ARC was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published before the release date (April 21st, 2020)

Content/Trigger Warnings: Minor bullying, death of a parent/loss of a loved one

Fellow readers, I really enjoyed this manga! I know it's been a while since I talked about a manga, but after reading Blue Flag Vol. 1, I'm so hung up on it and waiting for the next volume. Can the next volume be out already? Please! I truly enjoyed myself and my time reading this manga. And if you're in need of some cute, fluffy, and slow burn romance then you will like this book as much as I did.

Blue Flag follows four teenagers and their journey through high school, navigating their feelings. We follow the perspective of Sorta Ichinose who's an average boy, but also a bit nerdy. His childhood friend, Toma is the polar opposite of Sorta. He's charming and popular with all of his classmates, but despite all of that, he goes out of his way to remain friends with Sorta and make conversation with him. Somewhere along the way, Sorta ends up in the mist of helping a fellow classmate, Futaba Kuze. She has a huge crush on Toma and seeks out courage and help from Sorta as Toma is his friend. As the story-line develops, feelings bloom, signals get mixed, and tensions run high. When it comes to love, things can get a bit messy!

I loved so many things about this manga! I couldn't help getting swept away as the story-line whisks you away between moments of tension to endearing moments. There are so many moments where you feel like you're holding your breath or waiting for someone to confess their feelings. Not to mention, there are some really sweet moments shared with the characters. And as these moments bloom, you can't help wondering what will happen next. Also, I'm not one to really like or enjoy love triangles that often. However, the way the love triangles are crafted in this book were well balanced and leaves you wonder who will end up with who.

I also have to mention the ending of this manga! That ending left me wanting the next volume immediately. The cliffhanger is so good and there are so many questions that I need answers to. I was so swept up into the story-line and the character development that when I got to the end, the ending hit like a ton of bricks. This will probably be one of my favorite cliffhanger endings ever! I can't for everyone else to experience this ending!

Overall, I was really taken by storm with this manga. From the pleasant art style all the way to the ending of this book, this series has hooked it's claws in me. I'm ready for the next volume and I can't wait to see what happens to all of these characters. If you'er a lover of slow burns, love triangles, and cliffhangers that leave you wanting more then this is a series I highly recommend picking up! This manga was charming, had so many sweet moments, and I'll say it again, that end was top tier level.

Blue Flag is a rare manga, one of a very few that I have read more than once. The love quadrangle is really interesting and it is easy to become invested in each character. I am so in for this series. I can't wait to get my hands on the next volume.

Received an ARC from NetGalley.

I have not read anything by KAITO before, but I was immediately interested in this manga because the art's aesthetic was my jam and totally won me over.

I really enjoyed this volume and cannot wait to read the next volume in this series! Despite the cliche sounding blurb, I felt refreshed with the pacing and characters of this manga, it did not feel like a typical shoujo or shounen manga I've read before. Taichi and Futuba are adorable introverted characters that, at least in this volume, are the heart of the story and got a few good laughs from me; meanwhile, I am eager to find out more about Toma and Futaba's friend Itachi. I kind of figured out the "twist" at the end pretty quickly, but it was still an emotional moment for me to read the reveal and left me deliciously frustrated that it ended at this emotional peak as a sort of cliff hanger. I really hope that this quadrangle resolves in a way that is satisfactory for all that are involved, which only proves how emotionally involved I already am with these characters.

I will definitely continue reading this series and will recommend it to those who like manga like Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kanatami and stories like Simon Vs The Homo Sapien Agenda or Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of the Universe.

This I can already tell is going to be a series I can sink my teeth into. Who doesn't love the love triangle trope. Boy loves a boy who loves a girl who loves a boy, and with a twist! There's a girl in love with the girl. Teens... *squishy* love. Anyways. This was a real pleasure to read, not only are the characters sincere, and over the top in the expressions, of course, who wouldn't read manga for this, but the storyline - guys c'mon - it's everything.

There's this boy, who has a secret crush on this girl, who decides to help his crush get her crush. I'm probably confusing you but stick with it, it really is great.

My only hangup was the girl crush was supremely over apologetic, and sometimes to the point of annoyance but really when it came down to it, this wasn't even enough to drop a star.

I struggled to connect with the story and characters. It's seemed a little too by-the-book on characters and their turmoil and surprise twists. I'd hoped for more.

I really felt that this one was a great first volume to a series. It sets up the characters well as well as establishing their existing relationships, or lack thereof. It immediately starts discussing typical status' that happen in high school, how people end up in different cliques and how those cliques may be treated by others. While this isn't a focus of the story, it's important that it's set up in the beginning to differentiate the roles.

Taichi is portrayed in a very raw way, perfectly displaying his conflicting emotions as we progress through the story. You really get to see his internal struggle as well as his growing emotions for those he's spending time with and helping.

When you reach the end of this first volume, there's definitely quite a lot hanging in the air that you have to wonder how all these things will resolve. It will be interesting to see where this series goes.

I loved this first volume of Blue Flag! The manga has realistic characters and a dramatic storyline. I like the romance because you don't know who's going to end up with who as of Volume 1 (though I can guess and I'm rooting for them). The art is nice, and I especially love the female lead. Overall, this volume is a very strong beginning to a good series!

“Tai-chan” or Ichinose-kun or Tachi… is a somewhat shorter than the average high school student (I think). He’s more of a geek than a jock, but is really what you would consider an average teenage boy. The volume starts at the beginning of the school year when Ichinose discovers none of his friends are in his class. He is, however, in with a grade school friend turned smart jock aka:king of their grade, Toma and a girl he never really indicated any like or dislike for, Kuze Futaba.

Kuze-san confesses she has feelings for Toma Mita to Ichinose who tells her he can’t help her…but she still comes to him asking him questions on how to get Toma's attention. He answers her, nonchalant about it until she takes an offhanded comment he made and runs with it. He then informs her that Toma has a crush on someone else, which is completely one sided, and she should give up. To which she just ignores this advice and decides to give it her all because she wants to change herself from being shy and reserved to more outgoing and confident. Ichinose tells her he will help her after this confession, and they form something of a friendship.

Their time together, trying to ‘improve’ Kaze-san is quite entertaining, particularly when they are working on her articulation and have the chest talk. Lol Then Itachi gets thrown into the mix along with some developing feelings and things get more intricate. Not to mention Itachi can be pretty scary and Toma pretty clueless.

The art is quite beautiful. I do enjoy how the background is always there the first few panels of a new location and/or scene in great detail and then fades out as the conversation takes over in importance. But sometimes facial expressions and feelings are the most important and you’ll get a panel with very little text but full of bold, dark or light colours depending on what emotion is being conveyed. It’s very well done, with great thought.

I very much look forward to continuing to read this manga!

This is a great start to the series! I'm very curious to see how the trio's relationships strengthen. The art style is also simplistic but not in a childish way.

Blue flag has some interesting twists. I've read a lot of romance manga and haven't come across one like this. The artwork is good in general, nice shading and textures. At some points, the characters look a little bland. Their personalities are clearly shown throughout the volume. The verdict: I will probably continue reading the series.

Oh, gosh, this "love quadrangle" might actually break my heart! I can't predict how this is going to end up, but the first volume is so sweet and funny. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one!

<I> Thank you to VIZ Media for providing me an eARC of this manga via NetGalley. The publication date is currently set for May 2020. </I>

I am struggling with the fact that this is only set to be released in May, because I need the rest of the series now! <U> Blue Flag </u> is beyond the quality I expected from the cover art. The story is well-balanced with just the right amount of twists and cliffhangers. It is a typical romcom filled with high school relationship drama, but I could not put it down. This one is not just another love triangle (quadrangle, that is). It is a fresh take on love and friendship, and the art is quintessential shojo manga style. A must read for my fellow manga bingers.

Blue Flag / Ao No Flag is a sweet love story. A kid begins his year, but doesn't have any of his friends in his class. There is a girl he doesn't like and a kid he knew when they were little. The story begins with the girl asking for help to impress the childhood friend. Now he is meeting with her trying to show her how to get attention. It is super sweet. Everything that happens seems so realistic. There is a lot of questions to be answered and I have some theories that I don't want to share for fear of ruining it. But it is adorable, sweet, and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Created by Kaito

"You're Best Friend, or your Lover, You can only save one. What would you do?"

This story of 4 teenagers dealing with their feelings of love through high school is a journey in which we get to join them. The primary perspective we follow is Sorta, a young teenage boy, who is average height, and is kind of a nerd. His friend Toma is the good looking jock who is friendly with everyone, but only goes out of his way to talk to Sorta. A fellow classmate, Futaba, has a big crush on Toma, and asks Sorta to help her get to know him better, because she is extremely shy, and gets nervous around him.

As the story develops, we meet Itachi, who happens to have feelings for someone in the group as well. As feelings develop and are discovered in the story, things get messier and more complicated. Bring on a variety of love triangles!

The balance within the story is carefully crafted, along with beautiful art that sweeps you into the moment with them. I really enjoyed this volume very much, and look forward to more as they come out. There are some really cute moments throughout the volume, and I can't wait for you all to experience this manga releasing soon.

ARC copy provided by NetGalley for a free and honest review.

This is volume 1 in the series.

I think this manga started off really well and the ending wasn't as I expected. I would like to continue reading this.

Not sure I've ever read a shonen romance series where one of the main characters is pretty clearly a gay man. I'm very interested to see how this series plays out and know that the teens in my library are going to love this too.

3.5/5
I really enjoyed this! It's got a very cute art style as well as a cute story, and I'm curious to see where it will go when it continues.
First volumes are hard to rate without reading the rest of the series, but I'm super thankful to NetGalley for letting me read this first volume. I'm excited to see where it goes from here and how everything is going to end up working out!

I've been reading Blue Flag for a long time. It's genuinely one of my favorite manga series and I've been excited for a physical release in English ever since it was licensed and put up on Mangaplus. So without looking at the sample pdf, I can say this is one of my favorite slice-of-life stories out there, that it really captures the angst and drama of being a teenager, and that KAITO's art is to die for--that it's great in the beginning but really settles into something special by Volume 2.

Looking at the sample pdf, I've noted that there's a different translation compared to the one they put up on Mangaplus.

This includes the spelling of some character names, unfortunately. I'm baffled at why they changed Yorkie --> Yokki. In Japanese it's spelled ヨーキー which is YORKIE. "Yokki" would be transliterated from ヨッキ. They sound completely different, and "Yokki" doesn't mean anything significant. This just seems incorrect.

"Toma" isn't incorrect, but most of the fan presence online prefers the transliteration "Touma." I personally prefer it because it indicates that there's a lengthening of the "o" vowel when you say it.

I'm not that bothered by the unnecessary Americanisms used in the translation, but I'm in shock at what they've done to Mami's dialogue:
"Ohmigawd, nooo! ...That, like, sucks so bad!"
WHY.

An example of a good translation change:
"Aren't you completely different types?" --> "Even though he's like a different species than us."

Most of the translation seems improved and more natural. It's just those little things that really stick out to me, as someone who's been following this manga for years, that makes this a bit of a letdown. I really hope they at least change the names back.

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what I was going to get when I started this manga, but after finishing it I realise that not only is it completely my style and the type of manga which I want to read, but I absolutely can't wait to read the next volume and find out the secrets of the main characters! I would say that I did struggle to read this manga for the first 20 pages. I tried to read the manga twice in those 20 pages, but I just wasn't enjoying it so I would go and read/do other things. It wasn't until I sat down with the full intention to read the book that I really got into it and read the rest of the manga in one go. I would have finished the manga regardless, but did end up really enjoying my read as opposed to pushing myself through.

One of the main reasons why I like this manga is the fact that you have the main character helping his friend who is a girl to get noticed by his popular guy friend. I like the set ups and the obstacles the characters go past. Despite the fact that this book is focused on romance, I think the best part of it is the book and I think it is one of the main reasons as to why I will continue on with the series. Especially because we see one of the friendships form in this manga so we can be more attached to it as opposed to a friendship already established prior to the book starting.

The plot is very fun and entertaining once the introduction of the characters have been made. The main plot is the engineering of the romance by the main character for his friends, so you have some created scenarios and well as some organic situations and I really liked those scenes of the fake coincidences and genuine connections.

Overall, I really enjoyed this manga. My favourite part was the friendship between the characterss. It made the characters become alive. I would definitely recommend this manga to anybody, and especially to people who enjoy reading shojo mangas.

<i>arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>


This was an alright read for me. I liked the art style and the plot, I like the angst and the fun of figuring out who likes who and what’s going to happen with everyone. I thought it was getting pretty cute by the end of this volume.

But something I really didn’t like was when one character was helping the other try to get someone to like them by getting them to change themselves for their crush. I really don’t like the message that sends and I was glad when that plot point started to stop.

Overall, this was alright and I might continue on with the series.

2.5/5 ⭐️