Title: The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All Vol. 3
Author: Sumiko Arai
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 184
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Yuri
Publication Date: December 23, 2025
The Story
We open up this volume with Koga and Osawa fangirling over some music. Turns out there is a music festival on the horizon, and even though Osawa has never gone to one and is nervous about it, she wants to give it a go. She ends up going with Koga, her uncle, and a few others; however, her first time at the festival proves to be a bit too overwhelming for her. Thankfully, Koga is there to help her take things slowly. In the end, she enjoys herself and wants to do it again sometime.
Next, a video of Koga dressed as “The CD Shop Guy” playing guitar in a park is released and goes viral. Everyone at school figures out it’s her, but thanks to the magic of short attention spans, people quickly forget about it and move on… that is, until one day a classmate of hers bumps into her desk, spilling her notebooks over the floor. When they read through them, they realize that she truly was the girl from the video and start to fanboy. Osawa takes it the wrong way and yells at him for disrespecting Koga. This causes Koga to become absent for nearly a week; however, when she returns, she stuns everyone.
Lastly, the Principal of the school is caught in the broadcasting room by Narita, crying to himself because he was using the room to watch some sappy movies. It calls into question what a high school prom is, and suddenly, he’s (quite easily) convinced that the school should hold one… and he puts Narita in charge of the whole thing! Of course, Osawa wants to go to the prom with Koga, but something very important comes up thanks to something Hime did, and it’s something that could change Koga’s life forever!
Characters
The biggest change in this entire volume is Koga. While things between her and Osawa are still growing slowly, they are coming along. While neither of them truly understands what is happening between them, there are some hints and flashes that there is something more than friendship developing. It’s still too early for them to pull the trigger, but that’s not the big focus of what happened here with Koga.
When Osawa stood up for her and caused Koga to disappear, something happened inside of her, and she transformed. She started coming to school as “The CD Shop Guy” rather than dressed as her usual bookworm-looking self. Because of this, she found a newfound confidence in herself; however, this new confidence has a negative effect on Osawa. The shock is a bit too much for her, and she starts to become a bit more distant than normal. Still, Koga is trying to put herself out there, even if there are baby steps being taken. Just changing her personality and her looks was a massive first step for her, so we’ll have to see where this leads her.
Osawa did get some development. She overcame her fear of going to festivals and ended up having a great time, but outside of that, she ended up in a bit of a conflict with Koga over her “CD Shop Guy” persona. There was a bit of tension there where Koga wondered if she was only being nice to her because she saw her as The CD Shop Guy and not as the real Koga. Outside of that, Osawa still sticks up for Koga and stays by her side, but when Koga misses prom due to the importance of what pulled her away, you can tell that Osawa was extremely depressed about it. Just another big clue that there’s something more than friendship developing between the two of them.
Poor Narita… You find one sobbing Principal, and suddenly, you find yourself planning an entire school prom. Although I will admit… I am so happy it’s a prom and not a culture festival, camping trip, beach trip, hot spring, or any other overused trope. Finally… something different. I salute you, Narita… you’re doing God’s work over there by breaking the mold.
Final Thoughts
There were a lot of interesting aspects to this volume… mainly Koga’s drastic shift. The best part about it was that she made that decision on her own. She put her foot down and realized that she needed to take that step if she was ever going to achieve her dream… although Osawa did play a small role in it when she wished to see Koga up on stage at a future music festival. Then, when she was writing music, a phone conversation with Osawa inspired her to name her newest track. It’s these little moments that happen that build up and up until they culminate into something special. I like this style of character and plot progression because it makes you pay attention to the little things. Plus, it makes for some low-key sweet moments.
While this volume was divided into three very distinct stories, they were all interconnected and played into one another rather well. The music festival felt a bit standalone, but Osawa’s wish to see Koga on stage played into the second chapter with her writing music, playing it publicly, and finding the courage to change her persona. Then, it was that change that spilled into the third chapter that prompted Hime to do something rather bold and drastic… something that could potentially have a profound impact on Koga’s life, but Koga is still uncertain about things. She wants it, but doesn’t know if she wants it yet, and I think that’s amazing because it represents all of us whenever we work so hard for a huge opportunity, and when that opportunity comes, that fear of change settles in, and we all wonder if it’s okay to take the plunge or not.
Whether or not Koga goes through with it remains to be seen. The final page of the volume could have meant a few different things, but we’ll have to wait and see next time what truly transpired. All around good stuff!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
