VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
STORY: Okura
ART: Coma Hashii
TRANSLATION: Jocelyne Allen
LETTERS: Joanna Estep
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0410-1; paperback (May 2018); Rated “T” for “Teen”
240pp, B&W, $10.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK
That Blue Sky Feeling is a coming-of-age LGBTQ manga from writer Okura and artist Coma Hashii. VIZ Media publishes the series in-print with an MSRP of $10.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. It is available digitally via viz.com and the VIZ Manga App, as well as from the Nook, Kobo, Kindle, iBooks, comiXology, and Google Play stores.
Noshiro Dai is an outgoing high school student who finds himself drawn to Kou Sanada, the school outcast, who is rumored to be gay. The rumors don't bother Noshiro; instead, they make him even more determined to get close to Sanada. Thus, what is set in motion is a surprising tale of first love.
As That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 2 (Chapters 8 to 14) opens, Noshiro and Sanada's friendship is growing, after Noshiro finally breaks down the emotional walls Sanada put up. Now, a new complication has arrived. Ayumi Yamamoto, a childhood friend of Sanada's who went to elementary school with him, reveals that she has always liked him. Noshiro believes that he should try to get Sanada and Yamamoto together. Meanwhile, Noshiro has his own romantic complications; new student, Makoto Morinaga, an underclassman, has a crush on Noshiro.
[This volume includes a bonus chapter.]
The title is practically neutral, but That Blue Sky Feeling manga is a high school set series. One of the leads is gay, but this is not an out-and-out gay romantic manga – at least not yet.
That Blue Sky Feeling Graphic Novel Volume 2 is decidedly sweet-natured. Characters are in “like” rather than being in “love.” “Like,” however, can get pretty intense, and the story can quietly be intense. Creators Okura and Coma Hashii are sly in the way they portray characters dealing with being gay in a setting that can be cruel, even mortally dangerous to gay students.
On the other side of that, they present in Noshiro, a character working hard to make sure that being gay does not hamper the fun of high school for his friend. For Sanada, his stoicism masks his dishonesty about his feelings. This is an excellent setup for conflict or, at the very least, comic situations. That Blue Sky Feeling is proving to be an interesting take on gay comics and on high school romance manga.
A-
7.5 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.
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