Ao Haru Ride

While most young girls make an effort to show off their feminine charms, Futaba Yoshioka deliberately behaves like she wants to repel anyone who might be attracted to her. Ostracized by her female classmates in middle school for being a little too popular with the boys, she desperately strives to avoid a similar situation in high school by being unnecessarily noisy and graceless.

Nevertheless, scattered among Futaba's unpleasant memories are the treasured moments with the boy she had a crush on, Kou Tanaka. Unfortunately, that spell abruptly ended on a sour note when he suddenly stopped attending school and never came back. When Futaba finds out that Kou has returned—with a different last name this time—she can already feel the butterflies in her stomach. However, Kou Mabuchi is not the warm boy that she remembers from her days in middle school; he is now taller, more charismatic and withdrawn—making him far less approachable.

Futaba believes that if she returns to her former self, Kou will begin to take notice of her again. But is she prepared to sacrifice her bubble of normalcy and risk losing her friends in the process?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mabuchi, Kou Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Yoshioka, Futaba Main

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Kikuchi, Touma Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Murao, Shuuko Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Tanaka, Youichi Supporting

Hirakawa, Daisuke Japanese

Kominato, Aya Supporting

KENN Japanese

Makita, Yuuri Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Uchimiya, Haruhiko Supporting

Akabane, Kenji Japanese

Tanaka, Father Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Naitou Supporting

Yamashita, Daiki Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Takei, Katsuhiro Producer

Kuroki, Rui Producer

Reviews

Feb 17, 2026

w_minerva

Recommended

This is basically a wattpad story in anime form. It's a coming-of-age high school plot that tackles common themes of love, jealousy, and friendship. It also addresses some heavy themes like grief and identity. The story is about a Futaba Yoshioka, a girl who meets her first crush in middle school. As time goes on, she later encounters the same boy in her new high school. Unfortunately, the reunion wasn't as she expected. As it turns out, the boy changed into an entirely different person than last she remembered. Now, it's up to Futaba to determine how she wants to approach this rekindled relationship, and ... how she wants to establish herself in her new high school. This anime can either be a heartwenching banger or a cheesy teen romance plot. It really depends on how much you enjoy coming-of-age romance stories. Personally, I liked it. I read some wattpad stories when I was younger so this anime brought back some of those feelings. Ultimately, the show is a solid 8 for me. It's very good in a sense that I was emotionally invested in the main characters. I wanted to know how their relationship will develop, and how they plan to address their past and present identities.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jan 23, 2026

aotani

Mixed Feelings

If you like romances with closure, this anime most likely is not for you. While the artstyle, especially in the flashback scenes, is very beautiful, the storytelling of the main love interests is not developed very well. There are some heartwarming and funny moments that I think are entertaining to watch. However, there is never a true resolution to the relationship that these two characters have. The good thing is that the characters do have some development on their own, just not when it comes to the relationship dynamic. I don't mind that there's a secondary love interest besides the female lead, but the way ... they write in this Yuuri character is just done so poorly majority of the time

Basically, if you just want something to watch and you don't really care about the relationships, it's good. Unfortunately, it is majorly about the relationship between the FL and ML, so you won't feel satisfied if you get invested into their relationship. It's a major "will they won't they" type of plot with no real pay-off

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Aug 11, 2024

thysupremefriend

Not Recommended

Funny

I wish I knew what I was getting into before I started this anime. This anime is shoujo in the shallowest way possible.

Do not watch if you dislike when the male lead shows interest in another woman.
Do not watch if you dislike an annoying female side character that is interested in the male love interest and tries to sabotage the relationship between him and the female lead.
Do not watch if you want a happy (romantic) ending.
Do not watch if you enjoy closure.

The fact that this anime is considered shoujo is baffling. Do women enjoy love triangles centered around the male lead as opposed ... to the female lead? This anime only appeals to women who like drama. Framing interactions between the male lead and female side character as romantic made this anime unbearable to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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