Blue Flag vol 4 by KAITO

Toma is out of the hospital, but his older brother blackmails Tai-chan into figuring out Toma’s reasoning behind skipping college and going straight into the workforce. With Tai-Chan’s birthday coming up, Futaba and Toma shop together to find a great present. During their time together, Futaba admits that she has wanted to be like Toma - strong, athletic, admired - and Toma admits he’d rather be more like Futaba. The four attend a fireworks festival together and Tai-Chan continues to make opportunities for Futaba and Toma to be together, but Futaba explains why his efforts are no longer necessary, and she may have accidentally admitted something to Tai-Chan that she wasn’t ready to admit.

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​​There seemed to be quite a lot of build up in this volume that culminated in a shock with Futaba's unwitting admission.  This mangaka is really great at creating a storyline in each volume that pays off with a cliff hanger or big reveal within the last few pages.  This is sure to drive students crazy if the next volume isn't readily available, especially if they've become invested in Futaba as a character within the last few volumes.

This volume's Teen Plus rating is most likely from the inclusion of same-sex crushes that generally elevate books from a regular teen rating.  So far, there hasn't been anything else that 

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

This review was made possible with a digital reader copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.

Reviews previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3

Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Realistic Fiction, Romance, LGBTQ+, Slice Of Life, School Age