# Blue Spring Ride (2014)

> A high school girl reunites with her first love after he transferred away and changed, and the two slowly rebuild their feelings while uncovering the years they spent apart.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/55646

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 23 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, romance, drama
- Network: TOKYO MX
- Cast: Maaya Uchida, Yuki Kaji, Ai Kayano, KENN, Mikako Komatsu, Daisuke Hirakawa, Umeka Shoji, Tomohisa Aso
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3592708/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: wistful, sincere, nostalgic, gentle, hopeful

## What critics say

Audiences rate the single season positively for its nostalgic romance and emotional pacing around a rekindled first love.

## Synopsis

Blue Spring Ride (2014) is a Japanese animated shoujo romance series produced by Production I.G and aired on TOKYO MX, adapted from a manga. Its single season of twelve twenty-three-minute episodes follows Futaba Yoshioka (voiced by Maaya Uchida), who meets her first love Kou Tanaka (voiced by Yuki Kaji) again at the end of her first year of high school. He left three years earlier before she could say how she felt, and now he returns cooler and changed, under a new family name, Mabuchi. The engine of the story is the slow rekindling of their bond as Futaba pieces together what happened during the years they were apart, while friends and rivals drift through the frame, including Yuuri Makita (voiced by Ai Kayano) and Aya Kominato (voiced by KENN). Each episode is built from small school moments, quiet confessions, and awkward hesitations rather than big plot machinery. The setting is a contemporary Japanese high school town, rendered with soft, warm color and gentle pacing. The mood is wistful and sincere, with a nostalgic ache for a confession never made. Fans of Your Lie in April, Toradora!, and Kaguya-sama: Love Is War will find resonance in its blend of school life, romance, and emotional restraint.

## Shows like Blue Spring Ride

- [My Little Monster (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/41748)
- [Bloom Into You (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/70742)
- [Sasaki and Miyano (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/105642)
- [A Condition Called Love (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/155895)
- [Yano-kun's Ordinary Days (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/183006)
- [From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/131365)
- [A Star Brighter Than the Sun (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/189745)
- [Days with My Stepsister (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/129036)
- [Tada Never Falls in Love (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/65849)
- [Orange (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/58954)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt