Title: Love Me, Love Me Not Vol. 10
Author: Io Sakisaka
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Physical
Pages: 184
Genre: Slice of Life, Romance
Publication Date: September 7, 2021
The Story
The tension and drama are reaching a fever pitch in the 10th volume of Love Me, Love Me Not. The big focus in this volume was placed on Akari, Inui, and Ryosuke. Rio and Yuna took a big back seat here but with good reason… their relationship is solved and going just fine. There’s no reason to really focus on them with so many unresolved issues lingering involving Akari.
The overall gist of this volume is the same as last… Ryosuke wants Akari… Akari wants Inui… Inui wants Akari… but Akari and Inui can’t pull the trigger because of their personal baggage so Ryosuke is trying to swoop in and claim Akari for himself… only this time… Ryosuke is getting inside of Akari’s head and making her think twice about her decision to stay hopeful for Inui.
At least, that’s what we thought at first until Akari flat-out rejects Ryosuke; however, he’s not about to let it in there. Right in the middle of her rejection, Ryosuke changes tones and interjects. What he says makes Akari think that he had truly become a completely different person. This slowly builds up over the course of the volume and you can see it eat away at her little by little.
However, both Akari and Inui know that before they can do anything with each other, they need to settle things with themselves… and that means confronting their parents, respectively. While this happens, we don’t have a definitive conclusion to it all just yet. The stark difference here is that one looks to be giving up while the other is pushing forward. The one who gives up may be swayed in another direction and that is the cliffhanger this volume ends on.
Characters
Akari and Inui all undergo a bit of a transformation here in this volume as does Ryosuke to a certain extent.
With Akari, the change is less profound than Inui albeit a little similar. While Akari is still confused and undecided, it’s easy to see why as she’s being pulled in three different directions. There are her feelings for Inui, Ryosuke’s intervention, and the possibility of her parents getting divorced. These three things have trapped Akari is a turmoil of emotions and it’s really hard for her to make the concrete decision that she thought she had her mind set on; however, thanks to Ryosuke’s interventions, those thoughts are becoming more and more clouded.
Inui, on the other hand, realizes that he needs to face the issue with his parents head-on. Unlike Akari, he doesn’t back down and is doing what he can to see it through. He knows that if he doesn’t overcome this, then there is no way he could ever face Akari and be the man that she deserves. Even though he’s confronting his father about his dream to work in movies, he’s not doing it for himself alone and it shows just how much he is willing to commit himself to his future… a future that includes Akari. The question is… is he too late?
I ask that because we also have Ryosuke who, in my opinion, is just putting on an act. As soon as Akari went to reject him, he switched personas on the fly and showed her a side of him she had never seen before. I have zero belief that this “new Ryosuke” is genuine. It reeks of desperation and someone like him seems to be the kind of person who won’t lay off a subject until they get what they way. The issue is that Akari is starting to buy into all of it… or at least, that is what we are being led to believe. It’ll be interesting to see if this gets resolved in the next issue. In fact, it has to since it’s the second-to-last volume and if I know Io Sakisaka, that 12th volume is going to be an epilogue.
Final Thoughts
I’ve been critical of the Inui and Akari situation in my reviews. I felt that it dragged on a bit artificially so it was a breath of fresh air to see SOME progress with it; however, things are still not resolved which means it’s still being dragged on. This is something that should have wrapped up a few volumes ago. I feel as if the feel-good moment of Akari and Inui getting together is already lost. If (i.e. when) it happens, it’s going to feel like a “finally…” or “it’s about damn time…” moment rather than one of elation and happiness.
While this series is far better than Ao Haru Ride in terms of characters, I feel that it only handled one relationship correctly… and that was of Yuna and Rio. All of the back-and-forth thoughts, the second-guessing, the self doubts that both Akari and Inui had just dragged on for far too long to where I’ve lost my patience with it.
The other issue is that at this point, there is no mystery left. It’s blatantly obvious Akari and Inui will end up together and with there only being two volumes left, all of this drama just seems superficial. If Sakisaka pulls the triggers and has her end up with Ryosuke… that is going to be the biggest dick move since Domestic na Kanojo and I doubt this manga wouldn’t have gotten the scores that it had if that ending came to pass in Japan.
So Volume 11 is pretty clear. Akari is going to turn down Ryosuke, go back just in time for her father to get home, steel herself and let the two of them have it, and choose Inui in the end after he verbally or (hopefully) physically beats some sense into his father and they end up together. Then Volume 12 will recount their happy days as couples… see the conclusions to the situations between their parents and then watch Ryosuke… oh, I don’t know… go ride a Ferris wheel or something.
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
