Blue Spring Ride

    Blue Spring Ride (アオハライド Aoharaido, written Ao Haru Ride within Japan) is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Io Sakisaka. It began serialization in the February 2011 issue of Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret. An anime television series, produced by Production I.G. and directed by Ai Yoshimura, premiered in Japan at midnight on July 7, 2014. A live-action film adaptation will be released in December 2014. A drama CD has been released as a tie-in with the 10th volume of the manga. An OAD is also slated for release tie-in with the 11th volume of the manga. Translations of manga volumes have been released in Germany, France, Italy, Taiwan and Poland. The Anime has been licensed for release in North America.

Plot

Futaba Yoshioka wants to "reset" her life. In junior high, girls ostracized Futaba because too many junior high boys liked her. The only boy Futaba liked, Kou Tanaka, moved away before she could tell him how she felt. Now in high school, Futaba is determined to be unladylike so her new friends will not become jealous of her. While living her new life contentedly, she meets Kou again, but he now uses the name Kou Mabuchi and has a cold attitude. He tells her that he liked her too in junior high, but feels differently now.

Main characters

Futaba Yoshioka (吉岡 双葉 Yoshioka Futaba)

Voiced by: Maaya Uchida

    Since middle school, Futaba has always believed that boys were too rough and violent. Kō Tanaka was the only exception, and Futaba wanted to know him better. The two share brief, sentimental memories—including a plan to go to the summer festival together. After accidentally telling Naitou, Kō's friend, that she hates all boys within Kō's hearing proximity, she worries about his opinion of her but convinces herself that he understands he is an exception. The summer festival arrives, and Kō doesn't show up. Returning from the summer vacation, Futaba hears that Kō transferred to another school without explanation. Futaba realizes how much she liked Kō and regrets not telling him how she felt.

    In high school, Futaba's character is drastically different. No longer feminine or cute, she makes herself as unattractive as possible. Futaba was an outcast in middle school because the girls were jealous of her popularity with boys. Determined to have friends in high school, she sacrifices her true, girly self for her classmates' approval. Although Futaba is strong-willed, stubborn, and passionate, she prefers to be accepted for who she isn't than ostracized for who she is. Futaba eventually falls in love with Kō again. However, she constantly worries that he has no feelings for her and believes he only sees her as a past crush. After confessing and being rejected, she decides to move on. When Tōma confesses to her and asks her out, she eventually says yes. At the moment, she is dating Tōma.

Futaba is portrayed by Tsubasa Honda in the film.

Kō Mabuchi (馬渕 洸 Mabuchi Kō)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji

    During his time in middle school with Futaba, Kō Tanaka (田中 洸 Tanaka Kō) was rather small and gentle. He became very fond of her throughout their experiences together but seemingly disappeared during a summer break. Making an appearance in Futaba's high school, it is revealed that he was unable to attend the summer festival because of familial issues. No longer "Kō Tanaka", he is now referred to as "Kō Mabuchi". His personality has also taken a turn, for he is now more masculine, sarcastic, and crude. In addition, he has extremely pessimistic views about his brother and himself. 

        Despite these changes, Kō remains a kind person. When Kominato visited his house and found his secret box full of things from middle school, Kō confessed to Kominato that he still likes Futaba. To him, Futaba seems to be a remainder of his happier days—the days before his family experiences turmoil. He is trapped in his sympathy for Narumi, his old junior high school mate from Nagasaki. However, he can't forget Futaba. When he settled things up, Futaba is already Kikuchi's girlfriend.

Kō is portrayed by Masahiro Higashide in the film.

Tōma Kikuchi (菊池 冬馬 Kikuchi Tōma)

Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

    Tōma is a boy in Futaba's year, making his first appearance in chapter 12 or episode 11. He initially has a very bad impression of Futaba, during which she trips and ends up accidentally grabbing him. However, he eventually softens up to her when he notices how remorseful she feels about the incident. Due to his earnest appearance, his intentions after often misunderstood, usually causing Kō to get jealous over his interaction with Futaba. His friends call him "Goodie-goodie" and "Hasabe" due to his strait-laced and honest behavior. He has a piercing on his left ear and likes wombats. He falls for Futaba's good nature and finds himself wishing that she would shift her affections onto him. Despite this he constantly supports her and gives her confidence. He eventually confesses and ask her out. Right now, Tōma is Futaba's boyfriend.

Tōma is portrayed by Yudai Chiba in the film.

Yūri Makita (槙田 悠里 Makita Yūri)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano

  

 Introduced in the first chapter, Yūri's high school life is parallel to Futaba's middle school life. She is very cute, causing her to be despised by many girls in her class, and she is often left alone. Yūri gets by very well, however, for she prefers to be hated for who she truly is than to be liked for someone she isn't. Yūri and Futaba soon become best friends. She falls in love with Kō after he helps her during a class leader's camp. Yūri greatly treasures her friendship with Futaba, but often gets jealous of Futaba's closeness with Kō. After getting rejected, she finally moves on and is now dating one of Toma's friends, Uchiyama.

Yūri will be portrayed by Izumi Fujimoto in the film.

Shūko Murao (村尾 修子 Murao Shūko)

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu

    Much like Yūri, Shūko is another "lone wolf". She is very beautiful but has a cold exterior that drives others away. Due to experiences in middle school, Shūko fails to trust girls. She has been in love with Tanaka-sensei, Kō's older brother, since her first year of high school after attending a guidance session between the two of them. Eventually, her trust in female relationships was restored after becoming friends with Futaba and Yūri. She softens up and also becomes close friends with Kō as well,so close that Aya mistakenly implied her having feelings for him.

Shūko is portrayed by Yua Shinkawa in the film.

Aya Kominato (小湊 亜耶 Kominato Aya)

Voiced by: KENN

  Outgoing and spontaneous, Aya seems to be the only character without social problems. He is very open, caring, and sometimes even dense. He has an unrequited crush on Shūko. Aya harbors a hatred for Tanaka-sensei, and initially did not like Kō due to his relation to him. Eventually Ko and him become close friends. His rivalry with Tanaka-sensei has not changed; on the other hand, he has grown closer to Murao. He is good at mathematics.

Aya is portrayed by Ryo Yoshizawa in the film.

Yōichi Tanaka (田中 陽一 Tanaka Yōichi)

Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa

 

   Kō's older brother by eight years. He works as an English teacher at Futaba's high school. Entering high school, Futaba was initially interested in Yōichi as he reminded her of Kō. However, he was unaware that the two were brothers. Yōichi knows about Shūko's crush on him but always rebuffs her advances, telling her that he will never see her as anything more than a student. However, he never hesitates to help her in times of need and is happy whenever he sees that she is fitting in. He enjoys a playful 'rivalry' with Aya over Shūko. He often gives Futaba advice whenever she feels unsure about herself or about Kō. Although it is hinted that he actually does have feelings for Shuko him saying to Aya "Before I can't keep my feelings under control, I've been hoping for some great guy to come by and swoop Murao off her feet."

Yōichi is portrayed by Yū Koyanagi in the film.

Yui Narumi (成海 唯 Narumi Yui)

    A classmate of Kō's from junior high. Her father was in the same hospital as Kō's mother. They got to know each other. Yui's father has recently died causing Kō to keep in touch with her more frequently, sparking jealousy by Futaba but Kō states he is just helping out a friend because he can relate to her. However, after finding out about Kō's interest in Futuba, Aya addresses concern about Kō getting too close to Yui which he believes is causing a strain on Kō's relationship with Futuba. Yui attends the Cultural Festival where she notices Kō's closeness with Futaba. It is revealed in Chapter 22 that she still has feelings for Kō.

Yui is portrayed by Mitsuki Takahata in the film.

Manga

    Blue Spring Ride is written and illustrated by Io Sakisaka. Serialization began in the February 2011 issue of Shueisha's manga magazine Bessatsu Margaret. The first tankōbon volume was released on 13 April 2011, and ten volumes have been released as of 23 May 2014.

    Tokyo Pop released a German translation of the first volume in December 2012 and, as of June 2014, has released seven volumes under the title Blue Spring Ride. Kana released a French translation of the first volume on July 5, 2013 and, as of July 2014, has released six volumes under the title Blue Spring Ride. Panini Comics released an Italian translation of the first volume in September 2013 and, as of May 2014, has released five volumes under the title Ao haru ride - A un passo da te. Tong Li Publishing released a Chinese translation of the first volume in January 2013 and, as of June 2014, has released seven volumes under the title 閃爍的青春. Waneko released a Polish translation of the first volume in February 2014 and, as of June 2014, has released three volumes under the title Ścieżki Młodości.