Ao Haru Ride, also known internationally as Blue Spring Ride, is a Japanese shojo series. The coming-of-age, drama and romance series is written and illustrated by Io Sakisaki.
The manga series is written by Io Sakisaka and published by Shueisha. The manga series had the original run from January 13, 2011, to February 13, 2015. It has 13 volumes.
The light novel is written by Akiko Abe and illustrated by Io Sakisaki. It was published by Cobalt and had the original run from December 27, 2011, to June 2, 2015. The light novel has 6 volumes.
The Anime television series written by Tomoko Konparu and directed by Ai Yoshimura. The anime series had the original run from July 7, 2014, to September 22, 2014. It was originally released on Tokyo MX, BS11, TUT, and GyaO!. The anime series has 12 episodes.
The original video animation is written by Tomoko Konparu and directed by Ai Yoshimura. It was released from August 25, 2014, to December 12, 2014. The original video animation has 2 episodes.
Not only that, Ao Haru Ride has a live-action film. The live-action film is written by Tomoko Yoshida and directed by Takahiro Miki. The film was released on December 13, 2014, and had a runtime of 122 minutes. The live-action film was highly successful and grossed a total of$16 million at the Japanese box office.
Ao Haru Ride recap
The story revolves around Futaba and Kou, who both go to the same high school and fall in love with each other.
Despite having feelings for each other, they both carry personal problems that go in the way of their relationship. Futaba suffered from identity issues and social anxiety, while Kou had family problems.
Kou transferred to Nagasaki and later went back. Kou and Futaba rekindled their friendship with a rough start. Futaba found herself falling in love again with Kou. Kou became more of a pessimist after his return from Nagasaki, but later on, improved himself and pursued Futaba again.
Ao Haru Ride Season 2 Plot
The end of the previous season has left fans of the show wanting more. Season 2 should cover more about the relationship between Futaba and Kou and other main characters. Fans will get to see more of the series once the announcement of season 2 is released.
Ao Haru Ride Season 2 Characters
As for season 2 of Ao Haru Ride, it is safe to expect that we will be seeing the main characters back.
Futaba Yoshioka is a 17-year-old middle school teenager who is an outcast because of her popularity among boys. She is suffering from social anxiety and identity crisis. To connect with her classmates, she proceeded to be as unattractive as possible. Futaba meets her old friend Yuri and also Kou, her long-lost lover. She and Yuri became best friends while falling in love with Kou again. The character is voiced by Maaya Uchida in the anime and portrayed by Tsubasa Honda in the film.
Kou Mabuchi, previously known as Kou Tanaka, was in a relationship with Futaba Yoshioka before he transferred to Nagasaki because of family issues. He is popular among the girls in the school. He returned to the same school where Futaba goes and rekindled their friendship with a rough start. Kou has changed a lot after his return from Nagasaki as he became more pessimistic after his mother’s death. After realizing that he doesn’t need to hide his feelings, he finally pursued Futaba. Later on, Kou and Futaba started dating. The character is voiced by Yuki Kaji in the anime and portrayed by Masahiro Higashide in the film.
Yuri Makita is also an outcast among her classmates as she is also popular among the boys. Unlike Futaba, Yuri isn’t bothered by it and is okay with being her true self. Yuri and Futaba became best friends. Yuri developed feelings for Kou and after Kou rejected her, she dated Uchiyama. The character is voiced by Ai Kayano in the anime and portrayed by Izumi Fujimoto in the film.
Shuko Murao is a girl student who has feelings for Kou’s older brother, Mr. Tanaka, who is also an English teacher. Mr. Tanaka is the reason why she joined the class committee. She used to be unfriendly and preferred to not have friends. Later on, she became friends with Futaba and Yuri. Later in the series, she began dating Kominato. The character is voiced by Mikako Komatsu in the anime and portrayed by Yua Shinkawa in the film.
Aya Kominato is an outgoing boy student. He befriended Kou. Aya is in love with Shuko and sees Mr. Tanaka as his rival. The character is voiced by KENN in the anime and portrayed by Ryo Yoshizawa in the film.
Yoichi Tanaka, also known as Mr. Tanaka, is the older brother of Kou by eight years. Mr. Tanaka is an English teacher. The character is voiced by Daisuke Hirakawa in the anime and portrayed by Yu Koyanagi in the film.
Ao Haru Ride Season 2 Release date
It has been years since the release of Ao Haru Ride and fans are eagerly waiting for the release of season 2. However, there’s no announcement yet of the return of the show. Great news for fans, the series is not yet canceled either. If there’s an update of the series, get to expect it by later this year or in 2022.
Ao Haru Ride Other Details
Ao Haru Ride or Blue Spring Ride was a best-selling manga series in Japan. It has attracted fans of ages 20 and 20 years old both young adults and women. Most of the fans were relating to the struggles of Futaba. In 2013, the manga series became so popular that it ranked as the top 5 best female-oriented comics.
In Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2014 edition, Ao Haru Ride was listed as one of the top 20 female-oriented manga of the year. In 2019, the first two volumes of the series were included in the list of Great Novels for Teens produced by the Young Adult Library Services Association, an American Library Association.
In 2013, volume 6 of the series was the 31st top-selling volume. Also in the same year, the manga was the 21st best-selling manga.
Ao Haru Ride has sold over 5.84 million copies since 2014. Also in the same year, the manga series was one of the most-printed comics of the year, printing 660,000 copies.