I wasn't able to finish this before it was archived, but I enjoyed the portion that I did read and plan on finishing it when I get a chance.

rating: *2,5 ★

I can't even exactly pinpoint what bothered me but overall the story felt a little all over the place; starting from the protagonist Narita's very sudden urge to befriend Aoi and the way she approaches her. There is no build-up in their relation-/friendship and there is no chance for the reader to really get to know either of them. I absolutely understand the insecurities and the wish for acceptance in your high school years which are being addressed with Narita’s character but her way of thinking and acting makes her rather unlikeable and shallow and draws too much of a strong contrast to Aoi’s seemingly perfect character. As someone who isn’t generally bothered by overused tropes or plots, I thought the main idea was great and I was really looking forward to a beautiful sapphic manga but unfortunately it was rather poorly executed - at least in the first volume of the series. The art style, however, is really beautiful and a major plus!

Overall, this was still a nice and quick read as the first installment of a series and I am actually interested in finding out what happened between the main characters during the time skip but I don't exactly see myself rushing to read the next volume as soon as it comes out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

The illustrations were beautiful and the story was very cute. It is only really getting started. I'll check out the rest when they become available.

*sighs* My first time reading a GL manga, and it was a bit of a disappointment. I knew GL is traditionally marketed to boys/men, but I thought I'd still like it. I did not. I felt like I was inside the mind of a man, looking through his eyes, holding the infamous "male gaze". Even in the most plain of situations, the girls' chests were emphasized way too much for my taste. That wouldn't have bothered me so much if the plot could compensate for it, but it was just unrealistic, and not in a comic way. I did not laugh, I just felt uncomfortable with how weird everything was being developed. I was interested in the fact that Narita is a popular girl, and that part of the story was fun to see, but that was too little to carry the whole insanity that this manga is. Nothing's natural about the way the relationship between Narita and Aoi is built, and I get it that many mangas use strange plot devices, but one thing is using weird situations to prompt development in a realistic way, and another thing is having the whole development be unrealistic. Also, the "incident" was totally fanservice (like, come on, girls know where they are grabbing, and that fall...?).

In summary: I enjoyed reading about one of the popular girls in high-school (I feel like I tend to read shoujo's in which the main character is the outcast), but that wasn't enough to make me enjoy the manga.

*I received an advanced reading copy of this volume via NetGalley, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

The first instalment of Chasing After Air Koshiba dove into the youth of our main character, Sahoko, who’s reminiscing about an old friend, possibly someone more than a friend, at a school reunion.

There were a couple of issues that I had. The first was the pop culture references, particularly regarding social media. Although the use and the focus of social media contributed to the realistic nature of modern teen culture, I did find it a little annoying as it was constantly mentioned.

My other issue was with the main character. I found her quite shallow at times and her mindset was repetitive, which put me off a little. Being the first volume, and the setting being mostly during Sahoko’s schooling years, I hope we see character development. She made a rather insensitive comment about a side character’s weight, which wasn’t addressed. The sudden, non-consensual kiss between her and another character was also glossed over a little too much. I hope to see less in the rest of the series, or at least it is properly addressed.

I enjoyed the pacing of the volume as it was quite fast, I finished it in about 20-30 minutes. The final few pages of the volume were really interesting and compelled me to want to continue with the next volume. Whether I continue with the series will depend on how much I enjoy the direction in volume two. It’s nice to see queer representation in manga and believe this series has the potential to become a great addition to the sapphic manga genre.

I’d recommend picking up this volume to anyone looking for a manga involving sapphic characters, with a slow burn, blossoming romance. I gave this volume 3 stars.

Chasing After Aoi Koshiba is a manga series involving two girls - one who has worked towards everything she has to be popular and fit in, and a "tomboy" type of girl that seems to get along with mostly everyone. As they both go through high school, they work through their own feelings about themselves and each other! Yuri/LGBT manga is always an exciting genre to see as it isn't the most prominent category in graphic novels. This was an interesting beginning to a series, though it was a bit hard to follow at times/very fast-paced occasionally. I am interested to see where this goes as the story continues!

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

This volume is definitely a first volume where it gets the reader interested and wanting more. I personally can't wait to read the future volumes because I want to see more of what happened between these two characters. The first volume flips back and forth between past and present and I can only assume that volume two will as well.

Rating: 3⭐
Would I Read It Again? Yes
Would I Recommend it? Yes

I don’t have much else to say about Chasing After Aoi Koshiba other than it’s not much of a love story so far. While the manga poses an interesting premise and its characters show some depth, it’s hard to ignore the story’s lack of direction.

Very cute read! I am glad i came a ross this! While the yuri plot was very typical of the genre it was still cute and refreshing. Not sure if I am going to continue the series as I have a lot of other stuff in my tbr.

This was SUCH a fun read. It was so sweet and fun to read about both of the characters and their dynamics were developed so well. I had so much fun reading and definitely can’t wait for the next volume

Disclaimer: I got a copy of this in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my review and all opinions are my own.

Okay so I really liked this one because it reminded me about the high school mangas I used to read and watch (it also makes me want to read more)!! It’s about four high school girls and it shifts between the future and present day. It’s a perfect romance graphic novel!!

It's hard to review this one because the story has only just barely started by the end of the first volume! Our protagonist is at her high school reunion, hoping to see her maybe-ex-girlfriend, and then immediately the flashback launches... I did like the designs for both Sahoko and Koshiba-san. I'm a huge sucker for a "popular girl but really I'm faking my persona for social clout" plot, and I'm curious to know more, I just found it a little frustrating that there was so much flashback and the present-day timeline couldn't get its feet off the ground before the volume ended. Cute art!

I had just gotten into reading manga recently because of anime, and I am excited to say that I loved reading this manga. The illustrations and storyline are really cool and interesting, especially since there is some LGBTQ+ representation in It, which you don't see much. I will 100% want to keep reading and seeing how the story continues.

A big thank you to NetGalley and publisher for an ARC of this manga in exchange for an honest review!

This story is sickeningly sweet and dorky. I loved it.
Sahoko reinvented herself for high school to be confident, cool, and collected. AKA popular. Which is working out, until she meets Aoi, who doesn't have to do any of those things to be well liked.
She simply is "herself".
Everyone that knows her, likes her.
She makes things Sahoko embarrassing by, look not as embarrassing.

Envy grows into curiosity, to possible romantic feelings. Especially after an "accidental" kiss happens during the early stages of their budding friendship.

This series of events jumps around from the future, adult version of the characters, to past high school versions of themselves, with such ease.

The story is easy to follow and left me needing to read more!

**Thank you to Kodansha Comics and NetGallery for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. **

Book review

Chasing After Aoi Koshiba, Vol. 1
(Chasing After Aoi Koshiba #1)
by Hazuki Takeoka
Netgalley

“Chasing After Aoi Koshiba” is a story about a popular girl in high school, Sahoko, that intentionally and successfully turned herself into a popular girl. She has Instagram that gets a lot of likes. She gets a lot of attention for how she dresses and looks. She became friends with two other popular girls.

Sahoko wants to be a main protagonist in her story and she often calls other people side characters or losers. She was one of them but not anymore.

She has it all figured out, it seems, until she meets Koshiba, a sportsy girl, who seems not to care much about images. Koshiba hangs out with boys, is not bothered by getting her uniform wet, and also is quite forward. She is not like Sahoko, and Sahoko is very intrigued. She wants to become friends with Koshiba, for the reasons she can’t even explain to herself.

The manga opens up with scenes ahead in the future, when Sahoko is a third year university student at the graduation reunion party. And then the story switches to the past and her years in high school.

Although the artwork is cute and nicely done, the narration is quite choppy. It’s hard to understand the logic behind Sahoko’s behaviour. She wants to become friends with Koshiba, but then she misunderstands her, is embarrassed, and when trying to apologize makes things even more confusing by kissing Koshiba.

Completely out of blue.

There is no buildup to the way Sahoko feels about Koshiba or how they first met (it’s mentioned in passing that they sat next to each other in one class once). Why she gets so fixated on finding Sahoko to invite her to hang out, and then to apologize, that she starts stalking her and even joins the culture club, meanwhile claiming that she is not “like that”.

Sahoko behaviour confused me. I didn’t like the way she viewed others as side characters or that she created this popular personality. She seems like a nice person but her motives are questionable.

I feel like there was a lot of left out from the story and obviously there will be a sequel, but it was just too choppy for me to get really into the plot.

Super entertaining fun manga . This is a short manga with an amazing storyline and very likeable characters . I read this in one sitting and i absoluteley cherised every word .

"Chasing After Aoi Koshiba" is a pretty satisfying read. The story opens in the present day at a high school reunion with Sahako anxiously awaiting the arrival of her former crush Aoi who she seems to have carried a torch for even all these years later. She begins to recount their story and the reader is transported back to their high school days. where this entire love affair first began. The parallel story-telling is a fun aspect of the story because the reader is left guessing how the plot threads will come together, and although we know these characters have a past, we know for sure that they aren't together in the future. Just like Sahako, we are left wondering if Aoi will even show up at the reunion, but we'll have to read the next volume to find out.

The chapters that are set in the past provide a lot of well-needed character development. We find out that Sahako was the kind of high school girl who was obsessed with being cool, and this idea slowly unravels her as a person. The wannabe narrative is one that I think many people can relate to. It's hard being someone you're not and living up to the expectations of others, and in that way, I think Sahako proves to be an interesting character.
When she meets Aoi, who is just so effortlessly cool and somehow seems completely herself, Sahaoko is very intrigued. This leads to lots of fluffy romantic scenes.

Overall, I think this was a fun read. It's not something that I personally would have picked up off the shelf to read, but I'm pleasantly surprised by it. I do think some of the romance aspects and characterizations are a bit heavy-handed, but this story isn't going for subtlety.

An intriguing first entry. I like the back and forth between the class reunion and high school days. I'm very interested to find out what happens between Sahoko and Koshiba, especially with the last line of the book!

I'm relatively new to manga and I'm still finding the styles that I enjoy reading, but it's an enjoyable process trying new things.

Chasing After Aoi Koshiba, starts as Sahoko is arriving at her high school reunion to catch up with her old friends, particularly her first love, Aoi. Only Aoi is not there, and Sahoko begins reminiscing about her high school experience. We find out that she was not always a popular student, until she became a breakout social media darling, and that her path crosses with Aoi and there's an unexpected spark of attraction.

This was a fun little story - although it definitely felt like a beginning. There's a lot of set-up for who Sahoko is and how she meets Aoi, and there's definitely some teen angst and drama that goes along with that. Sahoko herself is very self-conscious, despite her fame, and she finds herself very attracted to the down-to-earth, mature Aoi, who has her own family issues that she's dealing with.

While I feel like there was something lacking in this first volume, I suspect that future volumes will add the depth needed for this story and so it's one I'll keep an eye on to continue. Aoi's story, in particular, is intriguing and I'd like to see where it goes.

Chasing After Aoi Koshiba is wonderful in every way and one of the best yuri mangas I've read. It starts from a high school reunion and Sahoko wanting to meet Koshiba after so long. Then we plunge into their school days and how Sahoko desperately wanted to be the cool girl's friend. Sahoko used to be a nerd of sorts, but now is well liked. Koshiba is boyish and used to play basketball, but cannot now because of family reasons. Slowly these two girls get to know each other and it all started with Sahoko's accidental kiss. This is a slow-burn series and very realistic. We get into Sahoko's head, which is wonderful, but at the same time we meet other students and the characters actually have their own personas. Such a wonderful start with a hint of sadness. This is truly girls' love for girls (and not for guys like these usually are).

The art is so nice and lively too. It's light, but profound and heartwarming at the same time. I have to keep reading this, really. I want to know what happens and I hope this will keep the adult feeling to it, the steadiness. I wish we get to see them old too, that'd be perfect.