October 10, 2014December 3, 2014 Inaba HimekoAnime, ReviewsDrama, Light Comedy, Romance, School Life, Slice of Life
Story: 6/10 – Slightly Above Average
Ao Haru Ride (Also known as Blue Spring Ride) is about a first year high school student named Futaba Yoshioka who tries to “change” her image because of the loneliness she felt during middle school. She’s a cute girl who was often misunderstood because of all the attention she would get from boys. This caused all the girls in her class to isolate her and because of this she decided to change how she would be perceived. She also had the regret of not being able to convey her feelings to the one boy she loved, Tanaka-kun. The story starts with Yoshioka trying to be unladylike so that she wouldn’t have to deal with the girls who would get jealous of her. She then sees Tanaka-kun again who for some reason would go under the name of Kou. She would then convey her former feelings to Kou, as a result she would get rejected. She would also get criticized by Kou for being superficial around her new “friends”. She then decides to change and stay true to who she really is and also find out what happened to the Tanaka-kun she once knew.
Theme: 5/10 – Average
Ao Haru Ride plays with the concept of “Second Chances” and “Change”. You have a protagonist who wants change in her surroundings. She wants to replace the bad memories of middle school and have a good life filled with friends in high school. She wants a second chance with the first and only boy she loved. She wished to do things she wasn’t able to do and change so that she is able to live a better life.
Characters: 7/10 – Above Average
The main characters of the anime were very similar in a sense that they all lacked actual friends. They all had issues in the past which affected how they would live their life in the present. I felt that the two leading role characters namely Kou-kun and Yoshioka had good character development. Even if Kou’s change happened at the very end of the series, it still didn’t feel like it was rushed. I felt disappointed that the other three characters who would always be with the leading couple weren’t given much development. Thus, during some dramatic parts of the anime I would feel bad for either Yoshioka or Kou more than the actual target of the dramatic setting. Sometimes I wouldn’t feel bad at all.
Visuals: 8/10 – Great
Ao Haru Ride hadpretty good graphics. I’m not a fan on how the characters were drawn but it wasn’t bad.
Music: 9.5/10 – Excellent
The music of Ao Haru Ride was superb. It had nice music all throughout the series. I would find myself humming some of the music as I do other stuff. This is definitely a strong point in the anime.
Pacing: 4/10 – Slightly Below Average
The pacing of Ao Haru Ride was one of its weak points. While I was watching the series I felt like too much was happening on a few episodes. There were points in which I thought it would already be a good ending for the episode but alas it was only in the midpoint of the episode. If they changed it to maybe a 14-16 episode anime it would have been paced better.
Ending: 7/10 – Above Average
Ao Haru Ride had a nice ending. It was simple and somehow gave an idea on what would happen to the lives of the main characters after the show.
Overall Enjoyment: 7/10 – Above Average
I actually enjoyed watching Ao Haru Ride. It was a simple anime in which I wouldn’t particularly recommend to people who would love seeing romance at its finest but I believe the series is indeed enjoyable if you are looking for something light.
Score: 6.69/10 – SlightlyAbove Average
After all is said and done, Ao Haru Ride would get a score of 8.1 or an above average score. As much as I hate anime which is given too much hype Ao Haru Ride is actually good to some extent and would actually have a spot in my anime playlist. It had a good ending and is enjoyable for people who aren’t looking for too much sappiness in their romance.
