20 cm long in order to look more like Futaba. The film's theme song is "Kirari" by Ikimono-gakari. The film's soundtrack was released on 10 December 2014, featuring other artists including Rina Sumioka, Silent Siren, and Negoto. The film opened at #1 at box office during its opening weekend, selling 210,000 tickets and earning . By the end of 2015, the film grossed at the Japanese box office. In her review of the film, Yuri Horibe from Asahi Shimbun praised Higashide's performance, stating that she was "swayed" by his speech and actions just like Futaba, and felt that "Kirari", the theme song, highlighted the story's overall theme of "struggling with youth" and "moving forward." She also noted that while she had expected that the film would portray some of the manga's iconic scenes, such as Futaba sleeping on her desk and when Futaba and Kou hold hands through a window, she felt it was "not just a romance film" in regards to the second half, where the characters help Kou overcome his past trauma. On the other hand, Melanie Leung from South China Morning Post gave the film three out of five stars, claiming that the acting and Higashide weren't "charming", while praising the cinematography, the supporting characters, the film's conclusion, and the friendship theme. ReceptionAo Haru Ride was a best-selling manga series in Japan, achieving popularity within teenagers and women between 20 and 30 years old, most of them who identified with Futaba's struggles. The magazine Da Vinci ranked Ao Haru Ride as one of the top 5 best female-oriented comics in 2013. The 2014 edition Kono Manga ga Sugoi! published a survey from 400 industry professionals, who listed Ao Haru Ride as one of the top 20 female-oriented manga of the year. Kono Manga ga Sugoi! also listed Ao Haru Ride as one of the top 10 manga series with the best kabedon when the trope was at the height of its popularity in 2014. Ao Haru Ride was also featured in a kabedon-themed Cup Noodle commercial, along with other manga series. The series was included in the 2019 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens produced by American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association. Since 2014, the manga sold over 5.84 million copies. Overall, Ao Haru Ride was the 21st best-selling manga in 2013. Volume 6 was the 31st top-selling volume during that year. In 2014,