Color me SUPER impressed!
I am very taken aback by how much I LOVED this volume! I mean, considering I DID buy the physical volume, I was hoping so, but I don't know. This volume had such a shift compared to the first two volumes that it's easily one of my favorite volumes I've read this month!
I have mentioned before that I really didn't like Otogi in the beginning and found I didn't want to read more of this series because of her. However, at the end of volume two, seeing her bare her heart really affected me in that I WANTED to know more about her. I feel that continued to be true in this volume because there were so many times she was her real self.
I don't feel shoujo manga hides characters' inner emotions, but I wouldn't say they are quite as open as they are in this volume either, and I found that surprisingly refreshing. Every time someone asked Otogi about why she's not embarrassed by sharing her romantic feelings with her crush (or to someone else about her crush), she comes back (showing no fear or embarrassment, if I might add) in saying why should she be. Even when she sees Toki acting embarrassed from her words of "affection," she tells him to get used to it, and I found that very awe-inspiring.
I would also say it's interesting to see Toki, the male lead, "deal" with Otogi's feelings for him. I feel like we are having gender reverse roles of the girl confessing first and the guy working through her feelings. Toki was incredibly earnest this volume, and I appreciated him sharing how he felt lost and unsure of what to do. His apologies were heartfelt, and I found myself cheering for him all the more!
However, this volume gave me some serious male-lead syndrome because the Angel nicknamer is SO cute! I love everything about him! Well, at least so far, because I have no doubts he is going to cause problems later on, but for now, he's a cutie that I enjoy seeing on page! I did have to laugh at how taken aback he was, though, of his nickname for Otogi being on point. LOL! Why did you give her the nickname otherwise?! LOL!
Overall, this was an excellent read, and I never expected to add volume four to my list of titles I MUST preorder! I'm excited to see what developments come from everything that happened in this volume!