27.33 ( )

Not long after the email from Kyoko to Kijima, Ren is knocked further off balance when he sees Kyoko in a car with Sho. Sho kidnapped Kyoko from school and forced her to spend time with him. She ends up telling him that she has no intention of falling for Ren (because she knows she'd be consumed by those feelings) and only wants to use his kindness to help herself become a better actress. Things take a darker turn when Ren confronts Kyoko about Sho while in his “cold, scary Ren” mode, but Kyoko appears to handle it well.

Wow, Ren is way off-kilter. I didn't like the very end of the volume, with dark, scary Ren, but at least Nakamura didn't quite end it on that note – showing Kyoko turning the tables and taking control right at the very end was a smart move that took some of the edge off that scene. I predict that Kyoko will have an “OMG, I can't believe I did that!” meltdown in the very next volume.

Sho clearly cares for Kyoko, in his own twisted sort of way, freaking out when he can't reach her by phone to harass her the way he normally does. That said, I'm not sure why he continues to get the page-time he does. If Nakamura is trying to turn this into a love triangle, it's not working – Sho might feel some affection for Kyoko, but that doesn't negate the fact that he's a selfish jerk. Plus, Kyoko hates him. If she doesn't end up with Ren in the end, I'd rather she stay single than end up with Sho.

At the end of the previous volume, I desperately wanted to know how the whole thing with Kijima, Ren, Kyoko, and the GIF-y emails went, and I wasn't disappointed. Ren doesn't say “I'm interested in Kyoko, so back off,” but he comes close enough to it (“why email when I prefer to hear her voice?") that Kijima gets the message. On the one hand, it's nice to see Ren being a little more open about his feelings for Kyoko. On the other hand, this volume's dark, scary Ren combined with even slightly possessive behavior is maybe not a good thing.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )