Title: Sakura, Saku Vol. 3
Author: Io Sakisaka
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 177
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: May 14, 2024
The Story
Volume 3 of Sakura, Saku takes us into quite an interesting scenario. Kotono’s ex-boyfriend still believes that she’s in love with him and is being very confrontational about things. It has gotten to the point where it is super uncomfortable for her so Kotono enlists Saku’s help. When they were in the hall at school, being with Saku didn’t matter because he came strolling up. Thankfully, Haruki was nearby and got him to leave.
One day, Haruki starts talking to Saku after school when Kotono’s ex comes over and accuses Haruki of cheating on Kotono! This is when Saku finds out that something happened and it led to Kotono and Haruki to begin dating each other… although it’s just a smokescreen. This sends Saku into anxiety mode and makes her wonder about things. Kotono even asks Saku if she’s okay with them pretend dating to help stave off her ex but even though she tells Kotono she’s fine with it, she’s not.
Meanwhile, Saku wants to get a part-time job and notices an ad for the café that Ryosuke works at. As she’s looking at the ad, she bumps into someone who is rather sharp and direct with his tongue but apologizes because he admits that he’s the type of person who’s not good with words and never considers how his words would make other people feel. After he drops a worksheet, we learn that his name is Iryu and he also works at the café she’s interested in. One thing leads to another when she goes to return the sheet, and suddenly, she finds herself working there alongside Ryosuke!
We wrap things up with an update on the pretend dating situation between Kotono and Haruki. With things settling down, Haruki wonders if everything should go back to normal; however, things don’t seem to be that black and white anymore!
Characters
There’s a lot to unpack here…
First off… Saku. It’s painfully obvious that she’s in love with Haruki so the entire volume was spent to make her look jealous, anxious, unsure, and yet, caring. Of course, we know that Saku is a caring individual and always seen as a goody two shoes; however, when she decides to hide her feelings from Kotono about Haruki, it just making all of her negative feelings that much worse. She begins to second-guess herself and even with Iryu telling her that she’s not a good person… something that’s very jarring for her to hear, she begins to wonder if her goody two shoes nature is backfiring on her. Even though it’s not flat-out stated that she’s thinking that, you can tell through her mannerisms and her dialogue that those thoughts are beginning to seep in… especially with the way that the volume ended.
With Kotono, you feel sympathetic for her having to deal with an obsessive ex-boyfriend; however, she does try to play the white knight here. She offers up the chance for Saku to express her thoughts on the pretend dating situation because she’s concerned about how it might make her feel. This was the out that Saku was looking for but she didn’t take it; however, because of Saku’s denial, it opened the doors for her to possibly create the worst outcome for Saku possible. The thing is, you want to hate her for getting in the way and not reading the room like she should have but, at the same time, she was misguided and just acting on what information she was given. Can hardly blame her.
As for Haruki… he’s part of this whole mess because when Kotono told her ex that she was interested in someone else, it was Haruki who jumped in and proclaimed that he was her new boyfriend. He was just trying to diffuse the situation to help a friend out but, in the end, it created this massive mess for everyone. Even though, he admits that he hated not being able to talk to Saku openly to keep up appearances. This shows that he, too, is interested in here and a few things happen throughout the volume which confirms that, too.
Lastly, Mitoshi. He’s still the background character that’s there when needed; however, given everything that’s happening in this volume, the back burner is the best place to be! Good job, Mitoshi! You keep that burner warm!
Final Thoughts
So… one little gripe here. Can Io Sakisaka please use some diversity when drawing characters? There are about four guys in this volume at look nearly identical so unless a name was spoken, it was a bit difficult to remember who was who. I’m sure if the manga was in color, that it would be much easier but since we’re stuck in black-and-white land, diversity in design is key! At first, I thought the new character, Iryu, was Kotono’s ex.
Outside of that, this is the typical needless drama in a romance series. It’s painfully obvious that Saku and Haruki are going to end up together. I mean, the title of the manga is Saku, Sakura after all… unless we get massively swerved and Saku goes for Haruki’s brother, Ryosuke instead. After all, his last name is Sakura, too! So, adding in drama in a romance series where the ending is obvious feels a bit cheap and unnecessary. I also understand why some of these things are done because it gives the reader something to latch on to and not make the story boring but… here’s a thought… since we know that the two mains are always destined to get shipped, why not add the drama to the side characters and give people a reason to care about them? Imagine if Mitoshi was the person to help out Kotono rather than Haruki. It would make us care about him more rather than him just being relegated to the back burner duty.
Despite my little qualms, it was still a pretty good volume even though I think all of the cliffhanger drama is going to get dispelled at the start of volume four. We’ll see, though.
You can also check out other The Outerhaven reviews on your favorite social media networks:
Subscribe to us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theouterhaven
Subscribe to us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOuterHaven
Subscribe to us on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/theouterhavennet
This item was provided for review by Viz Media
