Aoba-kun ni Kikitai Koto

Wow so what can I say about this manga. It's honestly beautiful.
Ema toyama doesn't get nearly enough recognition. Her art is always beautiful and her stories always engaging. I honestly think she is a master of her craft. Not every story needs to be ground breaking or have some shocking twist. Toyama sensei is a master of the shojo formula. She hits all the right beats and keeps you interested. I've heard complaints that her stories are generic, but I see nothing wrong with that. things seem generic because they work well and are featured prominently because of it. You can still tell the difference between someone who tells a story poorly versus someone who excels.

Art. 10/10
Seriously this womans art is beautiful. And she experiments with different coloring style for the color pages.

Characters. 9/10
Aoba has a unique problem and the source of his problem is entirely relatable. Hea of course hits some of the generic markers of a dense mc later on but more then makes up for it both before and after.

Mayo is someone I can relate to a lot. She is shy and quiet, but wants to help others and improve herself. She struggles to talk and find her her voice, but is a skilled listener. She has a lot of character development and I am so proud of her.

Nao is adorable and despite being the third point in the love triangle never seems annoying. He is genuinely a sweet boy who loves his friends more then anything.

The rest of the cast doesn't get a lot of attention. But the key players on the basketball team and the other manager all have some great moments. They really together and support each other. And they are more then welcoming to sakurada who seems like she shouldnt wouldn't even be interested in being a manager at first.

The story. 8.5/10. I love this story. I read it all in 3 days and even purchased the last several books so I could finish it. The story is about mayo who was helped by a boy in middle school. He simply listened to her problems. This stuck with her and she fell for him, but she had to move.

Now in high school they go to the same school again. But she is to shy to approach him. Mayo takes a job at her aunt's listening house to help her family with money. The listening house is a unique concept that works much like seeing a therapist. You go and vent your frustrations, only these people just listen. One day Aoba, her crush comes to the house and vents about how he has to quit the basketball team and doesn't enjoy it. Mayo decides she will do everything she can to get him to explain more and more as his listening house girl, and decides to get involved as the team's manager.

I'll let you read the story to find out the details. The story its self is well written and flows nicely. It respects its characters enough not to push them into situations that dont make sense for them, or pretend that these characters have grown more then they really have.

My only complaint is the last chapters feel a tad rushed. And it hits ome of the most generic shojo basics. The dreaded.

Major spoiler below this point.

The dreaded move. Now it doesn't resolve this issue in typical shojo fashion. In fact it even has several time jumps to show the happy ending. The first 1 year later and the last far enough in the future to depict mayo and Alba's happily ever after.

End of spoilers.

The story gives you closure for its main characters. Both career wise and romance wise. I promise you won't be disappointed if you give this story a chance. On my personal list I intended to give this story a 9. After more reflection maybe even a 10. But for the review I'll stick to a solid 8.5 overall. Which I'll wind up to a 9. So far this is my favorite work by Toyama sensei and I look forward to reading more.

I LOVED IT!

The story was very interesting I couldn't put my phone down and I just kept wanting to read more. I bought the last volume since I couldn't read it anywhere else because it was so engaging.

I liked how the main girl seemed so meek at first but she's actually very strong and very optimistic even though the guy was being cold to her. This story is kind of different to all the manga's I've read before. The guy has a very unusual problem which is very interesting and makes you want to read more and learn why he has it. As the story unfolds you start to get a sense as to why he thinks the way he does and he end up feeling sorry for him. I especially like it when even though the guy has completely given up the main girl doesn't and tries to help him even if she won't get anything in return as long as he finds his passion and happiness again.

Story: Very innocent and pure and at times very comedic, especially the childish best friend and senpai. The ending was a little unexpected but cliche. I would have given this a 10/10 if it didn't have a time jump.

Art: Art is so important to me because if the drawing isn't good then no matter how good the story is I just can't find myself to be interested in it. I've always loved Ema Toyama's work. So I'm quite pleased.

Character: I love the main girl, she's just so adorable and cute I love her. She has a quiet voice like I do and only finds the courage to speak up before she realizes it because of the courage the boy and the people around her. The main guy is also very interesting with an unusual problem and pitiful backstory. The guy's best friend is also very interesting and I like him the most because he says the most unexpected things to the girl out of nowhere and with people around. It's so endearing.

Enjoyment: I loved the story. Loved the characters. Love it!

Overall: 9/10 So close to pushing the 10/10.

EDIT: IN THE TIME OF WRITING THIS REVIEW, I HAD READ ONLY THE ONES TRANSLATED IN ENGLISH, BUT AS THERE WERE MORE AND MORE CHAPTERS COMING OUT, I HAD STARTED DISLIKING AOBA AS A CHARACTER. THIS STORY WAS EXTREMELY FLAWED, BUT I'M TOO LAZY TO EDIT THE WHOLE THING SO JUST BARE WITH ME, I NEED TO SAY THAT, OVERALL, I LOWERED IT TO A 7 IN SCORE.



I truly love this pure story.

I don’t know how to describe this, but this story is truly pure. The story is simple, yet engaging. I really love it. I suggest you read this story.

Story 8/10: the story really isn’t too creative but it’s still engaging. A story with not very creative ideas is not always bad. Look at Sword Art Online, it’s really creative yet trashy (I’m sorry sao fans, I don’t like sao at ALL) the story is very pure and not dirty like some other stories by the same author (not like full on sex, make out scenes, etc. it’s just a lot skin being shown, biting the nape of necks, etc. in her other stories; not so much dirty, honestly)

Art 10/10: the author’s art is BEAUTIFUL. omg. She doesn’t use bubbles or flowers every time the ship is next to each other like some other anime/manga. She may use them every once and while but in the right times.

Characters 9/10: I couldn’t decide for what the rating should be, but I chose 8.5. The characters have their totally different personalities, as usual. There’s the flirt, the plain and quiet girl, the boyish girl, the one with a dark secret, the shortie, and many others. But the different characters are pretty much needed to make this story enjoyable. That’s the main reason why I didn’t know if I should rate it a 8 or 9, but I’m leaning towards the 9.

Enjoyment 10/10: the factors in story, art, and characters create an overall relaxing story. It’s a nice story if you want a relaxing, pure, slow romance.

Overall 9/10: I suggest you read this soothing story. It has bits of comedy and it’s truly a wonderful story that’s pure.