Title: Love Me, Love Me Not Vol. 6
Author: Io Sakisaka
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Physical
Pages: 192
Genre: Slice of Life, Romance
Publication Date: January 5, 2021
The Story
The more I read this manga… the more frustrated I get with it… in a good way. Love Me, Love Me Not Vol. 6 builds up the tension something fierce… the only thing that disappoints me is that it resorts to one of the most overused tropes in series such as this… it’s taking place at a school festival.
Go ahead and pick one: School Festival, Holiday Party, Beach, Hot Springs, or Class Trip. It doesn’t matter which one you pick… you could insert the same premise that this volume presented into any one of those situations and you would end up with the same result. Seeing these common tropes over and over again makes me actually wonder if this is what life is really like in Japan for high school students? Do they really have these situations play out in their normal, everyday lives? Is that why things such as this are overused because it’s such a common occurrence? I just know as a reader who isn’t exactly within the epicenter of Japanese culture, it just gets annoying to see the same plot points used over and over again across different series.
But alas, what can I do? It happened so all I can do is just comment on it.
There really isn’t much to elaborate on from a story perspective. It’s a school festival and Rio is involved in a cosplay event where he and a few others have been given a cosplay to wear and if people walking around spot then, they can collect a stamp on a card. Collect all the stamps and you win a prize… kind of like a human scavenger hunt. Rio was embarrassed to wear his costume until he receives some encouragement from Yuna.
The plot then thickens as Rio wants to confess to Yuna at the festival party; however, Agatsuma has the same idea. Given the fact that Rio confessed to Agatsuma that he likes Yuna, too, a battle between them has begun for Yuna’s heart. The end of the manga comes when one of Agatuma’s friends sees the two of them together and since Agatsuma is cosplaying as a cop, he handcuffs them together. They’re forced to stay like that until they can get the key to undo the handcuffs.
Of course, this wasn’t the only focus of the volume. There was stuff with Inui and Akari as well; however, I would liken that to more, or less, character development than story so since we’re on that subject, let’s dive into it.
Characters
I talked about tension at the start of this review and the development here for our four main characters is what leads to that tension.
Just right off the bat, Rio and Inui finally realize their true feelings for Yuna and Akari, respectively; however, just because they finally admitted to themselves that they like their respective love interests, it doesn’t mean that asking them out is a clear path.
In the case of Inui, he still has it in his mind that Rio is in love with her. That knowledge causes him to hesitate but, at the same time, he’s beginning to have a very difficult time holding back his feelings. I won’t say how, but let’s just say that there are a few moments in the volume where he lets it slip. One of those moments was so blatant and obvious that it really makes you scratch your head when he passes it off as nothing and Akari actually buys it. I’m sorry but if I did what Inui did to another girl, there is NO WAY IN HELL would I ever be able to say “oops, just forget I did that” and expect her to be like “okay, no problem.” That’s not it works in real life so the fact that the situation played out like that was so unrealistic to me.
Eventually, something happens that makes Inui realize that he has a shot with Akari but he feels the timing is off? He literally just did something that was BLATANTLY OBVIOUS that he loves her, yet, instead of coming clean and building off of that, the timing isn’t right? Are you starting to see why I’m feeling frustrated with this volume? But, as I said, it’s a good frustration because it’s making me want to see him just confess and get it over with. That tension… that build-up… that teasing… when it finally does happen, the payoff is going to feel so much more rewarding!
In the case of Rio, he has finally cast aside his feelings for Akari and has decided that Yuna is the girl for him. Right when he does, he learns that Agatsuma has feelings for Yuna as well. So, instead of just confessing to Yuna before anything can happen, he decides to go to Agatsuma and declare his feelings for her to him? Sorry, but again, if I liked someone and I knew there was someone else that liked the same girl, and I was in a position to get to her first, AND that same girl that likes me has thrown very not-so-subtle clues in my face that she has feelings for me… I’m not going to run to the competition and declare war. I’m just going to ask out the girl I like. Plain and simple.
I know that they two of them tried it before and it ended up in disaster because, at the time, Yuna thought that Rio liked Akari but Rio literally told Yuna to her face that he was able to move on! The way Yuna reacted should have been a major clue that he had a shot! Besides, we already know that Yuna is in love with Rio… it would have been a simple match made in heaven if he just cut out the middle man and asked her! Instead, we now have to deal with the drama of a race to Yuna’s heart which we all know Rio is going to win because Yuna admitted she loves Rio and hasn’t said a single damn thing about her feelings for Agatsuma which makes all of this drama a huge moot point!
THE FRUSTRATION!!
In the Rio/Yuna/Agastuma story… this one just feels artificial more than frustrating. It’s painfully obvious to the reader that Agatsuma has snowball’s chance in hell of winning here. Just like the Cleveland Browns against the Kansas City Chiefs! (This review is being written before the 2021 AFC Divisional Playoff game so if the Browns do the near-impossible and beat the Chiefs… this review is NOT going to age well… and that’s why I’m leaving it in and not editing it out!). I think it would have been better off if Agatsuma was taken out of the equation. Imagine Rio getting the nerve to finally ask Yuna out; however, Rio never tells Yuna about sealing off his feelings with Akari! Imagine the tension and drama from that situation rather than a hopeless love triangle with a super obvious outcome!
Final Thoughts
After reading through the last volume’s review, I see that I was also frustrated back then in the same good way! This is good because my frustration with Ao Haru Ride was completely different. I was frustrated because I couldn’t understand how in the heck Futaba could remain in love with a train wreck of a character like Kou. I was rooting for Kikuchi something fierce in that series! Here, I’m frustrated because I am so involved and invested with these characters that I want to see them end up together! I actually want these relationships to happen!
Something tells me, though… there’s going to be a bit of a monkey wrench here. This is volume six of a twelve-volume series. Unless the back half of the manga is going to focus on their individual relationships, I don’t see them getting together any time soon. MAYBE one couple will get shipped while saving the other for the grand finale?
I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see but with Sakisaka teasing these confessions in the next volume… I have a sinking feeling that she’s going to pull a Sing “Yesterday” For Me on us…. And that’s switch them up in the final volume. I pray that doesn’t happen but it is a bold prediction that Rio and Akari end up together as does Yuna and Agatsuma, leaving Inui the lone man out.
I hope I’m wrong. I pray I’m wrong. We’ll see.
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
