The amusement park date turns to a series of shifts for each of the three brothers and Sakura. Then she goes back to school and madcap hi-jinx ensue, but I think they forgot the part where it was supposed to be funny.
A broken clamp is more engaging than this particular story, which has me dropping my second book this week. This is not a new idea, but the execution is so woefully lacklustre in terms of being interesting. I genuinely cannot fathom how this won anything, let alone a popularity poll.
It’s not that it’s bad. It’s that it isn’t any good. This story is just a clump of familiar ideas without a single thing to give it any spark. Except the parts where Sakura lapses into her Yakuza boss lady persona to save her bacon, of course, but that happens exactly once this entire volume. It’s the only hook, yet it doesn’t even use it. Unbalanced isn’t even the word.
Sakura gets to go back to school, not that she had a choice, but she’s forced to go to a private school with the boys. Hi-jinx do not ensue, instead she’s miserable and gets bullied relentlessly.
The ending of this plot does actually work, I will give it that, but that’s also the point where the Yakuza lady bit comes back, so draw the connection there. Honestly, this would have been three times as funny if the boys had been forced to go to Sakura’s regular old school with her. Absolute missed opportunity.
The relationships are obvious and the comedy’s not working and the heartfelt moments don’t work half the time. What the heck is left? I think I gave this more than a chance, but I leave it to its more invested readers to see this one through.
2.5 stars - I think this is almost as dull as a stack of zoning permits for a retirement home. Whatever zest was wrung from A Springtime For Ninjas is not to be found here and this is one reverse harem I am quickly backing away from.