Maddies Manga

In order to give herself some time to think, Ichika decides to go on a trip with her friends during school break. But will Sanari really allow her to have some peace of mind?

You can check out volume four of this series for yourself below!

My thoughts on this volume (Spoilers!)

Sanari is really proving himself to be my biggest OP in all of shoujo manga. In this volume, we see Ichika struggling with the events of the previous one. After confiding in her friends, they all agree that what Ichika needs is some time away from Sanari. Let me restate this: they all agree that what Ichika needs is some time away from Sanari. So, why not go on a friends vacation to Hokkaido? The girls learn that my best boy Arata is actually from Hokkaido, so naturally he is added to the group.

We then cut to everyone as they land in Hokkaido. That’s everyone plus Sanari. Why oh why is he there? He claims to have tagged along so that he could repair his relationship with Ichika, but honestly I think he felt the need to come when he learnt Arata would be going. Allowing Ichika to actually have a good time with another man? Sanari won’t have it. Poor Ichika is really suffering the whole time due to Sanari’s presence, and we learn that he was only able to come because he convinced one of Ichika’s friends to invite him! If I were Ichika, I would have dropped that friend like a hot potato the second we returned home. Even if it wasn’t her situationship, who invites someone to a friends trip without first getting the okay from the rest of the group? That’s just a bad friend.

It’s not all doom and gloom in this volume thankfully, as Arata has a secret mission on this trip: to confess his feelings for Ichika! And boy does he confess. His confession scene is actually one of my favourites, as he really does just put everything on the line. He likes Ichika so much, and he needed Sanari to know it too—I do hope this confession shook Sanari to his core. It would have forced him to realize that Ichika really does have options besides him, so he needs to quickly decide what he wants. If he can’t decide, that just means that he isn’t all that serious about her, and needs to let her move on.

By the end of the volume Ichika and Sanari are on better terms than the beginning, however I do think things would have been better had he not stalked them all the way to Hokkaido. While they were able to have a somewhat good talk about their feelings, I really can’t believe anything he says at this point. Whenever Ichika tries to express herself to him, all I can see is a boy trying to calculate how he’s going to take advantage.

I’m rooting for you, Arata.

My favourite parts of this volume (spoilers)

💛 ICHIKA SLAPPING SANARI! He’s had it coming for so long, it was so satisfying to see.

💚 Arata trying to casually cheer up Ichika—he never asks her to divulge any information, which makes him really easy to be around! He just talks with her casually, and provides a safe space for her to decompress.

💙 Arata showing Ichika how to make a snow shelter! They’re just so cute together, why can’t she fall for him?

❤️ Arata confessing to Ichika… and then announcing the fact that he confessed to her to everyone. He needs to make his feelings known, and I love him for that. I also felt like it was a bit of a warning to Sanari—like, “you better watch out, ’cause I’m coming.”