Title: Love Me, Love Me Not Vol. 7
Author: Io Sakisaka
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Physical
Pages: 184
Genre: Slice of Life, Romance
Publication Date: March 2, 2021
The Story
The stereotypical culture festival arc has ended and so has the manga… or at least that’s what it almost felt like! Io Sakisaka felt like she was going full throttle to shipville with Akari and Yuna; however, thankfully, she pulled back on the reins in order to not wrap everything up too early and what we were leftover with was more drama and another situation that could throw a monkey wrench into two of our characters’ plans.
This volume picks up with Yuna still handcuffed to Agatsuma as Rio and Shiba continue to look for the key. Plot twist… Agatsuma had it all along! He uses this awkward moment to confess his feelings to Yuna and it’s Kikuchi all over again as our main character agrees to date the side chara… oh… that didn’t happen. She rejected him!
Meanwhile, Akari and her ex-boyfriend from her hometown, Ryosuke, have a bit of a heart-to-heart talk which sounds lovely until you realize that Ryosuke’s heart is kind of cold and calloused. He flat out tells Akari exactly what’s wrong with her in the bluntest and straightforward tone he possibly could. As cruel as it was, Akari knew that he wasn’t wrong and it is with that knowledge, she knew what she needed to be done when it came to Inui.
The same could be said for Yuna. Thanks to her rejection, she knew what needed to be done with Rio. With the cultural festival coming to a close, the dance would take center stage for one of our lovely couples to get shipped!
Which one?
Read and find out!
As much as I love big moments in manga, I hate them because when it comes time to review the book, I have to avoid spoiling people as much as possible. The fact that this big moment came right in the middle of the volume, it makes talking about this book a little difficult. As for the ending, I’ll be vague and say that someone shows up and it is the aforementioned monkey wrench for the pair that didn’t get shipped this volume.
Characters
Last time, I mentioned how frustrated this series made me feel in a good way. Well, that frustration is still there but it’s only half there because the other half granted me some relief. We are seven volumes in and two of our main characters got shipped, leaving the rest of the story to sort out the other two. However, there are five volumes (or roughly 20 chapters) left of this series and unless this arc with the fine two main characters gets dragged out, it doesn’t seem like there is enough content to stretch the story. That makes me worry a bit… but more on that in Final Thoughts.
Here, Akari got the biggest development. After being told by Ryosuke the reason why they broke up, it really put things into perspective for her. She realized that she is, indeed, empty inside and can’t commit to her feelings unless she gets back what she puts into them. She often says the most important stuff that would have made a difference after the fact. Despite being told this in a cold manner, she knew that Ryosuke was right and this became the catalyst for Akari to get her mind on asking Inui out. Slowly, she’s beginning to realize her faults and actively work towards changing them which not a lot of people can do. If she’s able to pull it off, then it will lead to a whole new Akari that will be quite interesting!
Yuna/Rio didn’t really get much in the way of development. It was the same old, same old with them realizing that they have feelings for one another but through misunderstandings and circumstances, neither one of them can bring themselves to confess to one another… until Yuna rejects Agatsuma. This rejection kind of acted like the catalyst for her to ask Rio out.
This volume basically showed both Yuna and Akari’s paths. While separate, they were similar. They both needed that extra situation to get to them to realize what should have happened all along. As I said before… I’m not spoiling which path made it to the finish line but one of them did!
Also… poor Agatsuma. That boy needs a hug.
Final Thoughts
As I alluded to, the way this volume ended seemed like a good cliffhanger but when you really think about it, it’s not enough content to stretch this series until the very end. With everything that has been built up around the unshipped couple, I cannot see this monkey wrench working out. I just can’t. If it does, then this will end up becoming one of the most mind-boggling left turns in manga history.
That makes me wonder what the last four volumes will deal with? I can’t see this problem not getting resolved in volume 8. That means either volume 9 will see the final pair get shipped, but then what? Three volumes of our couples enjoying life in one of the longest epilogues in history or is there going to be some drama to drive a wedge between our couples?
Is Io going to go the route where the original ship tease ends up being the main relationship in the end? (OH GOD, I HOPE NOT!!). There’s just a lot of questions right not that don’t have answers and with a pretty decent way to go, it makes me wonder how those questions will be answered and if those answers will make any sense.
We’ll see!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
