In my previous reviews of Volume 1,  Volume 2 and Volume 3 of Nakatani Nio-sensei’s series I have expressed, at length, my discomfort with this series as a whole and in specific. I won’t beat that same drum today. And, as the book is available in English now, (Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3 are available in English and Volume 4 will be out in winter 2018 ) you can decide for yourself whether you share my perspective.

In Volume 4 of Yagate Kimi ni Naru, (やがて君になる), a new plot complication enters the ring, which is already quite crowded. And once again, I’m not sure whether it’s there as a tiresome plot complication or a really deeply complex emotional conflict that is given no words with which to be expressed. 

The Student Council is going to perform a play for the school festival. Written by one of Yuu’s classmates, it strikes much too close to the truth for the actor’s comfort, but they put everything they have into the play. They decide to spend a few days at the school in a training camp to practice. This puts Sayaka, Touko and Yuu in close proximity for several tense days as their mutually exclusive desires keep any one of them from breaking the detentes.

More critically for Touko, in the course of the training she meets a man who knew her sister in school. For the first time she’s able to see past the glamour to get a glimpse of the person she’s always been running after, who may not be what she thought.

And most critically, we meet a friend of Yuu’s from school who notes that Yuu’s current level of normal whining about her club activities being so exhausting is kind of refreshing. Natuski notes that when Yuu was on softball team she never seemed to have any opinion about anything and made no decisions.  Now, Natsuki notes, she has an an actual interest. Are we meant to understand this as an important quality in Yuu – a crippling indecisiveness that she’s just now moving past? Or is this just a standard manga handwave, like Hazumu’s inability to make even the simplest decisions in Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl?

I don’t know and you’ll get to decide for yourselves, when Volume 4 comes out in English in February.

I call this the most problematic book I’m currently reading. I just can’t like Yuu or Touko, but I quite like Sayaka  and really want her coming out the other end of this only nominally scathed.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 5 This issue has issues
Characters – 8 
Yuri – 7
Service – 4 Bathing scenes with three girls, two of whom are lesbian.

Overall – 8….

I don’t see a way out for anyone as of yet. I hope to heck Nakatani-sensei has a plan here. I very much want to believe she’s not just jerking us around, but this is a Dengeki series, so I’m really not all that sure.