I might drop this, I just don’t really like any of the characters and it’s hard to get...

The character of Ashito is still developing, I think you are still at an early stage of the manga, but I loved how you compared Ashito with Sakubara because they are definitely similar. Ashito's ego is going to be crushed and then he picks himself up, I just love how his character keeps on maturing. I've finished reading it and I keep waiting for updates now the manga is at an important stage because Ashito faced a major setback and now he's trying to recover from the shock, he's now facing a contender that has the same ability as his but even better with great techniques. I'm dying to know what is going to happen if you want a manga with greatttttt hype and also interesting characters I highly recommend Bluelock.

I don't know how to edit my comment but I misspelled Sakuraba's* name I'm bad with memorizing characters' names.

be blues seriously making me have such a high standar over soccer manga.. its not even funny... try giant killing, its a rare sports manga that explore the pro world, also the world of soccer fan.. also u can try bluelock too, it approach more on the mindset of being a striker i guess? how mindset and nurturing skill can make u a winner in soccer.. it can be unrealistic sometimes in bluelock but idk for me that was the exciting part.. those are my top 3 soccer manga..

as a huge be blues fan, i can understand why you aren't enjoying this manga. actually for me, i read ao ashi first, then read ao ni nare (so I went from good to fucking great) and i think ao ni nare is exceptional, one of the best (sports) manga out there, and i do think it is much better than ao ashi (and a lot of other sports manga)

that said, i would say since you're on chapter 44, maybe give ao ashi time. im not saying it's perfection, but some of the future chapter are very exciting and well written. but it is an "up and down" type of feeling. if you compare any sports manga with be blues, i think you will feel disappointed 98% of the time, but if you try and just compare ao ashi to ao ashi's previous chapters, you'll definetely enjoy it more.

but like i said, i do feel ao ni nare is one of the best sports manga ever written, like you, be blues has set the bar really high, and while over ao ashi gets better, i wouldn't say much much better. the story is pretty good, the characters i think probably let it down for you, as they are a little flat and a little boring, but they do get a little better. their development isn't anything special but it's okay. i will say the storyline is the best thing about the manga, and ashito's eyes rather than his skills are really interesting.

that said, if you drop it i understand, i would encourage you to read blue lock. it is more of the knb of football, in the sense that it is very intense, but it is nicely written and the art is gorgeous. it is more on the unrealistic side, but still it is a good read.
furthermore, i reccomend daiya no ace. one of my all time favourite anime/manga of all time (like be blues). the storyline starts off like your standard manga in terms of sports manga but the plot, the characters, the art - everything about daiya no ace is incredible. since i have read be blues and ao ashi and we seem to share the same opinion, i would encourage you to (if you havent) read daiya no ace. i can guarantee that you won't be disappointed (it has a lot of chapters though)
this is not really a sports manga. but i would also reccomend watching run with the wind. it's a beautiful anime that is both moving and has an excellent storyline. the characters and their development is just amazing.

im sorry, since i have not given a specific answer, and im not even sure i helped you, but seeing as you are a be blues reader, i hope i could be of some help. just to clarify, i would have to say ao ashi does need time. i am caught up rn, but all i can say it's up and down. no i will not say it is perfect, because it's not but for itself it does get better (sometimes) but that all depends on whether you want to read on and give it another shot :))

sorry this is rather long

My post was also long, don’t worry and thanks for the reply :)
Thanks for the recommendations also.
I might give ao Ashi another go if I run out of things to read.

I read blue lock when it had around 6 chapters and found it interesting, idk why I didn’t keep up with it, probably forgot lol. I’ll catch up with it seeing the positive reviews.

I haven’t read Daya no ace, but I’ll give it a try along with run with the wind :)

If you like baseball manga I’d recommend One Outs (I binge read it twice so it’s probably good, the main character is probably the best part, he trains the others and participates in matches too. Not your typical sports manga, but I find it very interesting and good)
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/one_outs/

Last Inning is another baseball manga I love. (Main character is a coach, more of a traditional sports manga with a student team, but pretty good writing and interesting characters in my opinion. Main characters and the coach are great. Pretty funny too, and if the idea of a swindler ex player coaching a bunch of students seem interesting I recommend giving it a try)
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/last_inning/

Gunjou ni siren is also a promising baseball manga with realy good art. It barely ever updates tho, and is currently probably dropped lol.
(So far it focuses on characters and mainly mc’s trauma and feelings about being a pitcher/catcher and talent. I think these internal struggles and stuff make the characters (main character) more realistic and you really get to know him and see things from his perspective. I think it’s a more realistic/emotional take on the sports manga, at least in the earlier chapters.
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/gunjou_ni_siren/

Yagami kun wa tomodachi... isn’t much of a sports manga, more of a slice of life with him being a baseball player but I liked this one too. (It’s more about the relationships between students. Main characters is a random student girl and her life and interactions with her classmates and mostly Yagami kun the weird baseball guy. Pretty funny sometimes and an overall evjoyable read.)
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/yugami_kun_ni_wa_tomodachi_ga_inai/

Thanks for the reply :)
I have read Giant Killing and I’ll start reading blue lock too. I’ve read it before when it only had a couple chapters and probably forgot about it lol. But at least I get to binge a bunch of chapters now.
I also recommended some sports manga (baseball) I like in my previous reply. If you’re interested you can give them a try :)

oh wow haha, i wasn't expecting to get some recommendations, but thank you i will definitely check all these out. i have heard a lot of good things about one outs and i have been curious about it. to be honest, i wasn't really interested in baseball but after watching big windup, battery and daiya no ace, my appreciation and interest for the sport really increased!

when you get round to watching run with the wind or watching/reading daiya no ace, please let me know your thoughts on it!! :) thank you again

Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll probably give ao Ashi another try after going through some other manga.
I read the first couple of blue lock chapters once and just forgot about it, but I’ll start reading it again and enjoy getting to binge everything at once seeing all the positive replies about it.ლ(´ڡ`ლ)

If you’re interested in other sports manga (like baseball) you can check out some I linked in the reply above this one :)

Don’t worry I also forget/don’t remember how to write character names sometimes. I only managed to remember the ones from be blues because I keep binge reading it and just finished not long ago before posting the comment (￣∇￣")

Thank you so much for the recommendation, I'll definitely check them out!

thanks for the recomendation, i already finished one outs and that is one of my fav baseball manga, i read that u never read ace of diamond (daiya no ace/diamond no ace) u should definately check that out because eventhough sometimes the author bias about some character shows too much BUT the MC really had evolved beautifully on book 2, some ppl hate how book 1 story goes but imo book 1 is like the foundation of how MC grows for the book 2. imo be blues (soccer), diamond no ace (baseball), haikyuu (volleyball), baby steps(tennis), golf king(golf), switch (basketball) is the one of the best sports manga by the sports type, cuz they are focus on the sport itself, building the skill and mindset, no unnecessary bullshit.. its really hard to find manga like those..

oh well lucky for you, for be blues is just on another level of sports manga especially soccer, i read be blues first cuz at that time be blues is already hundreds ahead and close to the raw while nobody picked up ao ashii so i though picking be blues is a no question for me, and after that be blues went short hiatus so i started to read ao ashii since ppl keep comparing the two and its on my manga read list, but i dont understand why the comparation when the two aint even standing on the same lvl.

I love sports manga but the angst in the first few chapters of be blues stopped me from reading further. Im reallyyyy bad with tragedy esp in slice of life and sports so I would like to ask if be blues is not as tragic as it seems? lol

Be blues is soo worth it.. yesnit hurts soo much at the beginning BUT the MC is soo positive as soo hardworking. He might lose his genius natural talent temporarely but it really didnt hinder his passion at all.. and now we are at 400++ chapter in and it finally bear a result which he ALMOST back (genius talent wise) as in like before his tragedy