Ratings16
Average rating4.3
An unexpected love quadrangle with a dash of unrequited love as two classmates, a boy and a girl, begin to fall for each other when each of their best friends have already fallen for them. Love is already hard enough, but it becomes an unnavigable maze for unassuming high school student Taichi Ichinose and his shy classmate Futaba Kuze when they begin to fall for each other after their same-sex best friends have already fallen for them. For some reason, Taichi Ichinose just can’t stand Futaba Kuze. But at the start of his third year in high school, he finds himself in the same homeroom as her, along with his childhood friend Toma Mita, a star athlete. But one day, Futaba opens up to Taichi and admits she has a crush on Toma. She then asks for his help in confessing to him! There’s just one problem—Toma seems to already have a secret crush on someone else.
Series
8 primary books青のフラッグ is a 8-book series with 8 primary works first released in 2017 with contributions by KAITO and Kaito.
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I normally read manga that's more action-oriented or fantastical than school romance shoujo manga tends to be, because (to me) romance manga tends to follow the same path and involve the same cliches. I admit to being a little hesitant when I started reading this one, because it does start out with your typical cast of school-aged characters navigating typical school-aged romance cliches. I kept reading, though, because I was drawn in despite all of that. The characters end up being well-rounded, complex, and (mostly) honest with themselves and their feelings, something I miss in a lot of angst-y romance plots.
It's hard to judge a manga series off just the first volume, but this one has a lot going for it: complex love.....polygons?, a cute, realistic art style, and a sensible, non-dramatic approach to LGBT issues in school. Highly recommend this one if you like the idea of shoujo romance without all the dramatic cliches that come with it.