Title: I Want to End This Love Game Vol. 2
Author: Yuki Domoto
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 201
Genre: Shojo, Romance
Publication Date: May 14, 2024
The Story
After the date backfired, they are back at it again with trying to make each other’s heart flutter. Miku wanted to go over the rules of the love game again when Yukiya said that “anything” was on the table to try and win. Miku wanted to know what “anything” meant and that’s when Yukiya said that anything meant ANYTHING. Of course, Miku would get embarrassed by this and it caused them to imagine things that they could potentially do to one another; however, rather than go for it, it has the opposite effect and Yukiya becomes more reserved around Miku.
She takes notice of this and begins to concoct some plans to try and win the love game; however, at the same time, Yukiya gets into a fight with his sister Wakana and has to talk to Miku for advice. After things settle down, Miku ends up talking with Wakana about Shojo manga and she begins to realize that she and Yukiya are already doing a lot of the things found in manga; however, she is starting to get ideas of her own.
The biggest idea she has is trying to get Yukiya to spend the night alone with her. From here, she begins to remember how they first met and some of the things they used to do together when they were little. Remembering one certain event, she decides to re-enact it and pays Yukiya a visit at home. When she’s done, Yukiya offers to walk her back but suddenly, she blurts out that she’s locked out of her house which means…
Characters
There wasn’t as much development in the second volume but we did get some deeper glimpses into Yukiya.
When they went to Starparty Coffee (their version of Starbucks), he claimed that even though he’s an introvert, he can order coffee as if it’s no problem; however, when the time came, he simply pointed out what he wanted. The same thing happened to him during gym class where he was passed a ball but failed to recognize it and ended up messing up. Even though he’s around Miku a lot and acts annoyed and a bit extroverted, when out in the world, he’s not as outgoing as he is around her. This doesn’t speak to his character as much as it speaks to how comfortable he is around Miku. To see the night-and-day difference when they are together clearly shows the love between the two of them.
On Miku’s side, the only real development is her concrete feelings of love for Yukiya. This was done during the flashback where she remembered the two of them doing things together as kids, how the love game started, and that event that she wanted to replicate to set up her sleepover plan. Through it all, you got to see a softer, more tender side of Miku where you could just tell that she thinks the world of Yukiya. This also builds a bit of frustration because you would think at this stage they would just drop the love game and ask each other out but when it has been a big part of their lives, it’s hard for them to do that because it’s like second nature to them; however, you could sense that Miku realized that the love game is becoming a barrier for her being happy and that gives me a theory.
Final Thoughts
After a decent start, the series is staying at about the same level. We’re still seeing the same “Did I make your heart flutter?” gag used over and over but it was toned down a little bit to let the story develop and while everything felt rather episodic, what I just mentioned above about having a theory makes me wonder if nobody will ever win the love game.
With Miku beginning to realize that the love game is becoming a barrier to her true feelings, either one of two things are going to happen. The first, I think that Miku will get so frustrated that Yukiya will either realize it or maybe overhear Miku talking about it to someone and throw the love game on purpose so that she can express her true feelings or… both of them confess at the same time and there is no winner, they just decide to mutually end it and go out.
I can’t see Miku confessing at all. For some reason, it doesn’t seem like that’s built into her character. If anything, Yukiya will throw the game in a white knight act because I, also, cannot see him confessing due to her personality. Either way, the game will either get thrown or they will end it mutually. At least, that’s what I’m thinking just based on a specific moment in the second volume of a series with many many volumes left! Somehow, I hope I’m wrong because if I’m able to predict the ending this early out, that’s kind of a problem from a storytelling perspective!
It’ll be a while before we find out but for now, we’ve got a certain event to look forward to in volume three!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
