I adored this. Misaki, Usagi, and the gang are all just so fabulous. ( )

I adored this. Misaki, Usagi, and the gang are all just so fabulous. ( )

Okay, this one is full of goodness; this is probably my favorite volume of the series so far, and certainly my favorite one that dealt mostly with Usagi and Misaki. Again, Misaki is being pushed and is more unsure of himself and what he wants to do with life, but the character has developed and seems more of an adult, and thus the connection with Usagi seems easier to deal with, as well. His worries about what he'll do with his life are fleshed out more, as Usagi's cousin Mizuki pushes his buttons about being too casual and relying too much on Usagi. Misaki joins his new friend Toudou at a job fair, and gets bogged down immediately, and lost in his thoughts, pretty realistically. Another of Usagi's cousins, Kaoruko, also makes an appearance, and her connection with the characters - annoyed arguing with Mizuki, touchiness with Usagi, interest in Misaki - serves the story well. And now, there's a big trip coming with Toudou and the currently relevant Usami relatives to Fukuoka to attend a signing for Misaki and Toudou's favorite manga author! This is all good, the art feels even better, and the romance feels... nicer? More level? I like it.

There are two stories at the end in the Hiroki / Nowaki line - a little kid Nowaki at the foster house story where he meets with Hiroki as a kid in that way grown-ups who fall in love always do in Japanese stories, and one around Nowaki's birthday where his work and work colleagues sort of get in the way of the celebration; those are both well done, too. Now that I think on it more, this is probably my favorite in the series, yeah. If you can make it this far, it's worth it! ( )