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Otherside Picnic Light Novel #4
Otherside Picnic: Volume 4
Winter is coming. Having been attacked by a group that worshiped Satsuki Uruma, Sorawo and Toriko head to the cult's former base—the Farm in the Mountains. The other world is still chock full of all kinds of dangerous mysteries, but the allure of exploring the unknown is ever present. Sorawo prepares for more adventures with Toriko, but the most terrifying of threats is silently closing in on them. Not to mention the fact that it seems there's something Toriko needs to tell Sorawo... There's no turning back now—a whirlwind of bizarre exploration and survival is upon them!
Kindle Edition
First published December 19, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 26, 2025
one of my favorite volumes of otherside picnic by far! not only does it deepen the horror aspect of it but the character development felt so natural. the plot really thickens here and we even get to read about sorawo's past which has not been mentioned a lot in the previous novels
i'm so excited to read the next volume, i can't seem to stop reading this.
all i can say is thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you
i'm so excited to read the next volume, i can't seem to stop reading this.
all i can say is thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you
February 12, 2021
Sorawo and Toriko clean up in the aftermath of their most recent encounters with the other world. They establish a new base of operations, go on vacation, and make some major plans. Woven through it all lurks the hidden dangers of the Otherside, and, while the unknown might be frightening, it’s got nothing on the fear of coming to know yourself...
Back when I was a wee reviewer with little to say, I commented that the first volume of Otherside Picnic was high on the creepy and low on the yuri.
That complaint will not be levelled at this volume.
Sorawo has truly come into her own in the last couple books and the narrative zeroes in on her even more this time around and we learn so much from both her actions (and inactions) and further revelations of her past (if you thought her early life was bad, well, it turns out it’s worse).
The last section of the third book completely upended the story in a couple of important ways and how the fallout spreads across this book is so fascinating and really changes both the dynamics and the narrative. It’s quite impressive how interesting our leads have become.
The Otherside might not be an intelligence, per se, but there is certainly an intent and a malevolence behind it and, with certain avenues closed to it, others must be opened. This becomes very apparent during a conversation between Kozakura and Sorawo later on and is the fulcrum this volume hinges on.
And for all that she goes through during this book, indeed, this might be the most vulnerable Sorawo has ever been, it’s very telling that dealing with Toriko is what terrifies her the most.
I realized partway through that any actual homosexuality had never even been hinted at in this series and it turns out I wasn’t dreaming that. I don’t know that they’ll be much more explicit, but it’s pretty clear that Sorawo may never have had a chance to think her sexuality through until now and since something has caused Toriko’s breaks to come off it’s making her flip out.
Needless to say, this is all terribly believable and well written. It’s not hard to understand Sorawo’s reluctance - she has been abandoned both physically and emotionally by literally every person in her life up to this point, so even with how much she might care about Toriko, being asked to love her is a whole other step.
Toriko is not quite as focal as Sorawo, but they still do some interesting stuff with her. They smartly play up the fact that she’s from Canada during the hot springs visit, which takes the cultural differences in bathing into account to cannily effective results.
This leads to a highly humorous change of positions, where Toriko is initially mortified that they’ll all be bathing naked then clearly realizes it lets her get an eyeful of Sorawo and becomes very accepting of it. Once Sorawo realizes this, she becomes increasingly discomfited with hot springs etiquette, as her easygoing behaviour withers as she becomes the focus of attention.
I wouldn’t say the hot springs chapter is essential, but there’s a lot of fun to it and they do have some of the most important dialogue, internally and externally, of the book.
If I have a smidgen of a complaint, it’s that despite the very novel and smart use of ghost stories to inform the series, these chapters all follow the exact same pattern - everything is normal until it suddenly isn’t, problem is solved, move on. I recognize that that’s the thrust of the series, but the hot springs doesn’t need the ending it’s saddled with, honestly.
4.5 stars, frankly, and excessive characterization and interesting adjustments to both story and relationships nudge it ahead of its niggling faults. I am quite, quite happy I got caught up with these novels. It just feels like a lot pays off here.
Back when I was a wee reviewer with little to say, I commented that the first volume of Otherside Picnic was high on the creepy and low on the yuri.
That complaint will not be levelled at this volume.
Sorawo has truly come into her own in the last couple books and the narrative zeroes in on her even more this time around and we learn so much from both her actions (and inactions) and further revelations of her past (if you thought her early life was bad, well, it turns out it’s worse).
The last section of the third book completely upended the story in a couple of important ways and how the fallout spreads across this book is so fascinating and really changes both the dynamics and the narrative. It’s quite impressive how interesting our leads have become.
The Otherside might not be an intelligence, per se, but there is certainly an intent and a malevolence behind it and, with certain avenues closed to it, others must be opened. This becomes very apparent during a conversation between Kozakura and Sorawo later on and is the fulcrum this volume hinges on.
And for all that she goes through during this book, indeed, this might be the most vulnerable Sorawo has ever been, it’s very telling that dealing with Toriko is what terrifies her the most.
I realized partway through that any actual homosexuality had never even been hinted at in this series and it turns out I wasn’t dreaming that. I don’t know that they’ll be much more explicit, but it’s pretty clear that Sorawo may never have had a chance to think her sexuality through until now and since something has caused Toriko’s breaks to come off it’s making her flip out.
Needless to say, this is all terribly believable and well written. It’s not hard to understand Sorawo’s reluctance - she has been abandoned both physically and emotionally by literally every person in her life up to this point, so even with how much she might care about Toriko, being asked to love her is a whole other step.
Toriko is not quite as focal as Sorawo, but they still do some interesting stuff with her. They smartly play up the fact that she’s from Canada during the hot springs visit, which takes the cultural differences in bathing into account to cannily effective results.
This leads to a highly humorous change of positions, where Toriko is initially mortified that they’ll all be bathing naked then clearly realizes it lets her get an eyeful of Sorawo and becomes very accepting of it. Once Sorawo realizes this, she becomes increasingly discomfited with hot springs etiquette, as her easygoing behaviour withers as she becomes the focus of attention.
I wouldn’t say the hot springs chapter is essential, but there’s a lot of fun to it and they do have some of the most important dialogue, internally and externally, of the book.
If I have a smidgen of a complaint, it’s that despite the very novel and smart use of ghost stories to inform the series, these chapters all follow the exact same pattern - everything is normal until it suddenly isn’t, problem is solved, move on. I recognize that that’s the thrust of the series, but the hot springs doesn’t need the ending it’s saddled with, honestly.
4.5 stars, frankly, and excessive characterization and interesting adjustments to both story and relationships nudge it ahead of its niggling faults. I am quite, quite happy I got caught up with these novels. It just feels like a lot pays off here.
April 12, 2021
Toriko and Sorawo clean up in the aftermath of the Farm and plan a vacation.
The girl’s relationship gets a stronger focus in this book as they get a chance to slow down after Sorawo’s kidnapping and what happened with Satsuki. But as Sorawo examines how things between them have changed and where she wants things to go with Toriko that doesn’t mean the Otherside will be taking a vacation along with them.
There’s still plenty of creepy along with some worrying implications behind how Sorawo is being targeted. Great continuation of the story, good character development, and plenty more questions to answer!
The girl’s relationship gets a stronger focus in this book as they get a chance to slow down after Sorawo’s kidnapping and what happened with Satsuki. But as Sorawo examines how things between them have changed and where she wants things to go with Toriko that doesn’t mean the Otherside will be taking a vacation along with them.
There’s still plenty of creepy along with some worrying implications behind how Sorawo is being targeted. Great continuation of the story, good character development, and plenty more questions to answer!
June 4, 2021
"I lost my Mom, and went through hell, but just being able to meet Toriko was enough to make life satisfying."
again, not surprisingly, otherside picnic continues to deliver an incredible story full of suspense, net horror and lesbianism. i'm positive that iori miyazawa's next work is gonna be even better and i can't wait to read it!!!
again, not surprisingly, otherside picnic continues to deliver an incredible story full of suspense, net horror and lesbianism. i'm positive that iori miyazawa's next work is gonna be even better and i can't wait to read it!!!
July 25, 2021
Definitivamente el autor se ha lucido con esta serie. Empezó con un terror muy ligero en la primera novela hasta llegar a escenas que te dejan los nervios de punta en esta última. Otherside Picnic se ha convertido en mi serie de novelas yuri favorita.
October 18, 2022
空魚と鳥子の二人の関係と、その関係の進展を中心とした巻でした。とても楽しみでした。
空魚と一緒の時あまりにも馴れ馴れしく振る舞う鳥子の挙動に戸惑う空魚を見てて「この子ほんとバカだね」と思わざるを得ませんね。。。でも鈍感な空魚が鳥子の想いにどう答えるか楽しみにするのもせざるを得なくなりませんね w
まぁ、あんまり分析とかあらすじ書くとかしたくないのでこの辺にしときます。二人の関係はこれからもどう進展するかは（自分の語彙力について疑問が湧いてきました）楽しみですね。夏巳と茜理のカップリングもアリで嬉しい。。。（もっと百合期待していいってことね www）
空魚と一緒の時あまりにも馴れ馴れしく振る舞う鳥子の挙動に戸惑う空魚を見てて「この子ほんとバカだね」と思わざるを得ませんね。。。でも鈍感な空魚が鳥子の想いにどう答えるか楽しみにするのもせざるを得なくなりませんね w
まぁ、あんまり分析とかあらすじ書くとかしたくないのでこの辺にしときます。二人の関係はこれからもどう進展するかは（自分の語彙力について疑問が湧いてきました）楽しみですね。夏巳と茜理のカップリングもアリで嬉しい。。。（もっと百合期待していいってことね www）
October 4, 2023
My positive comments from my reviews of the previous volumes still apply. The devolopment of the story and growth of the characters continues to be well done. As before I found myself enjoying it as much as previous volumes.
December 31, 2020
4.5 but ill round it up since I truly enjoyed this volume.
March 30, 2023
Chillingly wonderful
August 15, 2022
This volume was much better and felt less episodic than the previous one, mostly because the stories in it had two common threads :
- First, the growing affection between Sorawo and Toriko. Now that Toriko knows that Satsuki is not going back, she is no longer conflicted about her love for Sorawo, and will openly flirt with Sorawo and tell her she loves her. Which is kind of a problem for the very shy and closeted Sorawo, who seems unsure and confused about what her feelings for Toriko are, and how she should respond to Toriko's advances. But it is obvious that they are growing closer together throughout the novel. I found that part very well-written and believable, and kind of endearing. It made for an interesting contrast with the horror and weirdness of the Otherside.
- But of course this is still primarily an horror novel, and looming over the stories are literally the monsters from Sorawo's past, in particular the Red Person. Sorawo had already mentioned the Red Person briefly in the first volume, but now we realize that it was actually a monster from the Otherside, and that it probably is responsible for the death of Sorawo's family, along with the cult they joined.
I thought the Red Person and the Kudan were the most disturbing Otherside monsters yet. They felt particularly evil and nasty, and seemed to want to target and hurt Sorawo personally. A lot of the entities from the Otherside in the previous volume were terrifyingly alien, but did not feel actually malicious in their motivations, only destroying humans because they did not know how to safely interact with them. But this one seemed designed to target Sorawo, taking all the darkness and anger in the depths of her mind, her self-hate and her self-destructing tendencies, and the pain she had from being betrayed by her family after her mother's death, and then throwing it back in her face in an attempt to get Sorawo to kill herself. It was literally her own demons, given physical shapes. Of course, it was probably still an attempt by the entities of the Otherside to communicate with Sorawo, only hurting her because they do not understand how human beings work. But it felt way nastier than before.
Anyway, I think this is my favorite volume in the series yet, both for the Otherside managing to be even scarier than before, and for the progress in Sorawo and Toriko relationship.
- First, the growing affection between Sorawo and Toriko. Now that Toriko knows that Satsuki is not going back, she is no longer conflicted about her love for Sorawo, and will openly flirt with Sorawo and tell her she loves her. Which is kind of a problem for the very shy and closeted Sorawo, who seems unsure and confused about what her feelings for Toriko are, and how she should respond to Toriko's advances. But it is obvious that they are growing closer together throughout the novel. I found that part very well-written and believable, and kind of endearing. It made for an interesting contrast with the horror and weirdness of the Otherside.
- But of course this is still primarily an horror novel, and looming over the stories are literally the monsters from Sorawo's past, in particular the Red Person. Sorawo had already mentioned the Red Person briefly in the first volume, but now we realize that it was actually a monster from the Otherside, and that it probably is responsible for the death of Sorawo's family, along with the cult they joined.
I thought the Red Person and the Kudan were the most disturbing Otherside monsters yet. They felt particularly evil and nasty, and seemed to want to target and hurt Sorawo personally. A lot of the entities from the Otherside in the previous volume were terrifyingly alien, but did not feel actually malicious in their motivations, only destroying humans because they did not know how to safely interact with them. But this one seemed designed to target Sorawo, taking all the darkness and anger in the depths of her mind, her self-hate and her self-destructing tendencies, and the pain she had from being betrayed by her family after her mother's death, and then throwing it back in her face in an attempt to get Sorawo to kill herself. It was literally her own demons, given physical shapes. Of course, it was probably still an attempt by the entities of the Otherside to communicate with Sorawo, only hurting her because they do not understand how human beings work. But it felt way nastier than before.
Anyway, I think this is my favorite volume in the series yet, both for the Otherside managing to be even scarier than before, and for the progress in Sorawo and Toriko relationship.
March 11, 2025
"—our playground" — I LOVE THESE LOSERS SO MUCH GRAHHHHHHHHH, DID THEIR FIRST KISS HAVE TO BE WHEN SORAWO JUST PUKED?!! TORIKO YOU NASTYY. THE CHRISTMAS GIFT SHE GAVE, THE KNIVES THEMED AROUND THEIR NAMES AGHHHHGHHHHHH I'M BAWLING MY EYES OUT IT'S TOO CUTEEEEEE.
The main theme of this volume being Sorawo's past and her learning to come in terms of them rather than suppressing those memories was a genuinely great follow up after Volume 3. It is actually one of the more unsettling out of the volumes so far with File 13 and 15 unearthing the existence of the Red Person that was mentioned back in Volume 1!
The main theme of this volume being Sorawo's past and her learning to come in terms of them rather than suppressing those memories was a genuinely great follow up after Volume 3. It is actually one of the more unsettling out of the volumes so far with File 13 and 15 unearthing the existence of the Red Person that was mentioned back in Volume 1!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews