Reviews for Bloom into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka

Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka, a spin-off novel from an incredible piece of art like Yagate Kimi ni Naru manga. And for me, it was lived up to it. This light novel was my first I have ever read. I couldn’t give a try to this format before because I am more a person of manga but since Yagakimi is my favourite series, I had to. And I also love Sayaka, so it was impossible to not give it a try. It was an incredible reading. [From now on, there will be some SPOILERS from both the manga and this novel while I'm tellingmy thoughts. So, the warning is done].

This story was written by Hitoma Iruma, the author of Adachi to Shimamura. Nakatani, as she said in the final of each volume, was very satisfied with the result and I’m agree with her, too.

The novel explores the story of Sayaka from her perspective, that is to say, in first person. Something that it’s hard to do well in a manga, I think.

As we know, Sayaka was three years in love with Touko and she couldn’t “win” her love in return because of Yuu. We also learned from Yuu that she had gotten a girlfriend named Haru (someone who I think is the perfect match for her and I will explain why after talking about the third and last volume). But we didn’t know how was her past in details, although we knew about her Senpai in Junior High.

The first volume tells the living experiences of Sayaka from Elementary School to Junior High. We have the possibility to learn how Sayaka was at that time and how much she has changed through the years due to a lot of events told in the novel. We also learn that these changes were heavily influenced by love.

First, a girl from her former swimming classes when she was in Elementary School and then a Senpai (Yuzuki) from her chorus club of the Junior High. As we know, this last one was the worst experience for her, as well the first approaching to "love" because she was very young to understand what had happened with the girl from the swimming classes.

So, Yuzuki was her first love. A girl who confessed her love to Sayaka in the school's courtyard, which became a common place for them to pass the time. Sayaka was not confident at starting a relationship with her but eventually, she falls in love. But there was a problem: Yuzuki had never loved her. She wanted just having an experience of love and Sayaka had the bad luck of being her test subject. Plus, Yuzuki’s behaviour was horrible and she breaks up with her after spending months without willing to see her. To the worst, her excuse was that they were not children anymore and that they don’t need to keep on playing as if they were real girlfriends. These words destroyed Sayaka’s heart, leading to a first love experience as the worst posible. At the end, we learn that she changed school to avoid her in the High School and that was how she met Touko, listening to her in the aperture ceremony.

Probably, also influenced by the experience with Yuzuki, Sayaka realized she could only fall in love with women. And in that way, she had a love at first sight with Touko due to her beauty and also, as she mentioned it, her curiosity of how someone got better grades than her.

We have read the manga, so we know about their relationship. The second volume explores all her experiences through High School, even the first year when obviously they hadn’t met Yuu yet. This volume was the “weakest” for me in terms of history and storytelling but that doesn’t mean it was bad. I liked the first more because it tells a new story and I think the personality of Sayaka was portrayed in a very good way. This second just add some things to the three years of Sayaka in High School from her perspective. That is to say, the same timeline of the manga.

During that time, her intelligence was enough to realize Touko was hiding her real personality, trying to imitate her sister, although she never stopped being in love with her even with that knowledge. But she couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t win over Yuu to unmask the real Touko. So, was Sayaka really happy at the end of the manga with how the things had gone on?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, two years after their graduation, Sayaka got a girlfriend in college named Haru.

The third volume, and my favourite of the novel, makes way for a new Sayaka. Her unrequited love with Touko ended in a good way with her because she could fully express her feelings and that didn’t stop them from continue being friends.

We have a college student Sayaka. We learn she has become very good friends with Yuu, what I find beautiful because she could left behind her little jealousy to form a great friendship with someone incredible like Yuu. Plus, they live close to each other, so this helped to reinforce the relationship now that they had both graduated. We have even seen this at the end of the manga, when Yuu talks about Haru and Touko didn’t know anything about her. Sayaka chosed Yuu to be the first to know about her new relationship and even introduced them to each other.

Haru Edamoto, new Sayaka’s girlfriend. A very energetic person, as the same Sayaka describes her. She met Sayaka while crying after being dumped by her ex. The fate made that this encounter was the first of much others in the future. And that’s how they formed a very good friendship leading Sayaka to experience new and unknown feelings. She is very serious, thoughtful and cautious as we know, so being friends with someone as energetic and carefree like Haru leads her to be first bewildered but then happy. Because, how can you not fall in love with someone such cheerful and happy like Haru spending the time everyday with her?

But, Haru was the first in confessing her love. She said it was at first sight. Like the love of Sayaka for Touko, so she understood that feeling putting on the spot of Haru. But she was scared. She immediately remembered her horrible experience with Yuzuki-senpai, due to starting a relationship with someone that she didn’t really love and then ending in the worst way posible. She didn’t want to experience the same thing again. So, she took her time. She thought a lot. She understood her feelings for Haru were different from her Senpai. She understood Haru’s feelings were real, not like Senpai. She understood she was happy spending time with her despite of her carefreeness, something unusual in someone like her. She understood she would fall in love with her even if it not was equal at the moment. Because Haru made Sayaka experience sort of new beautiful things and, of course, this include real love. That's why I think Haru is the perfect match for her, even though Sayaka found problematic to face her personality when they first started their friendship but we know how love works.

By the way, these thoughts that Sayaka had to go through are similar to what Yuu had to face to realize she had fell in love with Touko. Iruma captured very well the scence of the manga with this.

Lastly, what happened to her relationship with Touko? Well, although it was mere coincidence that she found about Haru because of Yuu’s commentary, Sayaka was capable of talking with her about her new relationship months later and in that way, clearing her true feelings. Sayaka understood it could be possibly that they would talk less and less often due to her new lives, but she also understood that Yuu would make her happy. And that was everything she wanted for her. Because she knew that the Touko who was sitting in front of her, was the real Touko and not an imitation of another person as she was in her past. And that, of course, it's thanks to Yuu.

I am really happy Sayaka could find the love she was looking for, and of course, her real happiness.

I highly recommend this to everyone who loves YagaKimi. And thanks Hitoma Iruma for expanding this beautiful story which I love to the point of literally crying. So, I would like to finish the review with Nakatani's words at the end: “I asked Iruma-san to make Sayaka happy in the last volume. To her and everyone who watched over Sayaka to the end, thank you very much”.

Regarding Saeki Sayaka is a spin-off novel of Bloom Into You, in, you guessed it, Saeki Sayaka's point of view. Hitoma Iruma, the author of Adachi to Shimamura (another popular yuri work), takes the wheel in writing while Nakatani Nio illustrates. I didn't plan on reading this series. The writing switched from manga to light novel, which can easily mess up the flow and feel revolving a character. As this spin-off is made to expand Sayaka's side of the story, the world-building of fairly normal people could crumble down at a moment's notice, let alone the fact that this is written by a completely different author. Butmy worries turned to dust after a mere few pages.

Taking the form of first-person perspective, we dive into Sayaka's head as an elementary schooler. We come to understand how hard-working she is as well as her demeanor. Her attitude during her younger years should reflect on why she acted the way she did during high school years and, well, Hitoma hit the nail on the head. How he displayed her tolerance, seriousness, bit of arrogance, and overall thought process was not something that worsened the reading experience. It's more likely that you'll get caught off guard by how well Hitoma could present Sayaka's opinions in a way that suits her character. Many writers fail to get into a character's head and voice their thoughts, making characters feel sloppy and inconsistent. But Sayaka's point of view is truly well done. The way she acted never contradicted what was shown in the manga throughout all three light novels.

Setting aside Sayaka, how were all the other characters carried out? To summarize how well the other characters were written in four words: It was well done.

Since you're planning to read the Saeki Sayaka light novels, then I'm assuming you've finished the Bloom Into You manga.

[Spoilers]

Sayaka's past and future were briefly mentioned in the manga. Her interaction with a girl in a pool is the first in this story, unmentioned in the manga. That one girl who only appeared for a couple dozen pages had her energetic and childish qualities distinctly highlighted. Whether Sayaka realized it or not, this was the start. The start of a rollercoaster of emotions. Just in this short start can I already grasp how characters will be handled. With care and emotions. If elementary schoolers can be written so well, then it would certainly be impressive with characters who have a different set of beliefs. Yuzuki Chie is Sayaka's next encounter. A person who pursues the idea of love instead of actually loving her significant other. But Sayaka fell in love with the other person, not the concept itself, leading the story into a spiral of Sayaka learning to accept and overcome as time shifts Yuzuki's ideals.

What I found most displeasing is not volume 2, but volume 3. Volume 2 was great as expected. It gave us insight into Sayaka's relationship with Nanami Touko, her interactions, and how she views and loves Touko in her first year. If there's anything to complain about, then I would say how offsetting this volume felt. It did its job perfectly, but since we're looking through the lens of what technically is a side character, the volume felt oddly stagnant. We don't get to better know the person Sayaka fell in love with at all, since it's already done in the main work. We only get to know what Sayaka knows, but since Touko and her are so emotionally distant, Sayaka might as well be a viewer or a bystander who can never close in such distance. This is most likely what the novel was trying to emphasize, but it nonetheless carries a strangely different feel to the story than I'm used to. Nevertheless, volume 2 served its purpose with its never-failing careful consideration of portraying characters. It's the bridge to volume 3, Sayaka's future.

There are two main things I can mention regarding volume 3. The first is how Sayaka has already matured. She's not growing and changing in the same way she did in the first two volumes. This volume is solely on her pursuit of love and finding happiness. This brings me to the second point.

At this time, I feel like the author doesn't want to stray away too much from the original story. It's in the same way how fanfiction writers don't want to mess with the plot too much. Was he afraid of changing the tone of the story by a notch? It would've been much better if certain disputes were resolved. Perhaps the confrontation with Yuzuki be changed? Perhaps the conversation with Touko be expanded on? There are many ways I can't come up with to make volume 3 have a broader scope. But it decides to focus on Sayaka falling in love yet again. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing at all. Though the execution fell short of my high expectations. Great, but not a 10/10. It was forced. Sayaka falling in love with someone is a given, but the way she fell in love lacks the chemistry of previous occurrences. It's as if she could've fallen in love with anyone on the street given time. Sure, in real life you don't need any particular reason to love someone, but remember that this is a story. She slowly came to love Yuzuki while her attraction to Touko came with a bang. With Haru? Apparently it's because Haru is loud and energetic.

Haru- The girl Sayaka ends up with. How they act are vastly different, but they end up together anyway. Whatever energy Haru has is the quality Sayaka lacked throughout her childhood. But the line of love is undistinctive, as Sayaka isn't much different than how she was portrayed during her high school years. She changed as a person if she can come to love someone so vastly different, but her characterization now is lacking in the sense that we can't differentiate her from the person who loved Touko and the person who loves Haru. All there really was in volume 3 is interactions with Haru, written in a still captivating way. This is an ending that wants her to be happy, and that's all there is to it.

Overall, I rate this light novel series a 9/10. Although the execution for the last volume could be better, Sayaka's journey of love is something I can accept. I enjoyed it dearly, this take in love.

If you enjoyed the original series, then these three novels are a must-read. Regarding Saeki Sayaka is a realistic slice-of-life that follows ordinary events in Sayaka's life: She falls in love, she goes to high school, she joins the student council, she goes to college, she has lunch together with a friend. Despite how normal the story seems, Hitoma Iruma delves into every last detail about Sayaka's thoughts on her surroundings and feelings, and the result is an engaging and thoughtful product of Sayaka's perspective on her romantic experiences, which are explained in YagaKimi on a surface level. Saeki Sayaka is a deeply unique protagonist who iswonderfully characterized by Iruma. She's observative and serious. She gives off a mature and collected aura, but she doesn't think that of herself. At a first glance, the winter-cool type image seems to suit her perfectly. However, we can see at certain moments in the anime and manga that just like anyone else, Sayaka has her own flaws that one might not expect, yet she's vastly different from other characters with this archetype. By laying all of her thoughts bare, the author takes us much further into her personality; every tidbit and opinion; by the time I finished the novels, I realized that I had never before encountered a character like Sayaka anywhere else. The sheer complexity, yet simultaneously the simplicity of Sayaka's character, is what makes this book so interesting.

Furthermore, Sayaka's coming-of-age experiences are ordinary, yet inspiring. Romance and selfish desires, sexuality and homophobia, moving forward and becoming an adult; numerous motifs are tackled in this story. As the story progresses, Sayaka grows older, which means that the themes also become more mature and are able to appeal to more people; however, the core of her character remains the same, and all three novels are enjoyable experiences.

Iruma's writing style suits the original series fairly well. It's like taking the dialogue out of the manga, and adding monologues from Sayaka in between them. He also implements some symbolic elements that make the ordinary scenes feel a little more special, and it'll last in your memories a lot longer. The pacing is difficult to pinpoint due to the sheer amount of inner monologues there are, but it will definitely feel comfortable.

Saeki Sayaka is a great character. This series is not extraordinary in every way, but it does exactly as the title says: "Regarding Saeki Sayaka." This alone will provide you a truly one-of-a-kind experience, and many valuable lessons.

“Please make Sayaka very happy.” -Nakatani Nio Spoiler AlertSaeki Sayaka is my favorite character in the “Bloom into You” series, and so after reading volume 7 of "Bloom into You," my heart was broken; I wanted nothing more than for Sayaka to come to terms with what had happened and to truly be happy. That was something that I wanted very dearly from this light novel series. My expectations were high, however; I wanted the light novel to develop her character and her struggles convincingly as well, which, unfortunately, was not the case for my experience. I do feel that my thoughts on this are very subjective, though, and I honestly really want to like this series.

I’d rather start off with what I enjoyed about this light novel, so here we go. I think that the characterization that Sayaka received for the first two volumes was excellent. Hitoma Iruma did an amazing job portraying her introspection and I could honestly relate to many of her struggles and experiences. Her monologues truly made me connect with her more as a character and I thoroughly enjoyed the amount of detail put into her thoughts.

Like the parent story “Bloom into You,” the light novel is heavily character driven. The side characters are all crafted very well and make the interactions between them and Sayaka feel authentic. The banter between each of the characters is tastefully done as well; I often found myself smiling at how wholesome many of the scenes were. While much of the base was already set by Nakatani-sensei, I must further applaud Iruma-sensei for his skill in writing characters effectively.

As for the illustrations, they are very much what you would expect if you have already read “Bloom into You.” I’m not very well versed in judging different works of art, but I can say that each illustration was very enjoyable and truly helped to depict the characters’ interactions.

The story for the first two volumes of the series is very compelling. I think that the main purpose is to demonstrate Sayaka’s struggle with romance and how each major occurrence shapes her character. Her experience in grade school serves as a basic, yet significant exposition to her character. At such a young age, she initially becomes afraid of homosexual romance, which, in a more general sense, creates her reserved and distant personality. Her middle school experience with Yuzuki further builds her reservedness and fear of love. It’s honestly my favorite plot point in the series as it very effectively conveys to the reader how much Yuzuki’s actions hurt Sayaka. Touko’s arc definitely requires you to have read “Bloom into You,” but provides great insight into how Sayaka viewed her relationship with Touko. The arc exposes to the reader what Sayaka recognizes as her greatest flaw when approaching romance: her hesitation. Sayaka waited too long to understand the nuance of Touko’s character, and waited too long to understand what she wanted out of their relationship. Even though she was, by all means, worthy of Touko’s love, someone else - someone with more courage - had stepped in.

Haru’s arc, and to some extent, the end of Touko’s arc, is where this light novel starts to fall apart for me, however. Haru is introduced as a person with many parallels to Sayaka’s grade school acquaintance from her swimming lessons - someone who she was not particularly fond of at the time. Haru is characterized as someone who is always moving, taking advantage of her transient emotions, and never hesitating to do what she feels like. In this regard, she is characterized very well as a foil to Sayaka. It can be inferred that Sayaka wants to become someone like Haru in college.

What I can’t quite get behind is how Sayaka ends up falling in love with Haru. Haru is very upfront in her confession to Sayaka, and that is one of the aspects used to justify why Sayaka fell in love with Haru as well. Sayaka also states that Haru is very funny and energetic - someone not boring to be around. I understand that these personality traits are aspects that Sayaka regrets not having in the past, yet I don’t believe they provide reason enough for her to fall in love with Haru. It’s evident that these reasons would not have caused Sayaka to fall in love with someone in the past, so the only implication for this is that she has changed drastically as a person. To me, however, the reasons for why and how she changed so drastically aren’t quite clear enough in her characterization in the third volume, making her reciprocation of Haru’s feelings unconvincing to me.

However, even if the lead up into their relationship was flawed, I still would have enjoyed it greatly if Sayaka both had someone to confide in and came to terms with Touko directly. Sayaka has had to internalize her struggles with romance for all of her life. The idea that she continued to internalize it until it dissolved into her relationship with Haru seems a bit unfair to me. I think that she deserved to be selfish and to openly let out the frustrations and anguish that she had been bottling up for so long.

Furthermore, the resolution that she came to with Touko was unsatisfying to me. The build up to that scene shows Touko clearly desiring to have a heart-to-heart with Sayaka over their past. In their actual meeting, however, the two do none of that. It feels a bit empty to me. Their relationship is different from the two that Sayaka had experienced before. In her past two experiences, Sayaka ended up explicitly showing distaste for each person she was involved in. However, it is evident that Sayaka is still fond of Touko. They resolve their meeting simply in that the two of them are currently happy, unsure if past scars have truly been healed. I don’t quite have a vision of what kind of interaction would have improved this scene, but personally, it made me so sad that the two were just going to fade apart after such an implicit resolution. I do understand that the interaction was written to have a deeper meaning that is not explicitly shown, so I suppose this is a most subjective criticism.

When I started reading, I was somewhat skeptical of Nakatani-sensei leaving Sayaka’s future in the hands of someone else. While I can’t say that Iruma-sensei handled her poorly, I just can’t be satisfied with his vision of the ending. Now, I can’t say that this light novel failed to give Sayaka a happy ending. Iruma-sensei did what he was told and gave Sayaka true happiness in her life. I just disagree with how it was given to her - much of it seems rather unconvincing to me and it left me feeling very uneasy.

Overall, however, if you enjoyed "Bloom into You," then I would still highly recommend that you read this light novel. Especially if you were unsatisfied with Sayaka's conclusion in the manga, you will definitely enjoy Sayaka's journey in "Regarding Saeki Sayaka."

This review contains a lil bit of spoiler tbh this novel is one of the best that i had read,sayaka's growing up phase was really good, how she got hurt by her first love, how she got rejected by touko, but then after all that she finally found happiness she deserves, I know most of the fandom hates sayaka because she likes touko but guys you gotta read this LN ASAP,never judge a bok by its coverSayakas character development is indeed beautiful

volume 1 was about her childhood,and she met this kid where she goes for a swimming lesson,the girl was about the same age as her but they attend different school,one time on the swimming lesson Sayaka and the kid from her childhood went for a swim then the kid initiated a kiss from the neck on sayaka

when it happened sayaka said that she do not want to attend the swimming lessons anymore

volume 2 was about Sayaka's first love in middle school,by that time sayaka doesnt really know what it's like to fall in love,Chie yuzuki her senpai by that time her senpai confessed to her and some days later they started dating,but then again when her senpai started to attend highschool,sayaka felt very distant to chie,making her go to the school where chie attends and then they about the relationship they had,Chie said it needs to end because they were just fooling around and because they are both girls,leaving sayaka broken hearted because she did love chie from all her heart

volume 3 was her Highschool days and of course it was with Touko,the unrequited love phase of her life i do not need to say abything anymore since we know how it all ended

Volume 4 the final one,Her college life, this is where she met her girlfriend Haru edamoto her kouhai,so this volume i wont spoil more since this is the best part

and all can say is this is where Sayaka experienced real happiness,the moments that Sayaka and Haru shared was very very cute it made me re read volume 4 a lot of times and the part where Haru mentions how big sayaka's chest was very funny it lmao

that being said this Light novel is worth reading,it will not disappoint you

and i hope it will get an OVA or a movie since it is really Good I'm not lying especially since it was also written by Hitoma Iruma the same author who wrote Adachi to Shimamura

and i also heard it was getting a stageplay(regarding saeki sayaka) like the yagate kimi ni naru did

OVERVIEW Bloom Into You is one of, if not the greatest, manga series ever. While it may be a girl’s love story, it created a representation of how complicated love is, and was really directed extremely well, with organic worldbuilding, beyond proper showing of human growth, superb character writing, and even a divine ending. It’s not for everyone, but it’s arguably one of the few titles, even in overall fiction, that perfectly fits into the term ‘jack-of-all-trades, master-of-all’, which is something most fictional series could hardly, if ever, reach. Of course, despite the brilliance of the manga, we can do even better, with just one spin-off.Ladies and gentlemen, this is Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka, a spin-off dedicated to, you guessed it, Saeki Sayaka. Despite it being written by a different author, Nakatani Nio trusted Iruma Hitomi to tackle what Sayaka’s vision truly is like. I was a little skeptical when I saw that it’s written by a different person, but the more I read the novel, the more I’m easily impressed and filled with immense joy. While it only has 9 chapters in only 3 volumes, it arguably does even better in nearly every single aspect compared to its parent manga. But the real question remains… What actually makes the Sayaka LN the closest to being a masterpiece? My friend, I’m really glad you asked. You know the drill by now, let the yapping commence!

VOLUME 1 - THE GROWING CONFIDENCE OF SAYAKA

“I was doing it all over, as though I had forgotten the scars and the pain. I just don’t learn my lesson, I thought, laughing at myself a little. Maybe I never will. This time, I broke into an even bigger smile. Eventually, she started calling me Sayaka, and I started calling her Touko. Once I met Nanami Touko, I accepted it. It wasn’t understanding, or resignation, just acceptance. Of myself, and of the fact that I could only love girls.”

-Saeki Sayaka, narrating, volume 1

While this is a spin-off, the first volume of the novel may or may not have been a prologue to the parent manga, as it takes place right before Yuu made her major debut. This novel starts with Sayaka, who hardly knew the concept of love, just like Yuu. But unlike Yuu, who was willing to communicate with anyone, regardless of her initial struggles, Sayaka was a lot more on the introverted side. In fact, Sayaka might be afraid of talking to people, as her life is heavily shifted on her skills and such. We’re already seeing a lot of valuable character development here. Whether you relate to her in this scenario or not (I’ll jump into the relatability part later), this perfectly illustrates what major weakness or more she has. She would often run away from her problems rather than overcome them, further emphasizing her initial introvertedness. There are people around who have valuable talents, but would still have some cowardice within themselves, and in this case, Sayaka’s character writing once again fully captures that. Her lack of confidence, while relatively short-lived, plays an extremely crucial part in her character, and is written and directed excellently. As chapter 2 begins, though, this is where Sayaka embraces a growth mindset. All it takes is finding a person she’s comfortable talking with, and her cowardice is (mostly) diminished. One would think it’s not enough depth or is a cheap toneshift, but it actually showed a lot of heart for the story’s writing. Let me explain.

Exploring what the concept of love is may be hard, but it’s not absurdly difficult either, ‘ahem’, contrary to what one would think. If you have trouble with communication and such, then yes, it’s painful. But believe it or not, no matter what type of person you are, you can actually fight it by just talking to one person you’re comfortable chatting with. You may not resolve your communication problems, but you’ll still push them back. This is what Sayaka in the first volume teaches us about, and it amazingly paid off. Not only does she gain more confidence through talking to more people, but she also shows more emotions about her life and her connection with what message she tries to convey. She looks at what went wrong with herself, and she’s willing to develop more in her communication skills. This already marks the beginning of what makes Sayaka such an amazing character. Hell, this is a fantastic prologue because of the time/pacing intervals between being overwhelmed by self-emotions in chapter 1 and how you can overcome and even use them in chapter 2 and onwards. You’re not yet done with it, but that’s fine. Not everyone is done with all of their achievements. They’re just getting started. It's not easy to do so, but it's not hard either. Sayaka went through her challenge through interactions, and it paid off very well with how her personality shifted, the more she ventures. Keep in mind that having a friend, which is shown in volume one, is different from having a love partner, though, which brings us to…

VOLUME 2 - GUARDIAN ANGEL MEETS FALLEN ANGEL

“As long as I was by her side like that, someday—someday—I would be able to do what I needed to when I felt Touko had changed.

I could only wait and trust that time, or someone, would bring that someday about. I would just keep waiting for my chance, coward that I was. That was what Touko wanted, or so I told myself.

And so I said nothing.

I swallowed what I thought was right and chose to be wrong.

That was the decision I made, that I thought would allow me to stay by Touko’s side and someday connect with her.

I will never forget that choice.

I must never forget.”

-Saeki Sayaka, narrating, volume 2

Of course, volume 1 is only a fraction of the brilliance of the light novel. Volume 2 turns up the grill more, and we already know how cooked the crab will be. From here, we get to see Touko, the mature girl from the outside but immature on the inside, and Yuu, the clueless girl who would learn a lot of things. For this volume, though, it’s mainly focused on Touko, as she’s the main character for Sayaka to interact with. We see Touko and Sayaka interacting with each other, and it looks normal. Seeing two people getting to know each other doesn’t cast any spark of chaos. …this obviously already didn’t age well. The more the story progresses, the more we see just how much they contrast with each other, not just from characteristics, but from their method of answering what love is as well. Both of them want to answer what it means to be with a person, as long as their friendship is well-established, but they have completely different backgrounds. As we all know by now, Sayaka was once a fragile introvert, but now, she’s a self-made person who is surprisingly philosophical about her feelings and is willing to help anyone she develops connections with. Touko, on the other hand, is self-proclaimed and maybe even somewhat sociopathic, if that makes sense. While she does have a tragic backstory about her late older sister and is also philosophical about her feelings, at the same time, she paints herself as successful, when in reality, she’s a fragile person who tries to compensate for her dark past and faults. In essence, these two characters resemble and illustrate a perfect yin-yang in a love story, and there is another, but again, we’ll get to that later.

Sayaka learns about Touko’s success, which is practically the latter’s outside core, and wants to get along. But this will not go according to plan, as Touko not only acts ignorant, but has her eyes set on Yuu. Sayaka wants to find ways to improve her relationship with her, but it went horribly wrong. We’ve seen countless topics, conflicts, and so on, but no matter what, they will never get along with each other. Sayaka is defeated by both the ignorance of Touko and her little development in observation and patience, despite the confidence she established on V1C2. Nothing ever makes me cry more than this. We all know what Sayaka and Touko are to each other, and it’s really nice that we see more and clearer details in regards of this twisted relationship. Sayaka, no matter how much she improves, still struggles. This also resulted in creating an interpretation of why the world is cruel, and in this case, it’s much more different than the lenses in other stories. It’s more of why being together is painful. Having a friend is not all that difficult, as stated earlier. Having a love partner, however. …yeah, it’s a different kind of complicated. Sayaka should have been more aware of her relationship tactics, but at the same time, she’s still an easy person to feel bad for. Volume 2 is just divine. It deeply illustrates how relationships are not easy, how mistakes are made, and how different a person is from another in multiple dimensions, really well. Both Sayaka and Touko are profoundly tragic, but the former is especially, with her own buildup. While Yuu and Touko have their deserved happy ending, Sayaka gets the exact opposite. …or is it?

VOLUME 3 - THE BRIGHEST STARS FORMING THEIR PERFECT WORLD

“Since then, I had come to understand the sensations that accompanied love, and now that I knew it existed in the world…

I had felt many kinds of pain throughout the years.

By chipping away bit by bit at my past pain and failures, and patching myself back together, I had come to be who I am now.

And I was incredibly relieved that I had found peace before I allowed my entire self to be rearranged by pain.

Maybe that was what you'd call happiness.”

-Saeki Sayaka, narrating, volume 3

[!]THIS SECTION REGARDING VOLUME 3 CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS, DON’T READ UNTIL YOU FINISH IT[!]

Volume 3 of the Sayaka novels is the most original story content that Bloom Into You as a whole offers, but it still arguably makes a strong connection. With Sayaka being rejected by Touko, there is still one thing she can do. And that is to find another friend to compensate. Introducing Edamoto Haru, who looks like Iruma-sensei’s own replica of Yuu. Both Sayaka and Haru are complete contrasts to each other. Similarly, Sayaka is a self-made guardian angel, whereas Haru was a fragile, crystallized feather that has yet to be charged. Compared to Touko, however, Haru is seen more on the light, as opposed to Touko’s lust for pride. In unison, Sayaka and Haru form their very own yin-yang. We talked about how Sayaka and Touko have their own yin-yang, and while that’s still true, that was created under a twisted shadow, whereas this one is more in a balanced, refined area. Both Sayaka and Haru equally expressed their very own feelings, and not only do they get to know each other very well, but they also illustrated their personal lives and what their struggles were throughout. Not only did they learn everything they encountered from the past, but they also learned to answer the question, a question regarding relationships that was very hard to comprehend. And that answer leads them to their very own paradise. Yuu and Touko got their own freedom; it’s time we give Sayaka, and by extension, Haru, that chance too. With this, it even changed Sayaka’s life after all these years.

Haru is just an amazing character and an outstanding connection to Sayaka. Not only were her personality and feelings presented cathartically, but it feels like we should have met her long ago, and we wouldn’t have noticed. But it doesn’t matter, and look where we are now. Haru is obviously different from Sayaka, with her characteristics and growth, but her struggles and needing to find an answer are on the same scale. While she may be exclusive to volume 3, she’s very believable and well-illustrated with her development. She’s truly a real friend who needs comfort after a horrifying trauma, and Sayaka truly approached her. While the relationship between Sayaka and Touko is definitely amazing, no matter how toxic it can be, this relationship is just on another level, all because of the way they profoundly express everything they have on their hands. To achieve happiness isn’t necessarily to rebuild a path you take, but rather, to create a new one, something that illustrates a different element or more while still keeping you up, and this novel easily shows that. All of these things even gave us what’s arguably the best ending of any novel and one of the best in fiction. As mentioned, Haru and Sayaka are perfectly made for each other, regardless of contrasts, and they truly have the most endearing answers to a question about love. Sayaka’s journey has truly changed the standards of a love story forever.

REGARDING SAEKI SAYAKA IS TRULY NAKATANI’S AND IRUMA-SENSEI’S MAGNUM OPUS, AND I WILL FOREVER DIE ON THAT HILL

Now, where do I even begin? This series is good. Very good. Amazing. Hell, even beyond that! It may be shorter than the parent manga, but that doesn’t stop it from being deeper while still further exploring the direction the manga established. The novel’s direction is like a more philosophical version of the themes and elements the manga conveys from start to finish. While the main story still undeniably perfectly explores human struggles, progression, and decisions, the novel did even more so, especially through its own lens of how cruel reality is. We’re given more than enough organic context about what the series tells and shows to us. Not only was everything about it so well-written and memorable, but we were even given very valuable lessons. Something about how being in a relationship is a big challenge, but very manageable if you work hard enough and observe what person you’re going with. Through what we see here, the Sayaka novels are a perfect representation and illustration of ‘hard to learn, but easy to master’. It’s something I followed ever since I finished the novel, and you know what? This lesson provided by the story is absolutely right, which completely explains the complicated yet cathartic nature of its character writing. The cast may be small, but it still has the very upper hand when it comes to showing us what the characters are, what they do, what they aim for, and why they went with their ways to begin with. The shifting of personalities when you learn something, learning that talents are not always true, you name it.

Objectively speaking, the presence, personality, backdrop, development, and catharsis of Saeki Sayaka are all outstanding, organic, and arguably unmatched. The journey she ventures into and directs not only comes full circle and fully uncovers all of her colors, but it also elevates storyboarding and philosophies to a whole new level. Seeing all of her suffering and then overcoming it, as well as having the ability to learn the concepts, are what made her so particularly special. Without her, what lessons would we learn from the story, really? She teaches us about love better than literally anyone else. In my opinion, I absolutely relate to her. Seeing the aforementioned journey truly motivated me to do something similar, as mentioned earlier. I deeply love Sayaka and her own story, and I'll forever see it as Iruma-sensei's and Nio’s very own magnum opus. Hell, I might go so far as to say that this whole spin-off shows us how Iruma-sensei and Nio understand each other so well, despite what they work on. I might even say that Nio and Iruma are like Sayaka and Haru, respectively, when they discuss the story and have the latter write it. This is nigh-perfection, and all of this is still just a spin-off that only has 9 chapters and 3 volumes. Sometimes, you can make the impossible 'possible' through hard work, and once again, this series proves to all of us that.

NIO ONCE AGAIN COOKED WITH HER ART

Now, you can skip this section if you’re not interested. But there is one last aspect I want to glaze: the volume cover art. Nio once again cooked with her designs. The art style she established may be simple, but it is very balanced in shading, details, and proportions, all while also giving characters a lot more personality within their looks. Sayaka’s novels are no exception, and you can even make generic design tropes in animanga look really great, as seen with Sayaka herself in her black uniform in volume 1. Words cannot express just how perfect Sayaka looks in black clothing, especially with how her light brown hair and braids are visually illustrated, not to mention how clean her green eyes look.

THANK YOU, SAEKI SAYAKA

So that will do for my yapping of the novels. I still have more thoughts and compliments to share, but I want to stick with things that are most important. I said this once, and I’ll say it again: almost all animanga titles could hardly, if ever, reach this rare phrase ‘jack-of-all-trades, master-of-all’, and the novels manage to achieve that. The only way you can ever make your story remotely close to the word ‘perfect’ is through relentless hard work, precision, and general observation, and look where we are now. Again, I was skeptical about how Iruma would write YagaKimi, and I say this as someone who isn’t fond of Adachi to Shinamura, even to this day, but reading the novels drastically changed my view in the best ways possible. They’re so special that it makes me wonder and excited what spin-offs for characters like Maki and Koyomi, among others, would look like. I’m really looking forward to what the general future of Bloom Into You would look and be like, even if Nio isn’t touching it right now. With all this said, thank you so much for reading, and thank you, Saeki Sayaka, for changing my life forever.

Bloom into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka spin-off novel of Bloom into You Two sentence review: If you love the original series, this one is a must read. You will love Sayaka as a character even more, or even the series as a whole. It's just simply amazing 10/10, a masterpiece. Bloom into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka is basically a prequel, midquel, and sequel of the original story told in Saeki Sayaka point of view. It moves her from a side character to the main one. Despite being written by a different author, they somehow managed to capture everything perfectly compared to the original: the character, atmosphere,storytelling. Not only that, but it also serves as a phenomenal character writing for her. With only three volumes, they managed to add so much depth to her already well-written character, which made me like her even more. It follows her journey of discovering, pursuing, and eventually succeeding in love. End of TL;DR, I will proceed with the reviews of each volume in depth, without spoiling much of the content.

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The first volume focuses on Sayaka’s discovery of what love is. It separates into two points in her life: elementary and junior-high. Her relationship with an unnamed girl laid a terrific introduction to her character on how her personality was early on and her subtle changes of it later on. Second part of the volume focuses on what was briefly shown in the anime: her relationship with a senpai. Knowing how their relationship ends, it was somewhat sad seeing her getting hurt. Her coming to know what love is, only to feel it gone. Though, it serves as a significant leap in her character development and her knowing what love is.

Moving on to the second volume, most events follow that happen during her high school days, love at first sight, pursuing her love, unrequited love. Expands her character during the first year, her introduction with Touko, getting to know more about her. Which gives depth and explains why she acts like she does in the original work. One of the most entertaining chapters in the story is seeing how Yuu and Sayaka interact with one another during the first chapter. How their friendship developed not with just Yuu but with Touko also. After her encounter with them, she moved onto a new chapter.

The third and final volume, which is mentioned briefly in the last chapter of the manga, focuses on her journey of finally achieving love and takes place during her college years. We are introduced to a new character in the story, Sayaka’s girlfriend. It follows how they met and how their bond progresses. Getting to know her was really fun to read through. Not only that but this volume also serves as an interval between chapter 44 and chapter 45 of the manga. Moreover, there are also scenes about what happened after the manga as well. Watching how our beloved characters interact has never been more fun, especially with Sayaka and Yuu.

To conclude, Bloom into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka is a fantastic series, which manages to shed a new light on the series from Sayaka’s perspective, further adding more depth to her character: her thought process, action and behavior. Joining in her journey of love, we will come to love this series and Sayaka even more.

Personal Enjoyment 10/10:

Heavily biased as usually since this series is my top 3. I’m not much of a heavy reader myself. In fact, I’m a very slow reader. This took me months to finally finish it. I find myself wondering why didn’t I finish it sooner. I had so much fun reading through all of the volumes, specifically the last one. Seeing her finally getting the love she deserved. I have always thought that her character was already well-written, but the novel series adds another layer of masterful character writing in the series. Lastly, to be honest, I shed tears upon finishing the last page. Not because I was sad or anything, but tears of joy. I was so happy for Sayaka. End of a wonderful series.