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laurenlanz 's review for:
Blue Flag, Vol. 1
by Kaito
I started Blue Flag on a whim.
A slice of life rom-com sounded like the perfect quick and forgettable read, right? Right?
Wrong.
What happened was this: I read the first volume of Blue Flag, and came to love it an indescribable amount. My impatience quickly took over, urging me to skip to the last volume to find out if reading the rest would be worth it, and I—I just….
Needless to say, my best friend received a series of texts at 1:39AM about how Blue Flag wrecked me despite the fact that I bypassed, like, 6 volumes due to my nonexistent self control. I am so, so excited to start this series from the beginning with no skips, and fully enjoy (what I assume will be) a new favourite manga of mine. Now, for the volume 1 review!
~★~ What is this book about? ~★~
Taichi and Toma have been best friends since they were kids; they’re now in their third year of high school, having drifted apart after Toma became popular on the baseball team.
Then Futaba—a shy girl—asks Taichi for advice on how to get with Toma. Knowing that they’re not very close anymore, Taichi is reluctant to help, but eventually complies and strikes up an easy friendship with her.
While trying to set Futaba up with Toma, Taichi develops feelings for her. Futaba herself likes Toma, not knowing that he’s gay and has been quietly in love with Taichi his whole life. (Plus, Futaba’s best friend is a closeted lesbian in love with her). So yeah, my first time reading about a love quadrangle.
~★~
I typically don’t gravitate towards slice of life mangas, and so the synopsis for Blue Flag didn’t initially interest me. Thankfully, I definitely judged by the cover, which led me to discover my best surprise read of this year so far. Blue Flag already holds such a dear place in my heart.
Both Taichi and Toma stole my heart from the get-go; I love their friendship to pieces. It was beautiful to see both boys begin rekindling the special bond they lost over the years. Futaba was another joy to read about; it was great to witness her slow gaining of confidence as she worked up to confessing her feelings to Toma.
I’m so fond of Kaito’s art style and the way they illustrated each character, background and expression. There was a fair amount of comedic relief that adds such heart to this story; Blue Flag is probably the only manga I’ve read that I think accurately portrays what high schoolers are like. Because crushes are messy, and friendships falter (then come back strong). Sexualities are contemplated, and hasty romantic relationships begin and end. It was nice to see all of these ideas come into play without an excessive amount of drama.
Blue Flag is an incredibly easy manga to love. The characters practically attach themselves to you, and the prose is executed with a simplistic yet powerful poise that pulls you in from the start. What else is there to say? Nothing. Except, well, read this manga.
A slice of life rom-com sounded like the perfect quick and forgettable read, right? Right?
Wrong.
What happened was this: I read the first volume of Blue Flag, and came to love it an indescribable amount. My impatience quickly took over, urging me to skip to the last volume to find out if reading the rest would be worth it, and I—I just….
Needless to say, my best friend received a series of texts at 1:39AM about how Blue Flag wrecked me despite the fact that I bypassed, like, 6 volumes due to my nonexistent self control. I am so, so excited to start this series from the beginning with no skips, and fully enjoy (what I assume will be) a new favourite manga of mine. Now, for the volume 1 review!
~★~ What is this book about? ~★~
Taichi and Toma have been best friends since they were kids; they’re now in their third year of high school, having drifted apart after Toma became popular on the baseball team.
Then Futaba—a shy girl—asks Taichi for advice on how to get with Toma. Knowing that they’re not very close anymore, Taichi is reluctant to help, but eventually complies and strikes up an easy friendship with her.
While trying to set Futaba up with Toma, Taichi develops feelings for her. Futaba herself likes Toma, not knowing that he’s gay and has been quietly in love with Taichi his whole life. (Plus, Futaba’s best friend is a closeted lesbian in love with her). So yeah, my first time reading about a love quadrangle.
~★~
I typically don’t gravitate towards slice of life mangas, and so the synopsis for Blue Flag didn’t initially interest me. Thankfully, I definitely judged by the cover, which led me to discover my best surprise read of this year so far. Blue Flag already holds such a dear place in my heart.
Both Taichi and Toma stole my heart from the get-go; I love their friendship to pieces. It was beautiful to see both boys begin rekindling the special bond they lost over the years. Futaba was another joy to read about; it was great to witness her slow gaining of confidence as she worked up to confessing her feelings to Toma.
I’m so fond of Kaito’s art style and the way they illustrated each character, background and expression. There was a fair amount of comedic relief that adds such heart to this story; Blue Flag is probably the only manga I’ve read that I think accurately portrays what high schoolers are like. Because crushes are messy, and friendships falter (then come back strong). Sexualities are contemplated, and hasty romantic relationships begin and end. It was nice to see all of these ideas come into play without an excessive amount of drama.
Blue Flag is an incredibly easy manga to love. The characters practically attach themselves to you, and the prose is executed with a simplistic yet powerful poise that pulls you in from the start. What else is there to say? Nothing. Except, well, read this manga.