Blue Flag Vol. 8 by KAITO

The fallout from Toma’s confession continues in Blue Flag Vol. 8 by KAITO. Toma goes back to school, but he skips class. Futaba finally finds him at the school garden, and the two argue about their feelings and somehow end up in a compliment war. Futaba confesses that she feels insecure because she thinks Taichi is considering Toma’s confession and she’s not sure he’ll stay with her. And it’s doubly hard because she also cares about Toma and wants him to be happy.

It seems that someone has to get hurt for one of them to get a happy ending. And neither of them like the idea of that.

Toma stops coming to school, and, concerned for him, Taichi and Futaba both go to his house, only to find out from Akiko that he has already moved out and is doing a live-in job. The next day, Taichi and Futaba take a shinkansen to see Toma, and Futaba flees once they find him so that Taichi and Toma can talk.

What will Taichi tell Toma? What will he choose? Will the three of them have a friendship after everything?

What does the future hold for them?

Blue Flag Vol. 7 by KAITO

Blue Flag Vol. 7 by KAITO picks up where volume 6 left off. Taichi has just been confessed to by his childhood best friend, and he has no idea what to do.

Gossip is still flying around school, with some girls even saying that Taichi should break up with Futaba and get together with Toma just because it would be romantic.

Masumi and Futaba ask Mami what happened, since she was there to witness it, and she explains that Kensuke grabbed Toma, and Toma punched him. When she tried to intervene, Toma pushed Mami, which made Shingo join the fight. At first, Mami says it’s none of Masumi’s business what they were fighting over, but then Masumi reveals that she knows who Toma loves.

And then she accidentally reveals who she loves.

Meanwhile, Mami’s friends Shoko and Saya bring a stunned Taichi to Kensuke’s house, where Kensuke and Shingo are waiting to talk to him. Shoko and Saya berate Kensuke for being homophobic, and Taichi sits there, confused, as the group argues about values and beliefs.

It’s been three days, and Toma is finally returning to school… How will everyone react?

Blue Flag Vol. 6 by KAITO

In Blue Flag Vol. 6 by KAITO, it’s culture festival time, and everyone at Ao High School is busy with preparations for the festival. Third year students are exempt from participating, but that doesn’t mean they can’t! Futaba helps out with the horticulture club while Taichi goes off to study, though they plan to go to the concert at the end of the festival together.

However, on his way to the study center, Taichi runs into Toma and his friends and they end up hanging out for most of the day. Taichi and Toma get crepes and eat them outside together and end up getting into a small fight. Taichi thinks Toma is easy going and good at everything naturally, and Toma asserts that he doesn’t have it easy at all and that he works really hard. He gets mad at Taichi and leaves him alone to go to the baseball game.

Meanwhile, Masumi runs into Akiko, Toma’s sister-in-law, and asks her what a “happy life” even looks like. When Akiko asks what is weighing on her, Masumi comes out to her. Akiko doesn’t really understand, but she tries to be supportive and give advice about living your best life as yourself.

After the game, Toma meets up with his friends at the Fashion Club, where Mami offers to do Toma’s makeup. The others leave, and Mami confesses that she loves Toma but just wants to be friends. Toma confesses that he’s in love with someone else—and reveals who just as the rest of his friends come back.

His friend Kensuke doesn’t take it well, and he, Toma, and Shingo are suspended for fighting. But still, the secret gets out and the rumor mill begins to churn… leaving Taichi uncertain.

Blue Flag Vol. 5 by KAITO

Futaba accidentally confessed at the fireworks festival, and now she and Taichi are dating. The only problem is, now they’re having trouble actually spending any time together once school starts. From studying for college exams to spending time with friends, it seems that something is always in the way.

And then there’s Mami, who has taken a sudden interest in Taichi.

Mami is one of Toma’s friends, and she’s very obviously interested in him and likes him a lot, but Toma, for obvious reasons (though not obvious to the people around them), doesn’t return her interest. So when she starts hanging out with Taichi and his friends, everyone is suspicious of her motivations. Is she just trying to get close to Toma through Taichi? Is she trying to sabotage Taichi’s new relationship? What exactly is she trying to do?

Blue Flag Vol. 5 by KAITO delves into the mystery that is Mami and asks important questions about friendships and relationships and gender.

Blue Flag Vol. 4 by KAITO

Blue Flag Vol. 4 by KAITO opens with an argument between Toma and his older brother Seiya, who has been taking care of Toma since their parents died when Toma was young. Toma doesn’t want to go to college, wants to just graduate and get a job and move out, and Seiya wants to know why. He ropes Taichi in to get the truth out of Toma, and Taichi and Toma have a heart to heart.

It turns out, Toma just wants to be free.

Toma and Futaba bond—over liking Taichi, though neither of them know the other does—and plan an outing for the four friends (including Masumi) to go to a fireworks festival to celebrate Taichi’s birthday.

And at the festival, a confession takes Taichi by surprise.

Blue Flag Vol. 3 by KAITO

Toma is in the hospital with a broken leg. When Taichi jumped into the street to save a cat from an oncoming car, Toma jumped after him and pushed him out of the way—but now Toma’s chances to play in the baseball tournament are smashed, as are possibly his dreams of becoming a professional player scouted during the tournament.

Taichi feels guilty for his part in Toma’s lost chances, but Toma doesn’t blame him. All he wants is to hold Taichi’s hand while they watch their team’s final game in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Futaba discovers that she is actually in love with Taichi and stands by his side as he struggles with his guilt—and his jealousy.

Blue Flag Vol. 3 by KAITO continues to watch Taichi, Toma, Futaba, and Masumi come of age as their last summer vacation of high school begins and love blossoms.

Fangirl: The Manga #2 by Rainbow Rowell, Sam Maggs, and Gabi Nam

I told you I was going to read the next book right away.

Fangirl #2 is the second volume of a four-volume series of manga-style comic books adapting Rainbow Rowell’s coming-of-age novel Fangirl. In this volume, we see what happens next after Cath gets a 911 text from her twin sister Wren, and Cath opens up to Levi some more and ends up reading some of her fanfiction to him. The two grow closer, and Cath has to overcome her anxiety to attend a party at Levi’s house.

Fangirl, written and edited by Rainbow Rowell, adapted by Rainbow Rowell and Sam Maggs, and illustrated by Gabi Nam, fulfills the promise I mentioned in my last entry and proves to be a captivating and thrilling read.

Fangirl: The Manga #1 by Rainbow Rowell, Sam Maggs, and Gabi Nam

Cath Avery is a freshman in college, a twin sister, and, most importantly of all, a fangirl. She is a big name fan in the Simon Snow fandom, as a prolific fanfiction writer, and she’s starting college in a new town with her twin sister Wren. Unfortunately, it seems that Wren has grown out of the Simon Snow fandom and is no longer interested in writing fanfiction for it, or in hanging out with Cath at all.

Left behind and lonely, Cath focuses on writing and on checking in on her father, sequestering herself in her room with protein bars and her laptop. But college is meant to be an exploratory time of life, so Cath will need a little push to come out of her shell and grow up.

Fangirl, written and edited by Rainbow Rowell, adapted by Sam Maggs, and illustrated by Gabi Nam, is the beginning of a coming-of-age tale that promises to be as captivating as the original novel.

Spy × Family Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo

Westalis and Ostania are in a cold war, and spies work tirelessly to prevent a real war. When a Westalis diplomat is assassinated, Westalis sends in its best spy: Twilight.

Spy × Family by Tatsuya Endo follows Twilight’s new mission, Operation Strix, in the city of Berlint in Ostania. The mission: get married and have a child!

In order to get close to the leader of the National Unity Party, Donovan Desmond, and prevent all-out war, Twilight must infiltrate an elite private school, which means having a child. Though he’s skeptical about involving civilians in this mission, Twilight finds a suitable wife and child for his fake family.

Little does he know, the child he picks from the orphanage, Anya, is a telepath, and the wife he chooses, Yor, is secretly an assassin named Thorn Princess!

Spy × Family is a comedic romp into the world of espionage and what it means to be a family that promises a lot of fun and adventure.

I Want to Be a Wall Vol. 1 by Honami Shirono

Yuriko and Gakurouta are an odd married couple. Yuriko is asexual and aromantic and obsessed with Boys Love stories, and Gakurouta is a gay man who is in love with his childhood best friend. But they get married anyway, due to family pressure, and begin to form a lovely, supportive friendship.

I Want to Be a Wall by Honami Shirono is a manga about a platonic marriage and societal pressures around heteronormative relationships and sex, and what that means for asexual people and gay people.