Hitorijime My Hero, Vol. 4

ひとりじめマイヒーロー [Hitorijime My Hero] #4

by Memeco Arii

A Delicate Joy It’s only been a couple of months since Kousuke’s confession, but Masahiro already feels like his wife! With so much joyous romance in his life, Masahiro begins to have doubts that any of it is for certain. Unable to feel grounded, Masahiro struggles to keep steady. From fights with his mom, to running away from home, there’s still a lot this street punk needs help figuring out…

Genres: Manga, Romance, Yaoi, LGBT, Queer, Comics, Contemporary

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 30, 2015

About the author

Memeco Arii (Arii Memeko ありいめめこ) is a Japanese manga artist.

Other associated names:
有井メメコ
ARII Memeko

Reviews

[Gem (The Creepy Geek) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably my favourite volume so far!

I just wish the formatting was a bit clearer so that I could follow the speech bubbles better. But there were some really great moments in this volume.

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is heart-wrenching, I can't help but feel sympathetic towards what became of Masahiro because of his terrible past. He is a neglected child and a victim of domestic abuse. So, it's understandable just how he becomes an instant submissive and lap dog, and cowers in fear whenever a bigger force pays him attention. A survival instinct of some sort. He's after a sense of belonging, and the Ohshiba household provided that for him. This is also the reason why Masahiro looked up to Kousuke as his hero because he's the first one to truly care for his existence. And in turn, he'll do everything to protect the happiness that they have in their own little world. But it wouldn't be easy because reality is slowly pouring its way into the blissful of love that they share together.

This volume recounts the struggles of Masahiro as people are starting to loom on the sideline that may put obstacles on their road to happily ever after... What will happen to them now?

Hitorijime My Fair Lady from the bonus chapter is cute, but I also felt need to see a glimpse of Honjou and Ayaka's life. Please!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

POOR MASAHIRO. Oh my god?? Protect him at all costs. I like how this is getting more emotional. Getting more into Masahiro and his trauma with his mom. God, his mom is the worst. Also Shige is cute. I like how bratty he is. If this was another story, I probably would've liked Masahiro and Shige together.

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Instagram | TikTok

As I get further into the volumes of Hitorijime My Hero, I am starting to love it more and more. The art style is slowly growing on me, the story line is getting better with each volume and the characters are starting to make sense.

We are FINALLY given that long-awaited backstory of Masahiro and his home life. Which, we pretty much already guess, is awful. He doesn't have a dad, his mom spends all their money on alcohol, and there is obviously physical abuse that happens as well from her "pimps" that come to the house. We also were finally given a present scene interaction with Masahiro and his mom and it wasn't great.

This volume gives a reader insight as to why Masahiro is naive, careful, and was easily able to fall into the gang crowd. Gangs are a chosen family, a made-up family of misfits. Masahiro never really had a great family dynamic and the gang life gave him something he thought was more "positive". That is until he was brought into the Ohshiba household.

Hitorijime My Hero Vol. 4 definitely stepped it up a notch when it came to character and story development. We are seeing the growth between Masahiro and Kousuke and the growth of them as individual people. Masahiro still has a ways to go but he is finally growing a backbone. Also, I just love the relationship between Kensuke and Asaya. And of course the plot is actually starting to make sense and pieces are slowly falling into place.

We are also being exposed to some secrets from side characters and a potential side plot that could effect Masahiro and Kousuke's relationship. It will be interesting to see where Arii will take the plot next and how these mini side-plots could be a catalyst for some of our main characters.

All in all, this was a great volume and I look forward to the next one!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume really clears up the relationship between Setagawa and his mom, and having that bit of background detail definitely helps us to understand who he is and why he became that way. It makes the relationship between he and Kousuke sweeter, although there's still a weird power imbalance that needs to be dealt with, because "savior" isn't a great way to think of your significant other.

[Alicia Gourdine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Each installment brings a new test and challenge for this couple add in Setagawa's issues with his mom and the fear of being caught in a forbidden relationship makes this series such a good one! I can't wait to read what happens next for these two there's so many twist and turns for Souske and Setagawa.

[Dashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.50 star.

I loved the bonus Christmas Chapter. The author finally displayed more of Setagawa's past which I really liked. Also the plot is going at a nice steady pace but still lacks structure. I get easly confused as to who is talking sometimes or when a scene cuts into another. Im really enjoying this couple though and their trials together. I just wished it was more neatly packaged.

[Rin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot thickens. Also liked the little yuri short at the end

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting to see more of the anime restructuring here; they pretty much moved things around to make the rings the conclusion, with all the drama leading up to that. That makes sense if you want to wrap up a story with a satisfying ending. (Unlike a lot of shoujo anime, that just faithfully reproduces the manga and then stops in an early arc of the story and you never find out what's happening next unless you go buy 382 books.)

In reality, the rings are a major part of the drama - in this volume, at least. And boy is it dramatic.

I'm actually loving everything about Setagawa and Kousuke's relationship. One of my other big worries/impressions about anime vs manga was that they'd really play up the top/bottom dynamic and have Kousuke be really pushy and overbearing. But he's not at all. He's got a big, messy, nose-in-everyone's-business personality, but he cares so much about Setagawa and takes cues from him a good amount of the time. The manga isn't very explicit, but it does make it clear that Kousuke is always checking in with him, ready to back off or shift what they're doing if Setagawa's not feeling it, and he insists on Setagawa taking the lead a lot, in directing how they do things etc.

What Setagawa says at the end of volume 3 (during the ring exchange scene in the anime as well) kind of carries a different meaning in the manga, because you see how very imperfect Kousuke is. He's not a hero. He's not a god of destruction. He's just some guy, trying to make his way in the world like everyone else, and not always succeeding at it. And Setagawa loves him even more for that.

Initially, Setagawa admired Kousuke and wanted to be like him; that's how everything started. That's the whole point of the story, really. He grew up with a single alcoholic mom who works at a hostess club and then drinks all night, draining the paycheck she'd just earned, at a host club. I forget what manga I'd read recently that explained this is pretty common (or maybe I was just looking it up online?); apparently, a pretty big percentage of host club profits come from hostesses showing up to drink and hang out after their shifts are done. Money in, money back out.

That's why Setagawa lives in a dingy apartment where he handles all the cleaning, cooking, and probably the bill-paying at this point. He's going to school full time and working a part time job, while his mom racks up debt at the host club and then "borrows" money from her son to pay it off. She's open about this while she's drinking, so the hosts know about it and don't feel great about their role in her debt and what she's doing to her son.

One of the guys shows up at Natsuo's bar early in this volume to talk about how much it bothers him to be watching her draining her life away like that - fully aware of what she's doing but unable to stop herself. He's just doing his job, but he's still struggling with some guilt over contributing to the problem. Natsuo doesn't really pay attention; he's a bartender who hears lots of people's problems, and the only one he seems to actually care about is Kousuke.

(I do wonder how much further the manga will take the hints that he's in love with Kousuke; apparently he's been friends with Kousuke the longest, but I don't know if they have History or if it's always been silent one-sided longing, like when he starts to touch Kousuke's hair at the end of this volume, pulling back when Setagawa barges in to retrieve him.)

All the stuff with Setagawa's mom is really, really dark. This volume opens on a pretty stark note: I don't know what the deal is with his dad or if we'll ever meet him, but he'd at least abandoned them, and possibly done worse. It's also indicated that some of her later boyfriends hit her, and possibly Setagawa as well. All her friends tell Setagawa, who's probably at this point in elementary school, that he's the man of the house and has to take care of his mom. It's a big part of what made him grow up so fast, becoming mentally and emotionally responsible in a way his school friends just aren't, because they never had to figure out how to be independent and survive without their families' support.

Setagawa's question - who's going to protect me? - never really gets a solid answer. Because all that weight falls back on his shoulders. By the point this series starts, he doesn't know how to rely on anyone else. He's never had anyone else and can't trust other people to do anything for him.

That's why the entire Ohshiba family is so incredibly important to him. It's not just Kousuke. It's having a house that's clean and warm and fully stocked with food and other necessities, and people who pitch in to help with meals and chores and sit around the table and tease and joke and talk to each other. That's the life Setagawa wants. And he's completely terrified of losing it again, and being unable to cope with his dingy real life once he's had a taste of what's possible.

He's so, so incredibly happy throughout this volume, and that's why when things come crashing down they hit him super hard, and he reacts more strongly than he needed to.

It's not Kousuke who causes the drama; it's Setagawa's mom.

She comes home and rummages around in Setagawa's wallet when he's sleeping after work, looking for his latest paycheck so she can pay off the host club people who're hounding her about her debt. He's a part timer so he doesn't have nearly enough money to cover her bills, but she does find the ring he'd put in there for safekeeping. And being the deeply selfish person that she is, she immediately decides that she'll pawn it for some extra cash.

And that is a bridge too far for Setagawa. He's spent his whole life taking care of his mom, letting her take everything from him and trying his best to be a good, dutiful son who doesn't cause anyone else problems, but seeing her taking away what's basically his engagement ring is too much. He sees red, and he snaps.

This is actually a pretty brutal volume, but told really effectively. The "you can't be his hero, Kousuke" exchange at the bar makes more sense here than in the anime, when it was simply about whether to keep dating. Natsuo's basically telling Kousuke that he can't date and rescue someone whose life is this messed up. Kousuke's a meddler who always wants to help people; that's why he became a teacher, and why he got that "Bear Killer" nickname from wandering the streets trying to help thugs. But Setagawa's family life has some pretty intense ingrained problems that an outside party can't just sweep in and fix - and maybe shouldn't, or at least in Natsuo's eyes, because then it just shifts responsibility and makes Setagawa rely too heavily on someone else. Then if that support's ever removed, he'd fall and shatter to pieces.

That's what Setagawa's worried about, too, but has never expressed to Kousuke himself. He's trying too hard to handle everything on his own, like he always has. As much as he's started to open up in other ways, this is still a piece of him he's afraid to show to other people.

So when he gets in the fight with his mom, he doesn't go to Kousuke, whose opinion and love matter most to him. He goes to Hasekura's house and sits on the floor all night, not even speaking to him, but just needing a place he can hide out for a while.

Fortunately, Hasekura pulls in Ken, who calls Kousuke to tell him where Setagawa is and that he's safe, because Setagawa does have a pretty big support system at this point. Even Shige was ready to open up his home to him.

But Setagawa's just steeped in self-hatred at this point, because as Kousuke finds out when he goes to talk to Setagawa's mom, he'd hit her in the process of trying to yank his precious ring back from her. It's not shown, so it's unclear if he hit her directly or was just too forceful and knocked her over, making her hit her head on something, but either way, he despises himself for it. He's not that kind of person. In the previous volume, he knocked Shige gently on the head as his "return punch" because he's just not the kind of guy who'd ever get physical with someone, no matter how upset or angry he is.

Except...he did. With his mom. And he's horrified with himself and unwilling to tell Kousuke or to have any of this taint the one good, perfect thing he had in his life: his relationship with Kousuke (what the ring stood for) and the entire Ohshiba family's warmth and love.

This volume is actually kept pretty short, cutting off with Setagawa going to get Kousuke from the bar, after which they'll presumably talk about things. There are a couple longish bonus chapters after, including one with the Chairman's crush developing a girl crush on Hasekura's older sister - I winced going into that but it's a surprisingly heartfelt story about appearances and sexist beauty standards and possibly even female friendships.

In short, this whole series is a lot more thoughtful and deep than I've been thinking all these years. It isn't just ooooh age gap, kinky - where I'd kind of unfairly slotted the manga in my head. It's handling a lot of tough, complicated topics with a lot of grace and a heavy emphasis on friendships and family.

[Moonyreaders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Porque los mangas se leen tan rápido?!

[Jennifer Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoy this manga series it feels like it’s at a standstill. I need some action or drama.

[Dannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oigan qué coraje con la mamá de Setagawa. Él se merece tanto una familia que lo valore. 🥺

[R E · Rating 2 out of 5]

​​Now that I'm on Hitorijime My Hero #4, I thought I should look up what Hitorijime means. According to several translation sites, it means “monopolising, monopolizing, hogging, having all to oneself.” Which is helpful, to a degree. Certainly Masahiro wants Kousuke to himself, but he seems equally conflicted about being intimate with him. Meanwhile, it’s clear that Kousuke wants Masahiro all to himself - so is the high schooler Masahiro Kousuke's hero?
​​
​​In any event, the apparent popularity of this manga escapes me. It's disjointed and fragmented in its storytelling (to my mind, more fragmented than your average manga). The art is admittedly stylized but not really inspiring. The storyline is borderline implausible (what parents would not look into their 28 year old son having a 16 year old boy sleep over in their bedroom?). The characterization isn't so much bad as non-existent - each character is a one note symphony: one character is cold, one is wacky, one is insecure, etc. But no characters actually cohere as (even minimally) complex individuals.
​​
​​At this point, there's no enjoyment from reading this bizarre tale; I'm reading just to see what the author does with this inept train wreck of a manga. The best thing about it is the explanation of esoteric cultural references in the last few pages of each volume.

[Shaun Trinh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing to really like this series. This installment follows volume's 3 approach to the story and focuses on Masahiro and just why he thinks and behaves the way he does, which I like. With that said though it didn't go nearly as in-depth as I was expecting it too with his mother. I really liked how at the start we saw Masahiro question if he can really be this happy and if it's actually real. A lot of teens go through this because they grew up not being given love and support, but to me it just felt very watered down with how they involed Masahiro and Kosuke's relationship into it. Don't get me wrong it makes sense since it's Masahiro's upbrining that brought them together, but it just felt very, meh with how it was incorporated.

I'm interested in how Kouske's savior complex is going to play out beause it's been built up throughout the entire series thus far, and what Natsuo's backstory is.

I'm also continuing to love Masahiro's and Asaya's frenemie relationship. One of my favorite things to see.

[ℂ ✧ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un volum que se centra en el rerefons dels personatges i que encara em reafirma més en la idea que el pobre Masahiro no sap on s'està fotent... és un nano megainsegur que ha patit un abús i una negligència brutals de petit i que ara, a la mínima que algú li fa cas, el cuida o se'n preocupa, ell es desviu (per això sempre li diuen que és un gos). Em fa tantíssima llàstima que m'és impossible romatitzar la relació amb el profe... És que no sé ni quina nota posar-li ni per què tinc esperances que la cosa millori si segueixo llegint ^^'

[Sequoia Cron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a heartbreaking read. Masahiro has a devastating childhood of domestic abuse and neglect, and it continues into his teenage years. In volume 4, the author delves deeper and gives us more development on his past and what he goes through when he goes home. We normally see him enjoying himself at a friend's house or hanging out with Kousuke, almost never at his family home.

I'm worried about Natsuo, one of Kousuke's close friends, as he keeps warning Kousuke and acting strange toward Kousuke and Masahiro in each volume. I think something is going to happen soon, but I'm not sure what.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is growing on me a little bit. There is less of the student/teacher stuff in it.

We see some backstory that's pretty heart wrenching. The mother is a piece of work. She takes money from her son. She found his ring and was going to pawn it. I mean, Wow!

I don't feel like the main couple really discussed that.

There's a non-related story stuck in the end. I don't know why they do that. It irks me.

I still find it hard to follow at times and choppy, but it's ok. It got a little better this time.

[L Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank god Masahiro has someone like Kousuke, and his family, in his life because his mother is a mess. I'm sure she loves her son but she really needs to do better and that flashback / dream that Masahiro has towards the end of the story really has me wondering about some things.

Also, what's up with Kousuke's bartender friend Natsuo? From now on I'm keeping an eye on him around Kousuke. I'm not really liking the vibes I'm getting from him. Let's hope he doesn't cause problems down the line.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hitorijime My Hero is an overall really cute and god BL manga. I expected no less from the fifth volume. Trying not to spoil at all but, Masahiro and Kousuke get to experience Christmas in this manga, and it is pure adorableness. To sum it all up, Hitorijime My Hero 4 is just one of the many volumes of a wonderful BL manga, and I would definetly recommend it to my friends.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The played-up romance elements and the inclusion of a multiple volume situation made this probably the best volume so far. The side-stories were excellent and all fit very well into the themes of the rest of the book. I now have no clue whether I can root for Natsuo, although I will root for Mary without shame.

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 4 gives us a better insight into Masahiro childhood and his relationship with his mum. It made me a bit sad when he was dreaming (I hope it was not a flashback and he was just dreaming). OMG can we just scream about the last chapter with the introduction of "Hitorijime my fair lady". I hope we get to see more of Matsuzawa and her story in future volumes.

[Brittany Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was darker and gave us more information about Mashahiro's traumatic childhood. We also see more of Mashahiro's mother and Kousuke's bartender friend Natsuo. As if we didn't have enough drama with Mashahiro's childhood and lack of self-worth let's add a rival and really bring the mommy issues out to shine.

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reluctantly, this volume is the best one so far. It's finally starting to deal with real issues, and the insight into Masahiro's character is heartbreaking, but it's heartbreaking because those issues that he has are the reason that he was able to be victimized by Kousuke. He was vulnerable to grooming because he just wants to be loved and it's soul crushing.

[Caitlan Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was pretty good and had a lot of moments I thought were cute and funny but I just wanted so much more drama. I feel like they start making things dramatic but then it never goes at a full 100%. It’s almost like half assed. Still can’t wait until the next volume.

[Octavianny Mata · Rating 3 out of 5]

el mismo hilo que el tomo anterior...

[CARLYN · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Encontré algo en que entretenerme, no fue lo mejor pero algo es algo. En serio, debe mejorar la historia, quería demasiado a estos personajes y no puedo permitir que me aburra.

[Mary Traylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good as always, this one actually kinda had more drama than usual.

[Anastasia ⋆｡☽˚｡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Rosie Valadez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️