There was a lot I was meh about in this volume, and a lot I really appreciated. Treading into the consequences of divorce on young people—yes, please! That aspect hit me right in the heart.
I really enjoy Sakurai, but I’m frustrated with the manga tropes of “narcissistic bad boy” love interests. There are hints that Reita will grow and call himself out on his own stupidity, but I don’t appreciate side characters pressuring Sakurai to give him a chance when he’s still obviously not mature enough for a relationship. (Also if Reita was a real narcissist with a capital N, things would NOT be smooth sailing, so can we please stop glorifying this characteristic, or glossing over it, manga?)
That being said, I loved Reita’s earnest nature and awkward soft side—let’s see more of that, please.
(TW: the first chapter deals with attempted assault, and Reita later in the volume plants an unasked-for kiss on the MC. He rightly gets called out, but I’d still like him to apologize to Sakurai. I just... *sigh* Gentlemen are cool, authors. They really, really are).