This was a very light volume, with promises of more in-depth character growth and plot to come. I wasn't expecting it to start with the characters all grown up, meeting again some years after their high school graduation, but it was a good surprise - we get to see things in the past, when Sahoko and Aoi met, and then things in the present, as we see that Aoi hasn't been around in a while, creating not only attachment to the young characters, but also curiosity to understand what has happened since their teen years.

Sahoko is a pretty, popular girl, while Aoi is popular without trying. I got the feeling we'll see some more of Sahoko's feelings around creating a persona for herself, trying to keep distance from the "uncool" students, at the same time as she tries to figure out her true feelings towards Aoi.

It was nice to see the beginnings of their friendship and something that will likely become a crush (that they're not aware of yet), but since it didn't go into depth, I think things will get better (and closer to a full 5 stars rating) with more volumes. It also helps that the art is very pretty! (I only hope it doesn't get super sad and angsty like Orange, as Chasing After Aoi Kishiba was compared to!)

Chasing after Aoi Koshiba is sweet, a bit silly girls love manga that I've expected to get when I requested this ARC. Both protagonists are cute and honestly, I loved how petty and self-obsessed Sahoko was and how we can clearly see that it had changed over time. As a person who when I went to high school tried to hide all my interests from my friends to not be labelled a nerd again, I can relate to some extent. Sure, her actions weren't always logical but I don't read girls love manga for logic. I'd love to read the next volume to see how it progressed and I'm especially curious about the university timeline part of the story.

I also have to mention the art style - it was absolutely adorable but also not cutesy enough to seem infantilizing, which is a reason I often avoid certain gl mangas and anime. I'd absolutely recommend it to my friends.

This was a pretty good first volume. It has set itself up for future volumes really well, and I absolutely adore the art style. The plot was pretty generic however, and this rating would have been a lot higher if not for some of the fat-phobic and judgmental tendencies of the main girl. I understand that the main girl is meant to be this shallow popular teenager, but the volume doesn't even try to make it obvious that her fat-phobic comments are bad, it makes it kind of natural and without backlash. However, that being said, it was still an enjoyable read and I'm curious to see where it'll go.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in this series' development, and would love to see how the relationship blossoms.

Initially starting out at a High School Reunion, Sahoko reminisces her previous years and how she got to where she is.
Sahoko has finally risen in the popularity rank; making popular (and good) friends, making sure she looks attractive, and most important of all, not doing anything that will label her as 'unpopular'. Her life is going well, and things are looking up...until she meets Aoi. Whenever she's near, Sahoko isn't right...she overthinks, can't focus, and her face keeps blushing. While she's sure if she just avoids Aoi everything can stay normal, but she just can't stay away.

4.5 sparkling stars!

"Chasing After Aoi Koshiba' is an incredibly gripping story about 4 high school girls, however, it also shows them in the future too. I loved the idea of portraying the women's lives in the future, as usually in shoujo manga we almost never see what happens next. Overall, this was an exceptional and refreshing read that I recommend to any romance or graphic novel fans!

(Thank you Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for providing me with an e-ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Thank you to NetGalley, Kodansha Comics, and Hazuki Takeoka for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like how this book started with the main girls in university and then back-tracked to the high school days, but I felt like the start to the high school part was a bit slow. Sahoko is extremely intrigued and inspired by Aoi. When a chance kiss happens, Sahoko tried to make amends and aims to be Aoi's friend. As their relationship blooms, an assortment of complicated emotions, situations, and feelings arise as Sahoko gets to know Aoi, and sees that she isn't quite what was expected. The manga ends full-circle with a conclusion back in the university days and a cliffhanger indicating a potential rivalry or drama when it comes to Aoi and mingling with Sahoko's group of friends.

Once this manga picked up and the character development really started to show, it was rather dramatic and interesting. The cliffhanger leaves the reader wondering just why Sahoko's friend seems to have a grudge against (or hatred of) Aoi. Great for fans of high school drama, high school romance, and yuri.

Sahoko was one of the popular girls in high school and its been years since then, now she's at a school reunion looking for the on person she wants to see more Aoi.

I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when coming across this book I figured I'd go into it blindly and see how I feel. This book turned out better then I expected, it was pretty sweet. Sahoko was pretty ditzy and obviously had a thing for Aoi but wasn't really sure how to go about that. It was sweet watching how things played out though. I loved how this book played out with what was going on currently and back flashing to how things started and I'm really looking forward to seeing more. Sahoko is now an adult clearly looking for Aoi and I'm curious to see what happened that they stopped communicating and what will happen once they see eachother again.

While this seems mostly a typical, trope-heavy yuri high school story, its narrative frame supplies some welcome suspense: protag Sahoko and the titular Aoi formed a bond years ago, but events since then have put distance between them.

There are no major flaws here, but not a lot that stands out either. I will say that I do find Sahoko a charming protagonist, whose internal thoughts add a lot of humor precisely because of how petty (yet guileless) they often are.

Overall, this series seems to be pinning its hopes on the tension built by the mystery of "What happened between these two?" Whether it rises above its modest beginnings will depend on how well it unravels the tale connecting Saho and Aoi's past and present.

I'm always on the lookout for new yuri manga, and this is a great addition to the genre. Chasing After Aoi Koshiba volume 1 is kind of a slow start, but it also makes me very excited for more of the story of Sahoko and Aoi. Most of this volume goes into the two of them starting to get to know one another after Sahoko kisses Aoi accidentally, then joins the home ec club in order to get close to her. Sahoko sees Aoi as effortlessly popular and Sahoko wishes to be loved by her classmates. When she learns Aoi is taking care of her younger brothers after the death of her mom, she realizes that's why Aoi is no longer playing basketball and wants to help her out. This is a very soft story and I'm very interested in seeing where things went between second year of high school and Sahoko's third year of college that they are no longer friends or close. Plus, the art is very cute and works really well for the story.

This Manga is a Yuri, about a girl named Sahoko whose popular in just about every way! One day a girl name Aoi catches her eye, but not quite sure what she’s feeling. To Sahoko, she feels as though Aoi is someone she wants as a friend, especially after seeing how cool natured she is.

I enjoyed how the manga starts off present day and gives us a flash back with some background on Sahoko and Aoi. Personally, I think the back and forth time hopping is a great way to allow both younger and older readers to be able to relate to the characters more.

I did feel it was a short read, or perhaps it was just so good I zoomed through lol. The ending left me wishing I had volume 2 in hand to continue reading where the story will go.

•A R C•B O O K•R E V I E W•
2021 Book #51 out of 80
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CHASING AFTER AOI KOSHIBA by Hazuki Takeoka
Volume 1
Publication date May 24, 2021
⭐️⭐️ out of 5 stars
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QUICK SYNOPSIS:
A manga focusing on the development of relationships from high school and the lasting relationships from the teenage years to adulthood. Sahoko, the main character, participates in her high school reunion and is searching for Aoi. While waiting, flashbacks of their high school life return to how their friendship has developed through those years.

STORYLINE & THOUGHTS:
~ I was not a fan of the manga's plot at all. I thought I understood what was going on in the story. But once I got to the final chapter in the manga... I was wrong. I thought the high school portion in the story was present in the story's timeline, but I guess I missed that.
~ LGBTQIA+ representation from the two leading female characters.
~The overall style of the book was cute, but from my reading experience, I would not recommend it.
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Thank you to @netgalley and @KodanshaComics for this ARC Ebook. All reviews are fair and honest reviews. All opinions are my own.
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#ARC #AdvanceReaderCopy #Netgalley #Bookstagramfeature #Bookstagram #Goodreads #TBR #ToBeRead #InstaBook #readersofinstagram #readersofinsta #bookreview #bookishfeatures

This a kind of slow start to a story that might have some promise. Otherwise it might shape up to be another book that uses the 'girl who only cares about fashion meets her opposite and falls for them', trope. The only thing that might save it is that it is told from the perspective of Sahoko, the cute- obsessed one, at her high school class's five year anniversary. She's telling the story about Aoi and their story as they go, but Aoi is not there and her friends seem to be protective of Sahoko.

I am honestly not sure how to feel about this, because it is using that trope that Failed Princess uses, but so far without the "OMG this nerd is actually attractive under her glasses!" trope that I find kind of tiresome. There's also the kind of mystery of Aoi, whom we don't really know too much about, other than she is kind and unassuming, yet almost as popular as Sahoko and her friends. Also, there might have been a falling out later on, and that could be why Aoi is not at the reunion.

If you like the trope of school princess falls for the unassuming person, then this might be the manga for you. It has pretty decent art, but it is generic, and it falls short a little when comparing the younger versions of the characters to their older ones - they look almost the same but for slightly different hairstyles. What is keeping me somewhat interested is why the cast is acting all shady about Aoi, and why she isn't at the party. It's a small hook, but just enough of one that makes me want to continue reading.

*I received this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

When first picking up Chasing After Aoi Koshiba, I didn’t expect it to hit as hard as it did. Not only is this a coming of age story for our main protagonists, but it also puts the spotlight on the ways people push themselves to fit in, be admired, and make friends. Its themes are so subtle through the pages, but they add up to provide a powerful message.

Chasing After Aoi Koshiba Vol. 1 introduces us to Sahoko Narita, a girl whose only real worry is how the outside world sees her. She has spent a lot of time on herself to become popular by surrounding herself with cool friends, wearing the highest fashion, and religiously posting to Instagram to rack up Likes. She tries so hard at this but can’t understand why she is envious of her sporty classmate, Aoi Koshiba.

They aren’t really close or anything, but Narita decides that being friends with Koshiba will not only make her Instagram feed more attractive, but it will also make her happy. Her way of going about this is strange, though, and right away, you can tell that this is not typically how someone would approach making a “friend.” After a really close encounter, Narita turns into a sort of energized stalker looking to learn more about Koshiba’s life and become closer to her.

The interesting moments of the manga happen through time skips. You get to see Narita as a college student and then jump back to her high school life. This is important because Koshiba is not present in the future, but Narita longs to piece together where their relationship went wrong. The manga has these underlining yuri themes, but nothing is admitted in the pages, and Narita’s actions are as surprising to her as they are to everyone around her.

However, tension builds when you start to wonder what happened between these characters and if there wasn’t something else that came between them. Nothing is answered explicitly, but there’s enough here to keep you engaged across each page.

The illustrations are just lovely as they highlight Narita’s mode change when Koshiba is or isn’t around perfectly. There’s a sense of vanity here, as well as Narita’s idea of what’s cool and uncool is screwed in a way that limits her from doing certain things. This shows wonderfully in the panels, which even assist in selling the more humorous scenes of boys talking about Narita’s appearance, even when she’s in earshot.

Chasing After Aoi Koshiba Vol. 1 takes a yuri romance but paces it naturally as Narita figures out precisely what she wants in life. Whether or not this affects those around her is yet to be seen; you can’t help but hope she finds a place where she naturally fits in. The time jumps are essential for building tension as we await what the future holds for these characters and what ultimately came between them.

Chasing After Aoi Koshiba is a yuri manga with a cute art style that has two different timelines: one following a popular high school girl, Sahoko, who wants to get to know Aoi Koshiba better, and another following Sahoko years later at her high school reunion, waiting for Aoi Koshiba to show up. While the second perspective is really only prominent at the beginning and end as a frame story, the high school storyline becomes more developed as Sahoko joins a club, gets closer to Aoi, and learns her secret.

This unfortunately read just like every other yuri manga I've read, which was somewhat disappointing. Even after she kisses Aoi (without her consent, I might add) and clearly wants to get to know her better, Sahoko refuses to admit she might like girls and even years later is unsure whether her chasing after Aoi is just for friendship or for love. This is pretty typical of a yuri manga, but comes off as disappointing to readers looking for sapphic rep, and also doesn't seem to do anything "new" for the genre. Pacing-wise, I think it would have been better to save the reveal of Aoi's secret for a sequel volume because Anna's mysterious hatred for Aoi thrown in at the end was a strange cliffhanger and doesn't compel me enough to pick up the next volume. I was also a bit confused as to what the club Sahoko ends up joining is, since it's referred to by at least three different names in the book.

However, the art style was quite cute and I think this is perfect for readers who are already fans of conventional yuri storytelling and a sweet first love story. Readers looking for explicit lesbian representation in a manga will want to look elsewhere.

3/10

I- I don’t know how to feel about this one.

It felt very plain and illogical at times and while I am a sucker for these predictable gxg stories, too, this one just had a weird rushed vibe. I really didn’t like how one MC is so annoying and unlikable and rude while the other one is practically a saint. Not a fan of such unbalanced forced dynamic.

Imma skip all the rude uncalled for comments in it but they were the main reason I didn’t like this at all.

Still, if I have a chance I’d maybe continue reading the story because it’s short and, like I said, I’m a sucker for everything gay.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

P.S. I know I’m in the minority with this one b u t the weird angled perspective view of the stairs in one sketch made the architect in me want to take my eyeballs out and wash them with acid.*

* Dramatic much.

While I tend to love cute falling in love stories, Saho's emotions felt a bit empty to me. I think it's a bit of a recurrent trope, the secret loser pretending to be something else that falls in love and consequently starts changing, but for some reason I felt it was very accidental here and for someone so controlled, like Saho seems to be, it felt off. I do have curiosity to know how they fell out, though, and it does follow the cadence and rhythm of sweet high school yuri, Aoi's pretty chill approach to Saho's accidental confession was very sweet. Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for allowing me to read this. All said, I would read later numbers because Anna's resentment absolutely blindsided me, so I expect shenanigans to come up eventually.

Chasing After Aoi Koshiba is a story revolving around the struggles of a high school girl, obsessed with popularity, who is most probably gay, but would definitely do anything to deny it.
The plot is split into the present, where the main character goes to a class reunion, and the past, when she was still in school. Unfortunately the story didn't really draw me in and I didn't find the art exceptional, so I probably won't be reading any further.
That said, the manga seems like a good slow-burner and I can see why many people do and will enjoy it.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.*

This manga was SO CUTE!
Cute artwork throughout with a well written and well translated story.
I only wish that there had been some conclusion within this first volume.
I am simply dying to see what happens next!

I am a huge fan of yuri romances and when I came across this one, I knew I had to read it! Luckily, my instinct was right and I adored this first volume!

As this is the first in a new series, I can describe the plot a bit more freely. Chasing After Aoi Koshiba revolves around Sahoko, a woman who was popular in high school after working hard to take herself from a side character to a main character, as she describes it to readers herself. The manga begins at a high school reunion where Sahoko is looking for an old classmate: Aoi Koshiba. Aoi was Sahoko’s first crush and the novel then starts to show us the beginning of their high school romance as Sahoko tries to befriend Aoi for her natural popularity.

This manga was both engaging and sweet, and I felt that both characters had distinct and complex personalities despite this being just an introduction to the series. I really enjoyed the writing and the art style and I think both elements were very well done.

Overall, I am definitely excited to keep reading this series and I really enjoyed it! If you’re a fan of romance mangas and unique characters, I definitely recommend you keep your eyes on this fabulous new series this year!

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the opportunity to read and review this manga. I'll be honest this manga series won't be everyone. This is because one of the characters is very two faced and moments very insulting to others. I do like that there's a parallel between the adult and high school aspects of their life. I also liked the artstyle and relationship dynamic but there's a mystery aspect that makes me sort of want to continue but it may be just passing through. Overall, this manga is one I am definitely curious to see what is going to happen but its not for everyone. 3 out of 5 stars