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A review by bluehairedreads
Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 7 by Io Sakisaka
4.0
Oh thank goodness. This volume had a lot of great discussions that I'm grateful happened. I really liked the way that the Narumi and Futaba talk went. Futaba showed up to Narumi's train stop with the purpose of telling her to let go of Kou. I actually liked that Narumi refused and said that if it is so easy to stop liking him, then Futaba should move on. I also liked that she pointed out Futaba wasn't there for Kou's sake, but for her own because she couldn't accept that Kou chose Narumi. I think that Futaba needed to hear that and needing to stop acting as if Kou is reverting back to his past self just because he is around Narumi. I also appreciated that Narumi was honest but not horribly cruel when she said those things.
Another thing I really liked was how the Mr. Tanaka and Murao storyline went! THANK GOODNESS!! After someone saw Mr. Tanaka give Futaba a key to Kou's place (which I thought was very inappropriate since he was a teacher and they were still on school grounds), rumors started spreading and they were called into the principal's office. Kou showed up to clear everything up and even the principal believed that the rumors were false. The whole ordeal made Murao realize that she was selfishly thinking of her feelings and desires, and not how it would realistically affect Mr. Tanaka and herself if it was ever found out that she was pursuing him. Both of their reputations would be ruined and he would most likely lose his job and teaching degree, even become a registered sex offender, etc. She is especially guilty since she showed up to his house the night before the festival to give him back his wallet and ended up kissing him. After her realization, she sends him a note to meet her on the roof (where Yuri and Futaba will also be present) where she properly confesses to him. He respectfully rejects her and she feels like she can now move on for the better. Kominato is also on the roof since Mr. Tanaka purposefully dropped the note in front of him, so he saw the rejection and declares that he isn't going to hold back and will sweep Murao off her feet. After seeing Murao officially confess her feelings and be able to move forward, Futaba is motivated to finally confess to Kou, in order to gain closure.
I'm gonna be honest, I'm so happy that the storyline went this way, before it got worse and morally even more wrong. I'm glad that my trust in Io Sakisaka paid off and I'm curious to see how Murao and Kominato's relationship develops. I also want to see how the "love square" between Kou, Futaba, Toma, and Narumi will go. I don't want Narumi or Toma to be viewed as villains for liking Kou or Futaba. I'm really excited to see how things go.
Sidenote: but I LOVE these next 6 covers for the volumes. The watercolors are gorgeous!