Aoba-kun ni Kikitai Koto

[MangaDex]

 

[Blubbly]

This is a lot better than I initially expected. It's quite a rarity in shoujo manga where listening/communication is integral as part of the story and the character developments. Of course, there is still the common typical shoujo trope where the female lead MC can't help but want to understand the troubled male lead because "I want to heal his kokoro!", but I feel like it's taken a very refreshing way of exploring the trope. The underlining theme of 'the art of listening' is not only displayed through the female leads interactions with the male lead but also through the lenses of other characters such as her aunt. Furthermore, the male lead, despite having a complicated undisclosed past, is surprisingly kind of nice. The female lead isn't anything new, but I like how she's slowly developing as a result of her circumstances.

 

[ArpanaR]

This manga is completely translated and published by Kodansha digital. For those who want to read it all, or those who want to support the author, can buy it’s English version on google play, kindle, iBooks etc. It has upto 8 volumes