A review by aruarian_melody
Blue Flag, Vol. 8 by Kaito

emotional funny sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this series! I was surprised how many queer topics were covered (especially for a manga) and the balance between fun and seriousness was just perfect. I wish we would have seen more about what happened in the time skip. It would also have been nice if the ending would have been more direct with some very clear representation shown on page (especially because
Masumi ends up with a guy - makes sense with her wish of being normal, but still.
). With all the discussion of gender it would have been great to see one of the characters that expressed a lot of feeling about that to reflect it after the time skip. I admit that for a hot second I thought a newly introduced guy was a previously known character that transitioned. Overall, the series really did cover a lot of very important topics that are not commonly covered in this genre. For the most part, it did so really well and provided both laughs and emotional gut punches. I hope we'll see more like this in the near future and I will definitely check out new work by the author/artist.