Title: Love Me, Love Me Not Vol. 4
Author: Io Sakisaka
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Physical
Pages: 184
Genre: Slice of Life, Romance
Publication Date: September 1, 2020
The Story
Turmoil could be the singular word to describe the fourth volume of Love Me, Love Me Not. Rio and Akari are both reeling from Rio kissing her at the end of the third volume. With them being step-siblings, this made things really complicated between the two… especially for Akari who had been trying her hardest this entire time to try and make sure that her family doesn’t fall apart. Still, she couldn’t just prepare herself to confront Rio about it which made the situation even worse. Yuna tries to get involved but she can’t let Akari or Rio know about the things that they had both confided in her, making her role as a support character in this case rather difficult.
In the end, it took some forceful tactics on Rio’s part to get through to Akari and it seems as if things are smoothed over for now; however, Rio now has to live with a certain aspect of his life and, because as such, may have turned his attention elsewhere. The back half of the volume builds upon this scenario and it makes you wonder if Rio is looking to move on or if he’s trying to fill a void that cannot be filled by any other means?
While the story didn’t seem to progress all that quickly, I appreciated the time it took to focus on this one aspect between Rio and Akari. It definitely set up a resolution for their issue… even if that resolution wasn’t something either one of them truly wanted. Because of the nature of everything that happened, I’m sure that this love story is far from over. The question of how they will get back to it after everything that was said is going to be a difficult path to walk.
Characters
Obviously, the big focus here was on both Rio and Akari. Honestly, Akari didn’t really get all that much in the way of development. She took the passive role in this fight between herself and Rio and the fact that Rio had to be the one to initiate the resolution to their problems, it shows that Akari hasn’t changed at all.
Rio, on the other hand, seemed to detract from his usual persona just a bit in order to become the mature brother in this sibling relationship. Taking ownership of the problem and bringing about a bittersweet resolution took a lot on his part. The sacrifice that he made just to keep Akari’s wish of not breaking up the family was something that hurt him deeply but, at the same time, it also paved a way for him to grow as a character. I really like this new side to Rio as it shows that he’s not always selfish as he had been portrayed this whole time.
Part of that had to deal with Yuna who took a backseat as a main character in this volume. She played the part of a support character offering advice to both Akari and Rio to help them get through their problem. Yuna, who wasn’t full of confidence just a few short volumes ago, is imparting her wisdom on the both of them in hopes that they can find a resolution. That was pretty responsible of Yuna and because of her actions, she is finally starting to realize that she shouldn’t be selling herself short like she had been this entire time. Further proof of that comes in the back half of the manga where Yuna decides to step out of her comfort zone and set herself up in a position to where she could shoot for the stars. Whether or not she does or if her efforts will pay off remain to be seen.
Inui did come around and started to ignore Akari less but there really wasn’t much there outside of Akari telling him to stop being so distant. Inui seems as if he’s just following orders and living life based on how other people want him to act. I don’t think that really qualifies as development but at least he’s not giving Akari the cold shoulder… at least not as much.
Final Thoughts
The volume felt like a semi-conclusion to one of the stories between two characters. By that, I mean that it was placed on the back burner where it’s being kept warm until they are ready to serve it up once again. As I said before, I have no idea how they are going to do that but I could be overthinking things and the answer could be very simple.
I do like Yuna’s new direction here. I don’t think that she’s going to get what she wants in the end; however, I also commend her for stepping out of her comfort zone and trying for it. All we can do is sit back and cheer her on.
All in all, lots of interesting things happened, even if the story and pacing slowed down to give proper time to what was presented. Even with the slower pacing, I appreciated everything presented and I really enjoyed the story points! I said it before and I’ll say it again… Io Sakisaka definitely learned some lessons from Ao Haru Ride and she’s applying them here masterfully. This feels like a more believable love story with characters that don’t make me what to punch them in the face (I’m looking at you Kou!)
Loving it so far… bring on volume 5!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
