Title: Akira Failing in Love Vol. 3
Author: Shinta Harekawa
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Physical
Pages: 203
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Publication Date: July 14, 2026
The Story
When the locals parade a horse skull on a pole and visit your house with it covered in a white sheet, you know it’s Christmas time in the country where…
We open with the fallout from the accidental kiss between Hajime and Akira. Hajime feels terrible about it and wants to apologize to her for what happened, but she’s way too embarrassed to even see him! He eventually gets her cornered and offers his apology. They agree that it was just a misunderstanding and a secret that they will keep between themselves… except… It’s not so much a secret as a certain someone was at the festival and saw everything. Now, it has spread like wildfire throughout the school! Hajime needs to find a way to diffuse this before the accusations grow even wilder!
Once we get past that mess, Hajime is approached by Kajiyashiki, a third-year and captain of the school’s track team. She heard about how fast he is and wants him to join the team temporarily to fill in for one of her injured members. She flat-out declines until she mentions that if they come in first place, then they get tickets to Waku-Waku Park in Tokyo… a place that he saw on TV and wishes he could take Akira to. He agrees, and we go into a bit of a sports arc!
Lastly, after the competition, Kajiyashiki is interested in meeting Akira after she learns why Hajime wants the tickets. She meets with Akira and learns that they haven’t even been to each other’s houses yet. Akira grows shockingly bold and asks if Akira would like to come over. He learns that Akira lives at an onsen that her mother runs. The visit is quite cute, but will Hajime make the last train home? The answer is no, and that leads to a shocking moment!
Characters
The big focus here was actually on Kajiyashiki; however, Hajami and Akira do get some significant development, too.
As for Kajiyashiki, she has a dual archetype, which is incredible. On the outside, she’s this rough and tough captain of the track and field team. She’s not mean, but she inspires and fills everyone with determination. This has cultivated an undying loyalty towards her, and her inspired teammates would follow her to the ends of the world because of it. On the flipside, the track team has an unspoken hard rule… never talk about love in front of their captain. It’s not because she thinks love is useless and would get in the way of training… nope… It’s because talk of love strikes her in such a way that it turns her into jelly and a bumbling klutz. She’s hyper-sensitive to the idea of love, but seems to be clueless about it, too. The fact that she turns to mush at just the mere mention of the word is super cute, and you can’t help but want to giggle. Out of all of the side characters introduced so far, she instantly became my favorite.
As for Akira… not much has truly changed except that she’s still in love with Hajime, but when he visits her house, we see just how much of a nervous wreck she becomes when she’s left alone with him, which is a bit odd. She’s been alone with him at school, at a bus stop, and in many other locations, but I guess the mere fact that he’s in her house completely changes the dynamic. Then again, there is a reason why she’s super nervous about having him there, and yes, it’s a plot point of this volume, so read it to discover why (although, if you have been reading, it’s not exactly a mystery.)
Hajime, on the other hand, has fully realized his feelings for Akira and is starting to take bold initiatives. He’s at the stage where he’s working up the courage to possibly convey his true feelings to her, but he mutters a line to Kajiyashiki that is quite shocking. I know Hajime can be dense, but to say what he said and not realize how Akira’s been acting… especially with the way the previous volume ended… is a little awkward. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see him trying to come up with a way to confess, or at least spend more time with her.
Final Thoughts
This was another solid entry into the series. I like the pacing between Akira and Hajime’s relationship. The cliffhanger at the end of this volume is going to blow open some huge doors, or maybe not. Typically, in these rom-coms, a major revelation doesn’t necessarily lead anywhere immediately. Oftentimes, it will get ignored and go off on a tangent until the manga course-corrects and pulls back around to tie that revelation into the bigger picture. So, if Akira Failing in Love can latch onto this, go somewhere with it immediately, that would be great, but I wouldn’t put money on it. If anything, I can see it being a secret kept close to the chest, but it could also be a major confidence booster, too. The building blocks are already there for Hajime’s character, so this could help fuel that new aspect of him.
As for Kajiyashiki, I hope that this isn’t just a one-off character made for this arc. While she is a little bit over-the-top with her dedication to the track team, watching her become a bumbling puddle is amazing. Despite Hajime not going back to join the team permanently, I have a feeling that she’s going to be checking in on him from time to time. With the way she invested herself in his potential relationship, there’s no way that she’s going to be sitting on the sidelines, wondering how they are progressing. That curiosity of hers is part of her charm, so I can’t see this being the last of her, and that makes me happy.
As I said in my last review, this series is quickly becoming one I look forward to reading with each release, and this volume has swayed me no differently!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media.
