I crushed on this manga way harder than I expected.
Yes, Waiting for Spring by Anashin is another shojo manga—you know, the one targeting adolescent girls and young women. I’ve probably only reviewed shojo manga, but I love all kinds. This is just what I’ve been in the mood for lately. I’m a moody reader.
I don’t get it either, Ryujin. (For my friends who aren’t familiar with manga, read right to left!)
Enough of that. Let’s get to it!
Our Heroine: Mitsuki
I love Mitsuki. She’s an adorable, introverted first year high school student who works at a cafe after school. She hates that she’s so shy and really wants to push herself out of her bubble, so she chose to go to a high school where she knows absolutely no one. It’s like getting a fresh start. No labels or history.
However, pushing yourself out of your box isn’t easy, and she finds herself snubbed by her classmates—especially the school basketball team’s hardcore fangirls. This makes building her confidence even harder.
The Seiryo Basketball Team
The high school basketball team is a huge deal in this story. This was different for me because I read more fantasy manga. There are some star players on the team referred to as “the four heavenly kings” (or something to that effect). They are second years Kyosuke (way-mature-for-his-age-glasses-guy) and Ryuji (massive-crush-on-the-cafe-owner’s-daughter-guy), and first years Rui (mischievous-and-knows-he’s-cute-guy) and Towa (basketball-obsessed-handsome-but-doesn’t-know-it-guy).
I know you can already see it coming: possible love triangle, the school girls hating Mitsuki for getting the boys’ attention…classic shojo, right? I definitely go into it expecting all of these things to happen.
Mitsuki ends up developing feelings for Towa, and Rui is kind of conflicted about it when he realizes he might have feelings for Mitsuki! And all the school girls start to hate on Mitsuki to the point of bullying.
I will admit that this was all enough to hook me.
But Wait! There’s More!
The boys’ basketball team is prohibited from dating! Oh no! As dedicated as they are to the sport, no one wants to get kicked off the team, so our four athletes aren’t going to break the rules.
I sure hope some other guy doesn’t come in and try to take advantage of the situation.
Totally not related (or is it…), my favorite character (mostly because of his hair) is Aya Kamiyama. He’s Mitsuki’s childhood friend who had to move to the U.S. when he was still a kid because of dad’s job. But now he’s back in Japan, ready to reconnect with his best friend Mitsuki after all these years!
Aya is tall and handsome and the star basketball player at Hojo High School, Seiryo’s rival! How can you not love him already? Only all this time, Mitsuki thought Aya-chan was a girl! WHAT?!
Now, we have a love rectangle. Or parallelogram…or something equally fascinating.
Lovable heroine, cute boys—what’s not to love here?
Shojo manga can sometimes get tiring, but I promise this one is really good. Aside from the fantastic art, fun story, and likable characters, Here are several reasons why I highly recommend:
Our girl Mitsuki isn’t helpless or stupid, and she doesn’t just give in to whatever the boys want.
Mitsuki has friends who are strong, smart girls!
Mitsuki does end up making friends with a funny girl named Reina, who is obsessed with taking pictures of the boys’ team. I love how she stands up for herself and her friends.
Mitsuki is also friends with Nanase, the daughter of the owner of the cafe where Mitsuki works. (Yes, she’s the one Ryuji is madly in love with.) Nanase is older (maybe college-ish) and provides a nice dose of maturity.
Mitsuki comes from a normal home! No one is dead or has turned into a demon!
The boys are actually quite respectful…except for Kyosuke who strikes me as kind of a player.
The basketball is taken pretty seriously, even though it’s not a sports manga.
The boys have a very strong friendship, and none of them are moody or brooding or angsty!
I hope that by putting those in bullet format, you sense the seriousness of my argument. I have more reasons, but if I haven’t convinced you yet, then you are dead to me.
I kid, I kid!
There’s one more thing I just LOVE about this manga: it makes fun of itself—and of shojo manga in general! It is so funny! Check out these hilarious panels:
Mom dropping some truth on her son Aya! I love the adult presence in this manga.
And this series features both a school festival and a school trip! Ryujin getting into his manga cracked me up.
5 STARS ON GOODREADS
You know how I am about committing to a long manga series. This series only has 14 volumes! It actually ends at 13; the 14th is just full of bonus material, but I still recommend it.
Some volumes got 4 stars and others got 5 stars, but overall, I’d give Waiting for Spring 5 stars. I really kind of want to own it, but I hesitate because my bookshelf space is lacking to begin with. I kind of want it, though.
If you love manga with fabulous hair, peep this one for Aya Kamiyama.
Here’s my rating system:
5 stars: I love this book so much that I must own a physical copy of it. I’m definitely going to recommend it to people.
4 stars: This was a great book. I love it, but I don’t need to own a physical copy. I’ll definitely recommend it to people.
3 stars: This is a really good book. I was entertained.
2 stars: This book was fine. I don’t hate it or anything. It was fine.
1 star: This book wasn’t for me. It might be for someone else, though. There are probably a lot of reasons why it isn’t for me. I’m not hating, though.
0 stars: I’ve read it, or maybe I didn’t finish it, or maybe I didn’t enjoy it. Could be anything.
Comment below and let me know what you thought of this book if you’ve read it! Also let me know what other manga series you recommend!