Both Akira and Hajime are finally starting to get a little bolder! Akira in her attempts to make Hajime fall for her, and Hajime in his attempts to ask her out. Will they ever realize they have the same goals?
You can check out a sample of this series for yourself below!
Author
Genre & Tropes
Info about this series
Tags
Buy the volume for yourself!
*Please note that I am an Amazon affiliate! That means I may make a small commission, at no extra expense to you!*
My thoughts on this volume (Spoilers!)
This is one of only two shounen romance manga that I’m actively keeping up with the new releases for, and it reminded me just how biased I am towards shoujo manga. I originally picked up the series both because I found the art to be beautiful and because I thought Akira was a very cute female lead—I’m shallow, I know. The fact that I ended up vibing with the majority of the comedy was a welcomed surprise, and I’ve been more or less enjoying it ever since.
I struggle to enjoy shounen romances, as I typically am unable to see attractive-to-me qualities in the male leads. This was a problem for me with Akira Failing in Love, as while I could list all of Hajime’s wonderful qualities on paper, I just don’t feel much when I look at him. More than anything I want Akira to have a happy ending, so if it’s Hajime she wants, I have no choice but to root for him as well. This was something I had been feeling more subconsciously while reading, and only made the full realization of wow maybe I really am shallow once I finished reading this volume.
You see, the author shares a few early concepts she had for Hajime prior to officially starting the series at the end of this volume. One such design is described as “He was kind of a downer. Tall with curly hair. And good-looking! Perhaps better for shojo manga…” I found myself thinking why oh why was that design scrapped!? I want that Hajime! Would I be able to truly root for the more handsome, shoujo manga-esque version of the male lead? Perhaps. However I don’t think he would have tied in well with the comedic concept. While I’m not the biggest fan of Hajime, you can’t deny that he’s funny. I really to read a shoujo manga by this mangaka one day!
Overall I enjoyed this volume quite a bit more than the previous two. While it had two recurrences of tropes and over-the-top silliness that I didn’t love, the majority of it was so much fun I just couldn’t help but forgive them.
My favourite comedic bit was when a stoic-looking police officer picked both Akira and Hajime up while they were walking outside. He was hoping to support their blooming romance, but ended up only terrifying the two of them… I really enjoy the characters whose facial expressions and overall appearances don’t match their thoughts and personalities at all!
Maddies Manga 
Leave a comment