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.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viz Media for providing me with an ARC to read and review. This was a cute story with a twist at the end that one could guess but then second guess if it was where the story was going and I enjoyed that aspect. Overall I enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading more of this story. However, rating was knocked down with the decision to have the character believe she has to change in order for someone to like her, once that part in the plot passed I started to enjoy the story more.

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 ⭐️

ARC Copy...I don't know, usually realistic dramas don't "Sing" to me as much and I may have outgrown high-school narratives however...the high demography may be more open to this kind of narrative.

Typical slice of life that, until the very end, I could have taken or left and would have been fine. But that twist at the end got me. Granted, it wasnt totally unexpected but I thought it was going to feature a different character. Still, I dont think my ships will sail, which is a bummer, but not something I will hold against the story at this time.

It’s hard to read and very annoying with the ‘SAMPLE PDF publisher name’ in the middle of every page. That watermark takes up 25% of the page, EVERY page. Also, it’s not in colour? I’m pretty sure the finished copy will be in colour. What I was able to read through the horrible watermark was ok, it’s your traditional manga, very cliché and high school level.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blue Flag is a seemingly cliché manga about high school drama, but after reading the ending of the first novel it seems to have a bit of a potentially sad twist. The story and the characters are engaging, but the feeling of being dropped into the middle of things was a little disorienting. Other than that it was a great manga and I look forward to the next volume!