, and character expressions are drawn in such a small manner that they are overwhelmed by their white backgrounds. Further on that, character designs struck me as a confusing mixture of different series all hobbled together rather than having its own unique look – the main character strongly reminded me of Deku from "My Hero Academia," his cadre of loser friends appeared to be borrowed from Inio Asano’s "Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction," the best friend looks like every hunky high school boy drawn in a manga ever, and the main girl looks to be so faintly and uncertainly drawn as to be an afterthought. Still, I could see how some will see this as helping to powerfully convey the personality types of each character, and even being a bit original in not having a singular “look.” For me it just made it hard to see how everyone fit together as part of the same story.

In summary, the art just barely keeps the story afloat, and the story barely recommends itself beyond tried and true tropes. Judging this series on its opening volume, it leaves little to recommend itself if you didn’t already find the cover art or the back page description enough to make you want to throw yourself full on into it. For those that did find that enough, I think they’ll find about what they were expecting.

Sep 16, 2020

Jellyrolls25

Mixed Feelings

The first 53 chapters of this well crafter story get at least a 9/10. With that said, the final chapter of this absolutely powerful and beautiful story is enough to make me regret ever starting it. This terrible excuse for an ending came out of absolutely nowhere and leaves an absolutely horrid taste in your mouth. I almost got cancer of the eyes reading through it.

All in all, if you are looking for a wonderful in SOL/Drama/Romance category, the first 53 chapters of Ao no Flag are definitely for you. It wouldn't be a stretch to say they are among to best of their ...

Oct 25, 2021

Ketupatoriginal

Mixed Feelings

STORY : 6/10
ART :8/10
CHARACTER :4/10
ENJOYMENT :6/10
OVERALL :6/10

I started this manga without knowing anything about it. I really love the beginning of it, the story of those 3, the artwork, I really love it.I like the design of Taiki and Futaba. I would give it a 10/10. But when I catch up to the confession part, I really could not believe it and I ...

Dec 18, 2021

sparkle_sparkle

Mixed Feelings

Positives:

- The art is gorgeous, just look at those covers
- The characters have depth
- Strong beginning
- Memorable scenes

Negatives:

...

Feb 9, 2022

koko6

Not Recommended

I don't usually write reviews but I felt obligated after reading this. I loved the first 52 chapters of this manga. They were great with development and entertainment. Now lets talk about the end. I have honestly never seen a manga fall of as hard as this. I don't understand what the author was thinking throwing away everything that happened for this abysmal ending. I hated seeing that wedding. The feeling of disappointment and anger have swelled my heart. Now let me be clear there are shows that I dislike more than this but what makes this special is how quickly it went to shit. ...