This volume essentially reached peak Tsumiki for me and it felt like it was really paying off all the time spent with the original characters while also adding in Yumenaka, a succubus who knows Tsumiki from junior high.
Yumenaka is a really fun character because, while she ends up as a rival for Tsumiki for Yutaka’s affections, she’s the only character who thinks this is a thing. She really causes a lot of problems, but in a good way.
Her deal is that she can, briefly, seduce/charm people by looking in their eyes, yet she also wants to be loved and seen as perfect without having to use her mythfolk abilities.
Yutaka, of course, is still shy and figuring himself out, so he can’t really bring himself to meet Yumenaka’s gaze anyway. He also manages to continually see her slight imperfections, which drives her nuts.
This will lead to the natural end state of the ongoing gag of Yutaka attracting the most desirable female cast members and annoying his classmates, whereupon he oversteps with a compliment and gets manhandled for his troubles.
In addition to being a funny character, Yumenaka also fuels Tsumiki reevaluating her relationship with Yutaka. I mean, we knew that was coming, but it’s so dang cute. They have a slew of little moments (and some big ones). It’s a very apt depiction of the stirrings of… something… that two young kids are still trying to label.
Tsumiki remains such a joyous character, one who is well-liked and quirky and just wants to be herself. Her more wolf-ish qualities like digging around in the dirt just add to the fun. I also think the way she and Yutaka are figuring themselves out is very well executed.
Honestly, I think Senga, the vampire, might steal the volume this time. Now that he’s friends with Yutaka he is trying to figure out what that even means and also desperately trying to cover how much he cares with indifference. It goes fantastically poorly.
There’s even a super charming camping trip, a hormone-infused training session, and a nice callback to the situation last volume between Mokuri, the spider, and Sugimi from the school paper. It’s cozy, without being cloying.
As you can tell, this volume is overstuffed with character moments. There are some stand out ones, but the whole thing is just cozy good times from start to finish. Yutaka might not be the most interesting, but he’s still working towards his goal and he at least does something rather than wait for friends to fall into his lap.
5 stars - just loved it from start to finish. I see they did announce an anime a while back and that might be the least surprising thing I’ve ever seen since I started reviewing manga. Well deserved.
I guess Crunchyroll shipped out my copy early. I say this wholeheartedly that this series is becoming my comfort. The succubus character gets introduced in this volume and the main cast gets into a ton of antics. The double pages provided are fun and even a bit of spider man like. Overall I’m never not excited to get another chapter through on this series. Will keep this series in my reread section for sure as I hope many others do as well!