Bloom Into You Vol. 6

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I didn't plan on reading this series. The writing switched from manga to light novel, which can easily mess up the flow and feel revolving a character. As this spin-off is made to expand Sayaka's side of the story, the world-building of fairly normal people could crumble down at a moment's notice, let alone the fact that this is written by a completely different author. But wonderfully characterized by Iruma. She's observative and serious. She gives off a mature and collected aura, but she doesn't think that of herself. At a first glance, the winter-cool type image seems to suit her perfectly. However, we can see at certain moments in the anime and manga that just like anyone else, Sayaka has her own flaws that one might not expect, yet she's vastly different from other characters with this archetype. By laying all of her thoughts bare, the author takes us much further into her personality; every tidbit and opinion; by the time I finished the novels, I realized that I had never before encountered a character like Sayaka anywhere else. The sheer complexity, yet simultaneously the simplicity of Sayaka's character, is what makes this book so interesting.

There is a certain thing I do when I want to be sure I'm judging shoujo-ai or shounen-ai fairly - I think about wheter I would rate it the same if the story was about a heterosexual couple. And by that I mean examining whether the character depth and relationship developement is interesting by itself or whether those are replaced by just being gay and the romance itself is shallow. In other words, it's removing fetishizing of yuri or yaoi from the lenses of judgement - "Is it good because they are the same sex, or is it good because they are actually interesting characters?" There are two main things I can mention regarding volume 3. The first is how Sayaka has already matured. She's not growing and changing in the same way she did in the first two volumes. This volume is solely on her pursuit of love and finding happiness. This brings me to the second point.Wanting to cooperate rather than compete with peers at the start of middle school, Sayaka's shift in perspective leads her to befriend her senior Chie Yuzuki. As the two form a gentle bond, Yuzuki confesses her feelings to Sayaka, who reciprocates her affection in hopes of learning the significance of love. Despite sacrificing her devotion to academics, their relationship ends, leaving Sayaka scarred with resentment.

Chapter 33: Running Start - Yuu goes shopping with her sister, asking about how her sister met her boyfriend and who asked who out. Thinking of Touko, she asks if it’s better to not say anything to avoid ruining the friendship, but her sister denies this, says that it is inevitable for relationships to change. Secretly, Yuu’s sister suspects Yuu is thinking of Touko and is supportive of her feelings. Probably, also influenced by the experience with Yuzuki, Sayaka realized she could only fall in love with women. And in that way, she had a love at first sight with Touko due to her beauty and also, as she mentioned it, her curiosity of how someone got better grades than her.Now the story leaves the epitome of "oh I can't do this since it will make her sad" and lying to yourself so much so. At this point, we have seen gradual change happen with the characters, especially that of Yuu, which was a nice change to witness, but it only leads down to the monotonous path of not staying true to yourself you usually see in most romance anime/manga. Now I don't have a problem with generic storytelling, if something is the norm, it doesn't mean that it is bad because other stories follow the same structure. It just means that it is the norm. Not good. Not bad. So from Vol 7 onwards, that is exactly what you get, misunderstandings creating a regular situation. Honestly speaking, this is the best part of the entire manga. But there isn't much to say from it other than, you have seen this before if you are familiar with the genre, and that what you expect to happen, will likely happen. To date, eight tankōbon volumes have been released under the Dengeki Comics label. It is licensed for release in English by Seven Seas Entertainment.