In Volume 3, Ayaka stood up and protected Sora from a neglectful and selfish mother. With Sora no longer dealing with an unkind parent, Ayaka and Sora are free to figure out who they want to be as people, and what kind of partnership they want. This could very well have been the end of the series, but instead, we turn to our newest member of the friend group, Wakana.

It was pretty obvious that Wakana’s gaydar was sensitive enough to pick up on Sora and Ayaka’s relationship. And the way she watched over them felt like a story. In I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl, Volume 4 we learn that story.

Wakana’s past was only a little sad and, amazingly, her new friends make it possible to patch things up with her old friend. And that, in a nutshell, is what I like best about this series. Friends are as important here as lovers. Good friends give each other room to grow and accept their friends as they are. Sora and Ayaka are flying because their friends have lent them wings. In return Ayaka and Sora have opened up – to each other, to their friends, and to themselves.

The next hurdle is going to a tough hurdle – Ayaka has exams that will separate her from Sora, even as they both are thinking about moving forward in their physical relationship.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story –8
Characters – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

Kashykaze’s art is gentle and swooshy, everyone is maturing little by little, the rough edges of the plot are almost all smoothed out. There’s no doubt that the climax of this story will be happily-ever-after-…or will it?  Volume 5 will be out in December from Kodansha.