Aoi Kiseki

“I‘ll follow you forever down this blue road.”

Every once in a while I catch myself coming back to this manga because in one small package it delivers, sorrow, happiness, tragedy, love and comedy. Lets face it sometimes you want something to read that gives you a warm fuzzy feeling without having to lose sleep achieving it.

Summary:
Ageha doesn’t know why everyone likes Ran. Sure, he’s good looking and a swimming prodigy, but so what? She witnesses a girl getting rejected by him and his excuse was, “I don’t want to think about anything other than swimming.” Out of curiosity, she goes to watch him practice. His swimming mesmerizes her, and she wants to get close to him. How does one get close to a swimming prodigy? Well, you join the swim team of course! There’s something contagious about her personality and Ran can’t help but be drawn the girl who is terrible at swimming, but is still determined to catch up to his level. Can Ageha say the words she really wants to say before she drowns in them?

Though the sap in me loved the story and how it progressed, the part of me that likes to breakdown everything and suck the fun out of it didn't. Deep down I was disappointed in how little assertion Ran had. A guy that rejects girls left and right and has what seemed to be a heart as cold as ice, melted under Ageha's gaze. he had to have known her true motivation and yet, nothing. Leaving me guessing that she was the ice pick to his ice block.

Ageha, she starts swimming for a guy I know what you're thinking, "Well Moon, that's not really nothing special/original!" I know, but bear with me. She finds out she likes swimming, though it started for all the wrong reasons. It’s one of life’s funny occurrences. Let’s be honest, she is no good. I’m pretty sure everyone told her, but it’s just goes to show you as long as you really want it and try for it, anything can really happen.

Ran, was dedicated and to say it in Ageha’s words (sort of), swimming is his number one, anything else after that will just be his number two. Even love. That’s what makes him Ran and she wouldn’t have fallen for him had he been different. Not to mention this manga wouldn’t exist, so thank you Ran!

The art is what pulls this anime together and adds an extra oomph with its charm. This is actually one of the nicest covers I have seen in a while. Just the use of color without doing anything extravagant (pink hair)leaves you staring at it a little longer. The only time I noticed something weird was with Ran’s hand that one time but it never happened again. Maybe it was just me. It wasn’t.

All in all, this one shot has everything short of mythical creatures.

A short yet very entertaining story.
It might seem common : a girl dislikes a guy thinking he's so annoying but eventually falls in love and tries to show it her own way
But it's more to it...the characters and the 'butterfly' effect cover for a 'seemingly' normal story.
Art: waaa...such a nice graphic, you obviously fall for it from the first page

Characters: not many..but that's good,it helps the main evolve as individuals..and they are really fun

Enjoyment: it has humor but also drama and romance...what's not to like?
overall: it's a 10 for me..call me simple-minded...but sometimes that's all a story needs xD