Bloom into You Vol. 4 (Bloom into You (Manga)) Paperback – February 20, 2018

Incredible! If you want to read a sincere, insightful, and moving story about love, without all the yuri-baiting, tawdriness, or clichés that plague the medium, THIS IS IT!Bloom Into You is different from the start.Of course it's cute and mushy, but more importantly BIY is a deep and meaningful story ABOUT love itself, different ways of falling in love, love amongst family, loving oneself. The title is a double meaning, I think, where the primary characters are not only blooming into their love for one another, but also blooming into themselves.Don't let the high school setting deter you. This could easily have been a more adult setting (and frankly should've been). It's mature and contemplative. It also gives us interesting juxtapositions, for instance with an older gay couple who have already overcome some of these things, or how other relationships came to be or even shouldn't be, because romcom and shounen love are NOT the real thing.Real life is messier, but all the more satisfying because of it. That's what I love about this story. Its honesty and earnestness. It's become one of my favourite love stories of all time, and I think anyone, man or woman, young or old, can enjoy it. Also, it's artistically clever with its framing of scenes. I can't recommend this story highly enough!

The series continues to progress at a nice pace. Sayaka and Yuu aren't friends, but they do seem to have reached an understanding and are at least behaving more kindly to one another. I initially didn't like Sayaka because her role in the series is to act as a sort of barrier between the actual main couple, but this volume made me like her more. In the last volume we saw her first romance with a girl, and how brokenhearted she was when she was dumped. In this volume she runs into her ex and has the last laugh. I was really happy for her.Touko and Yuu have reached an understanding of their own. Touko continues to be haunted by her sister's memory, but some information about her deceased sibling comes to light in this volume that makes her start to realize she may have had her on a false pedestal all this time.I've already preordered the next volume and I am eagerly awaiting its release!

Bloom Into You is a story about the complicated realization of feelings and growing/accepting yourself as who you strive to or feel to be. With the characters (mostly) being diverse and interesting with backstory, this manga has a lot of potential. I would love to see this as a well-adapted anime. Though personally this volume pulled a lot of the generic troupes of what shojo manga usually do, the series itself is worth going through to get to the ending. The volume before also was lacking to me, but the two before it has kept me going. If you are interested for a story with substance and not just fanservice, check out Bloom Into You. You will catch up before you know it.

With the student council on a field trip and working on a play

The play is done, and there is a lot to do. Each has their own role, with the lead being Touko. But first the student council will hold a 3 day training camp over summer vacation. But each of the girls will need to face certain issues - Sayaka is the burgeoning jealousy that she feels towards Yuu, Yuu is how she feels about Touko and what can change in their relationship, and Touko will meet someone who knew her sister on the student council - and the revelation may shake her beliefs to her core. But as the camp winds down, Yuu will make a decision that may not only change the plays story, but her own as well.This story continues to be delightful as the characters develop into mature people. There are a couple of short stories as well, including Sayaka meeting her first crush and a how she truly felt at the time. This story continues to be enjoyable, I cannot wait to see what happens next for the ladies.

I love Yuu, how she is realizing his feelings toward Touko are growing up

3 days together at camp… emotions are coming out & it seems nobody can stop it nor do they seem aware of the truths their leaking out.

Amazing manga, really worth a read. Came in good quality