Sorairo Ageha

Authors: Kumagai Kyoko

Number of chapters: 11
Status: Complete

Genres: shoujo, romance, drama, school life, sports

Storyline
When Ageha was much younger, she’d ended up watching a young tennis player’s match. Inspired by the passionate gameplay of the 10-year-old Takeru, Ageha vows to strive to be the best tennis player ever. This dream, though unforgotten has still not been achieved by the time she enters her Senior High. To her surprise, she bumps into Sakaki Takeru once more and in a twist of fate, he appears in the same class as her.

Ageha is horrified to find out that Takeru is unwilling to set up a tennis club with her, acting cold and harsh. He even goes as far to break her tennis racket and Ageha’s day goes from worse to worst when she finds out that there is no tennis club in the school. Can Ageha get Takeru to open up to her? Can the two of them enjoy themselves on the court together? Can Ageha actually learn how to play as such a late beginner?

Read the manga here to see how Ageha’s relationship with tennis and the mysterious boy from her past develops in this short yet sweet series.

My thoughts

In what may seem to be a biased opinion (if you have read the previous reviews), this manga is a much lighter read. There are heavy elements involved in the series as well though, thus the label of it being a drama. Without spoiling the plot of the series, it is safe to say that the bubbly undertone (reflected in Ageha’s character) is well balanced out by Kakeru’s seriousness and the harsh truths from his past. In terms of storyline, Sorairo Ageha is one of Kumagai sensei‘s works which display slightly deeper themes and morals. It is uplifting and displays an optimistic approach to some impossible tasks: learning a sport to a professional level, high risk operations and so on.

It follows the basic shoujo plot style, however, so if something new is what you are looking for, this may not be for you. I’m recommending it based on how underrated Kumagai sensei‘s work is despite the warmth and care that goes into the small details that she creates in her characters. The dialogue is funny and heartwarming, as the protagonists open up to one another, meeting new friends in their journey to tennis championships. It is a little unrealistic as Ageha is shown to have improved unknowingly to a rather high level within only 4 days of practice (as seen in the third chapter), but if you can forgive the small

Left: Kakeru, Right: Ageha

Though short and somewhat more lighthearted than both Immortal Rain and Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan, it is extremely easy to sympathise with Ageha and Takeru (especially in the later chapters). Perhaps I do think that Takeru’s character development at times seemed a bit quick: he almost acts like Jekyll and Hyde, switching from the kind ‘Takeru-kun’ to the harsher young man that he’s grown up to be. Even within the first chapter his forever-conflicted personality shines through. But bearing in mind that the manga is only 11 chapters and is depicted in the shoujo genre, it’s an understandable technique used in character development so that the story can progress further.

Art-wise, Kumagai sensei‘s art style is very eye catching and warm – the characters have wife open faces and they are also often very expressive. This can be seen in other works by her such as: Ichigo Jikan and Ayakashi Hisen. Kumagai sensei pays attention to the fluidity of human motion and captures the players’ movements throughout the course of the manga. The above example displays Ageha turning to execute a forehand volley…since that’s literally the only thing Takeru taught her in the 4 days of training prior to their first doubles match…