When I am in a large group of people, I always end up unconsciously trying to find you. Even if I get the wrong person, I look for you. And when I am trying to find you, no matter how big the group is, I somehow find you first, I wonder if that’s what it is to fall in love.”
Toma Kikuchi, “Ao Haru Ride” Edit 1.
Information
- Movie: Blue Spring Ride
- Romaji: Aoharaido
- Japanese: アオハライド
- Director: Takahiro Miki
- Writer: Io Sakisaka (manga), Tomoko Yoshida
- Producer: Akihiro Yamauchi, Minami Ichikawa, Akihiro Yamauchi, Takahiro Kawada
- Cinematographer: Kosuke Yamada
- Release Date: December 13, 2014
- Runtime: 122 min.
- Genre: Teen-Romance / Based on a Comic
- Distributor: Toho
- Language: Japanese
- Country: Japan
Source: AsianWiki
Synopsis
Is said that springtime is the time when girls fall in love. Yoshioka Futaba, unlike other girls, prioritized her friends over love because she suffered a broken heart in elementary school by Kou Tanaka.
In her 2nd Year of High School, Yoshioka is shocked to find out that the same boy was in her class but had his last name changed to Mabuchi.
She was shocked by how he had changed, Cold, brute and distant. He warns her about her so-called friends, calling her “cheap”, she ignores at first but when she sees her friends criticizing innocent Yuri Makita with no justification, she defends her.
Her supposed friends abandon her and Yoshioka, in order to turn a new leaf, volunteers as one of the class leaders that will participate in the Spring’s Leader Orientation, where she expects to create her real friends. Besides Yoshioka, Yuri Makita, Shuko Murao, Aya Kominato, and Kou Mabuchi, forced, also volunteered.
From there, Yoshioka develops new friendships and old love.
Plot
The plot is simple but it well planned and paced, making a nostalgic and lovely memory.
I read the manga, watched the anime years ago, and watching the Live Action was a door ajar. The plot was so well cut in the movie, mixed a few and other resemblances from the original plot and kept what made the manga so good.
The main attraction is protagonists development and their romance. It doesn’t give much importance to the side characters that are only present for Yoshioka and Kou’s romance bloom. Nevertheless, the plot is interesting and pleasant to watch.
⚠⚠ Spoilers ⚠⚠
It follows Yoshioka’s memories as in the present time she remeets Kou Mabuchi. She is very happy to see him and as they interact he gets annoyed how she keeps remembering how he was when she met him years ago because that person didn’t exist anymore, he says.
“Don’t try and find the old me” (Edits 2 and 3)
Meanwhile, she comes to learn what happened to him after moving to Nagasaki in Junior High School from his brother. His parents had divorced and Kou moved to his mother’s house in Nagasaki.
Kou didn’t want to have fun, didn’t open up because he felt guilty that he had neglected his mother when she was sick before she died.
Yoshioka is determined to “grab Kou’s smile back”, which she succeeded. They grew closer to each other and, later, she realized she fell in love with him when Yuri Makita told her she liked him (Edit 4).
Eventually, Yuri Makita confessed and is rejected and Yoshioka is stood up in the Spring Festival once again because of a girl he couldn’t let go on Nagasaki.
An old classmate. From Nagasaki, Yui Narumi, as Kou, also shared a traumatic experience due to her parents and in that moment of her life she was too weak to be alone and Kou wasn’t brave to leave her until she “could stand with her two feet”.
This stomper created a very problematic outcome. Yoshioka was desperate, she wanted to be with Kou but that girl was in the way of reaching him so she met with her and told her to stop.
“Time stops for him.”
Narumi didn’t back down, saying she would do everything to keep him by her side. She wasn’t a Rival but a Villain. Yoshioka gave up on him and confessed in order to move on. Staged, Kou rejects her -his anger after he rejected her was silent but it meant so much, I could hear his screams-, continuing his forced relationship with Narumi (Edit 5).
Thankfully, the side characters were there to help. Kou’s friend, Aya Kominato, planned a way to bring back Kou to the group, to Yoshioka, that was seeing Toma Kikuichi- they weren’t dating but supposedly they were on the manga.
The last field trip brought them to Nagasaki, the city where Kou and his mother lived until she died, and he revisited the city, clashing the present with his past while opening up to Yoshioka, who convinced him on the tour.
Visiting a local church his mother usually prayed for her health, he discovered all of her prayers were for him instead. He broke in tears.
The ending was satisfying as well, I mean there were loose ends and a few curious moments I would’ve enjoyed seeing, but it doesn’t overcome the positive opinion I have.
Kou stopped taking care of Narumi (we don’t see how it happens), Kikuichi is rejected by Yoshioka and both protagonists start dating, finally, while the sunrise was occurring. Beautiful.
Cast
- Futaba Yoshioka→ Tsubasa Honda
- Kou Mabuchi→ Masahiro Higashide
- Shuko Murao→ Yua Shinkawa
- Aya Kominato→ Ryo Yoshizawa
- Yuri Makita→ Izumi Fujimoto
- Yui Narumi→ Mitsuki Takahata
- Toma Kikuchi→ Yudai Chiba
- Yoichi Tanaka→ Yu Koyanagi
Characters
Futaba Yoshioka
With 22 years old, Tsubasa Honda performed as Futaba Yoshioka in “Blue Spring ride”. 5 years later, 27 years old presently, she gained more experience through the years and in 2017 she was part of the “Fullmetal Alchemist” Live-action movie’s cast as Wendy Rockbell.
Yoshioka isn’t very feminine and she eats what she likes when she wants. In the beginning, her friends warned about how much she ate and when she needs their help proving she wasn’t stealing they just sided with the crowd making her feel embarrassed and betrayed. If it wasn’t for Kou protecting her, she would’ve been marked as a thief.
She was super happy and thanked him personally for the gesture.
“It made me happy you would get angry because of me”
He called her and her friends “cheap”, which she later saw it herself when they bad-mouthed Yuri Makita because she was prettier than them.
After being left out, she got out of her bubble and created new friendships. She revealed to be more energetic and honest. She is brave and bold, doing things a normal person wouldn’t do, like dropping honorifics to “strangers”, throwing herself at a guy, because she didn’t like what he said, scream at someone like she was right- she was-, and ask to leave another alone.
She made her own path and she was strongly independent of formalities. She was uncommon to a certain extent which made the plot more engaging.
Kou Mabuchi/ Tanaka
Masahiro Higashide is the actor responsible for Kou Mabuchi’s role, the male protagonist of the movie. He has a wide experience with many roles in movies, drama series, and tv movies. He had received two many awards, one in 2012, “Sponichi Grand Prix Newcomer Award” for his performance in “The Kirishima Thing”, and the second award on 2013, “Rookie of the Year”, a Japan Academy Prize.
Mabuchi made it appear he was the strongest and most dignified character with no weaknesses but then it’s proved to be the weakest of all.
Gradually, his character develops thanks to his friends and Yoshioka, who he liked since Junior high school.
When Yoshioka first talks to him, he is cold and rude with an expressionless facade, but he tends to break it as she is around him. As the plot unfolds, he begins to reveal his feelings more to her until he is reminded of his past when Narumi reappears in his life.
⚠⚠ Spoilers ⚠⚠
He had promised to be good in school so he wouldn’t worry his mother, and that he could take care of his mother. Without realizing her disease, he studies while his mother was getting worst and when she was diagnosed with cancer in a terminal stage and eventually died, he was pressured with the guilt and regret of not noticing sooner, not being there for her, not taking care of her like he said he was going to. In any time he felt happy he wasn’t able to express it because of the guilt.
Shuuko Murao
Yua Shinkawa is responsible for Shuko Murao’s role.
Shuko Murao is one of the side characters. From all, she was probably the one that received less attention and identity. She was usually tagged with Yuri and rarely spoke to anyone. Her presence felt a convenience so there was a motive for Aya Kominato to volunteer for the Spring’s Leader Orientation and to forcibly bring Kou with him.
She seemed to be very peaceful, all about that world peace, very observant and only talked when extremely necessary.
⚠⚠ Spoilers ⚠⚠
Aya Kominato, the person that likes her, was also as observant and later on the story discovers she likes the teacher, Kou’s brother. She never attempted to be with Tanaka-sensei nor confessed her feelings to him. As other side characters, she lacked development which is present in the manga (Edit 6)!
Yuri Makita
Almost a doll figure, Izumi Fujimoto was the actress that performed as sweet Yuri Makita.
Part of the side character’s cast, she had a very sweet voice and a cute appearance that left boys hooked on her. Yuri was also shy, honest and straightforward to her friends when she was on the screen.
Yuri Makita, a side character lacked development and presence, is Yoshioka’s first real friend and the first “rival”- I can’t consider her a rival even- and her existence is purposely for Futaba’s development and more drama.
Aya Kominato
Ryo Yoshizawa performed Aya Kominato’s character. He worked mostly in movies, including the live-actions “The Liar and His Lover” (2013), “Wolf Girl and Black Prince” (2016), ”Marmalade Boy” (2018) and “Bleach” (2018), and drama series.
Another side character that lacked development but had a positive impact on Yoshioka and Kou’s relationship.
He is very talkative and friendly, the opposite of Kou, creating a funny couple of friends. He is honest and organized, he was the planner in Leader’s Orientation. He worries about his friends and tries to make them happy within a boundary.
Performance
Maybe it’s just me but, sometimes, I didn’t find the performance very believable. I thought “they are grown people in their twenties once again in high school, just to fake fall in love again” breaking off the focus on the actual plot.
Physically (except hair colors), I truly see the resemblance with the fictional characters and how they played their roles was satisfactory but at times I was put off by very awkward moments, fake laughs and somewhat a limitation. At least, to me, momentarily, it just didn’t feel natural. I know the awkward moments, the silence was purposely to increase suspense but they were several and left me bored instead.
Even so, I enjoyed the performance. I was engaged mostly and I really like the cast’ resemblance to the original characters and their way of assuming their character’s personality. There are a few moments I was speechless because of their great performance in those moments (Edit 7).
Scenario
I enjoyed the movie’s visuals. Simplistic yet meaningful at times, other dull and repetitive- fortunately it was where the drama occurred (school).
Sadly, I don’t where it was filmed beside that it was in Japan, Toyama and Nagasaki. There are many landscapes and scenic views over the city as well inside the school they study in and spend most of their time. The Spring’s Leader Orientation was outdoors, they supposedly visited Nagasaki in a field trip and the characters usually hanged out in a very drama convenient café- they sat on the tables by the windows that were see-through on both sides.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was fitting to the movie.
I enjoyed hearing the songs as the moments occurred on the screen and depending on what was happening it would change from a calming, soothing song to a more agitated one. It was accelerating and exciting in the climaxes and more romantic as the protagonists struggled to be with each other.
The silence is very powerful in this movie, it puts you on the spot from how awkward it can get, sometimes it can be boring, waiting for the person to speak.
Final thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot. It was a different way to spend time, a quicker way too, and I am very happy I watched it. It reminded me of the manga’s plot and it brought those feels back I had experienced while reading it.
But sadly not as strong. I was engaged in the plot and at times I was pulled out by the cast’s performances and the side characters received almost no attention, although they were one of the reasons Kou and Yoshioka were together.
I really liked it though. I have a few favorite moments that didn’t need words to describe how emotional it was, which makes the plot so great as popular as we know it. Without the cast, I couldn’t have experienced those emotions, they were amazing. The visuals are beautiful and the soundtrack is good and enhanced at each moment.
I recommend to people that can’t watch dramas instead- me-, that enjoy “Ao Haru Ride”, that like the genres romance, shoujo, drama, comedy, school and slice of life, a bold female protagonist, a tsundere male protagonist, a forced love square, where the hero and Heroine choose to not be together.
Edits ( ⚠⚠ Spoilers ⚠⚠ )
Edit 1
Edit 2
Edit 3 
Edit 4
Edit 5
Edit 6 
Edit 7
Sources:
- AsianWiki
- Youtube
- Google Images and Jo YUki NUra
- KissAsian (Website I watched the drama)
So what do you think? Have you watched this Live-Action? Do you agree with me, What are your thoughts?
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Faith
To Otakus 