Title: 15 Minutes Before We Really Date Vol. 3
Author: Perico
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 164
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Romance
Publication Date: July 30, 2024
The Story
Yuuki and Natsuha continue their dating experience in 15 Minutes Before We Really Date Vol. 3. This time, the big problem that they are facing is the fact that Natsuha is going to Tokyo to take the entrance exam for her top college of choice. Because of this, she and Yuuki are going to end up in a long-distance relationship. While it doesn’t seem like too much of a big deal for Natsuha, Yuuki can’t stop thinking about it. In fact, his nerves get even more riled up when he learns about the high statistical failure rate of long-distance relationships; however, he also hears about the success rate for those who make it through and that gives him some encouragement.
Meanwhile, Nao and Sosuke go out for a friendly outing; however, Sosuke has something to tell her. During their time together, either the timing was off or he didn’t get a chance to say what he wanted to say. When he gets home, he’s filled with regrets.
Finally, when Yuuki returns to class, he learns that their yearbook representative is out sick so they need someone to fill in. Wanting to take school a little more seriously, Yuuki volunteers. Almost immediately, he’s greeted by Hina, someone else who is on the school’s yearbook committee and someone who rarely shows up due to being a famous model! She wants help picking out photos for the yearbook which is important to her for personal reasons. Yuuki makes Natsuha aware of what he’s doing; however, it causes a rift (albeit a minor one) between them.
Characters
Both Natsuha and Yuuki received some development here in the form of their long-distance relationship. Even though it was for only two or three weeks, they learned a lot about each other while they were gone. In Yuuki’s case, he learned just how much he loved Natsuha and what she meant to him. He learned about how lonely it can be when the person you love is so far away (well, only two hours by train). Natsuha, on the other hand, kind of acts as if she can trust Yuuki or not, especially when Hina is introduced, but you quickly realize that she learns that she kind of has to become a mother figure and scold him all the time… otherwise, he’s not going to do jack squat of anything. She could only do that if she truly loved him, though!
When it comes to Hina, it’s a nice reminder that even famous people are human just like the rest of us. She was sickly when she was growing up but when she recovered, she got into modeling so she was never in school all that much. Because of her illness and her job, she wasn’t in many yearbook photos which is why being on the committee is so important to her but when she asked around for help, everyone just dumped the workload on her and acted as if they didn’t care. She’s not a character that let fame get to her head. She’s a genuinely nice and caring person and a pretty interesting character to add this deep into the series.
Sosuke’s topic of discussion is a tough one. I don’t want to spoil anything but I will say that it’s not good news and when he finally finds the courage to talk to Nao about it, some feelings are going to get hurt.
Final Thoughts
I think this volume can be summed up in one word: growth. All of our characters (well, the four main ones) have either grown up or are in the process of growing up. In Natsuha and Yuuki’s cases, they had to grow up and learn to appreciate each other. The distance between them made them realize their true feelings with each one displaying them in their own ways. For Sosuke, he already realizes that the upcoming talk with Nao isn’t going to be pleasant but he’s going to need to find the nerve to have that talk whether he likes it or not.
With Hina, there is no growing up. She just wants to see a yearbook filled with memories that people can love and cherish because she never got the opportunity to have that her whole life. For someone who is quite famous, that’s a pretty selfless and amazing thing to want for others. That’s why I feel she’s such an endearing character despite being a late addition. Of course, there is some jealousy there as a byproduct of Yuuki helping her out but I seriously doubt it’s going to do any long-term damage here. Just another part of being long-distance… you have to build trust in one another and this is part of the growing up that I mentioned.
Going by Anilist, it stated that this series is six volumes long; however, here we are on Volume 3 and we’re in the final arc. Plus, we are at chapter 44/59 which means that Yen Press is delivering these in an omnibus format and Volume 4 is going to be the conclusion! Yeah, I probably should have known that beforehand but when you’re reading and reviewing 54 different manga series (and looking to pick more up in the coming months), it’s sometimes hard to keep track of all that! Be that as it may, we will see the conclusion to this series next time around!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
