Bloom Into You
A yuri romance about two high school girls learning about love and themselves.
Bloom Into You is a Japanese yuri manga series written and illustrated by Nio Nakatani. The manga began serialization in the Japanese monthly shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh on April 27, 2015, and ended on September 27, 2019. The story follows two female high school students, Yuu Koito and Touko Nanami, and the relationship that develops between them as they learn more about themselves through their experiences together. The manga was collected in eight tankōbon volumes published in Japan between October 2015 and November 2019 by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki Comics NEXT label. An anime television series adaptation produced by Troyca and covering the first five volumes of the manga aired between October and December 2018.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Yuri, Romance
- Creator
- Nio Nakatani
Facts from the source article.
Characters
Yuu Koito, voiced by Hisako Kanemoto in the manga PV and Yūki Takada in the anime (Japanese) and Tia Ballard (English), is a 15-year-old high school girl who struggles to experience feelings of love and finds it hard to refuse requests. Touko Nanami, voiced by Minako Kotobuki in both the manga PV and anime (Japanese) and Luci Christian (English), is a 16-year-old student council president who had trouble with love until meeting Yuu; outwardly dependable, she hides fears and desires related to being compared to her deceased sister. Sayaka Saeki, voiced by Ai Kayano (Japanese) and Shanae'a Moore (English), is Touko's best friend and the student council vice president, secretly in love with Touko but keeping it to herself to preserve their relationship. Seiji Maki, voiced by Taichi Ichikawa (Japanese) and Clint Bickham (English), is a first-year student council member who finds it easy to talk with girls due to growing up with sisters. Suguru Doujima, voiced by Shō Nogami (Japanese) and Greg Cote (English), is a first-year student council member. Koyomi Kanou, voiced by Konomi Kohara (Japanese) and Brittney Karbowski (English), is Yuu's classmate and friend who wants to be a writer. Akari Hyuuga, voiced by Yuka Terasaki (Japanese) and Amber Lee Connors (English), is a basketball club member and Yuu's friend. Riko Hakozaki, voiced by Mai Nakahara (Japanese) and Patricia Duran (English), is a literature teacher and student council advisor. Miyako Kodama, voiced by Nanako Mori (Japanese) and Samantha Stevens (English), is a café manager in a relationship with Riko, living together. Rei Koito is voiced by Mikako Komatsu (Japanese) and Marissa Lenti (English).
Production
Prior to Bloom Into You, Nio Nakatani was known for doujinshi, especially Touhou Project works featuring relationships between girls, which led readers to consider them yuri despite Nakatani not intending that. She became interested in drawing an unambiguous love story between girls. Kusunoki, who enjoyed yuri manga, noted that Dengeki Daioh had not previously featured a similar girls' love story, but the editor-in-chief approved the idea, which Kusunoki attributed to the magazine's open-minded culture and financial resources. Nakatani stated she liked romance stories but was disappointed with narratives that painted a relationship as necessary for emotional completion, feeling that same-sex romances often avoided this dichotomy. She found yuri more interesting than boys' love because she wanted to draw cute girls. She said yuri is difficult to define but becomes yuri when the reader thinks it is. She cited the anime adaptation of Sound! Euphonium as an influence, saying it showed everything she wanted to do in yuri.
Reception
By 2019, the manga had 1,000,000 copies in print in Japan. It placed fourth in the 2017 Next Manga Awards from Niconico and Da Vinci. Volume 4 reached 30th place and Volume 5 reached 21st place on Oricon's weekly manga rankings. The manga placed third in AnimeJapan's 2018 Manga Most Wanted as Anime by Fans poll. Sword Art Online creator Reki Kawahara stated he was a fan. In an April 2022 Anime Anime poll, Bloom Into You came in third among anime readers most wanted a continuation of. Erica Friedman initially criticized the series, praising its artwork, gender diversity, and lack of fanservice, but expressing discomfort with Touko's forward expression and perceived dubious consensuality in kissing scenes, and disappointment that Yuu's possible asexuality or aromanticism was not considered. She later praised a scene in the fifth volume where Yuu becomes an active participant, and ultimately praised the character development and ending. Michelle Smith initially found Touko's early confession unearned but was intrigued by later developments. Sean Gaffney felt Yuu's portrayal was a nice reversal and credited her with the manga's popularity.
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