by Matt Marcus, Staff Writer

I ran into an ex once at the public batting cages in Arlington, VA. Well, she wasn’t really an ex, more like the other half of a pseudo-situationship. I spied her out of the corner of my eye as my then-girlfriend-now-wife and I looked for an open spot. If I were punching up this story, I would say we locked eyes through the wire fence. In a moment frozen in time, I’d be shot through with the pain of regret of decisions not made sooner, words left unsaid. My date would notice I had become quiet and distracted; I would shrug off any questions about it despite my soured mood, kicking off a downward spiral that ruins our date. But nothing so dramatic happened; we simply found an open cage, hit some dingers, and had a lovely rest of our evening.

In the previous volume of Assorted Entanglements, Shizuku was rattled by seeing a woman we haven’t seen before while walking Saori back to her house. Saori noticed, but couldn’t bring herself to ask. Turns out that the garishly-dressed woman is Shizuku’s ex.

A notable amount of Assorted Entanglements Volume 7 is dedicated to Shizuku’s past with this woman, Miki, and what Saori decides to do in response. This is the most seriously dramatic tone that Mikanuji-sensei has gone for in this series and I think that it pays off. We thankfully get no more detail about the abuse she suffered from her parents (and the violent reaction that landed her in juvvie), but her story with Miki, a hairstylist who took Shizuku in after she ran away from her foster parents, is tantamount to grooming. We don’t know much about how Shizuku extricated herself from that relationship or how she feels about it now (though she still wears her hair with the cornrows that is Miki’s personal style), but the effect of the encounter in the present makes her retread into her prickly Bad Girl shell.

Thankfully, what could prove to be a setback in “progress” turns into the opportunity for Saori to finally admit her honest feelings–that despite all her bluster and dismissal, she does indeed love Shizuku. Shizuku tacitly accepts this, and another ship sails. To be honest, I’m still iffy on the recurring theme that these so-called delinquents (read: abused young women) who have severe self-worth issues need to be whipped into shape by the normie girls/women who happen to love them. If I am being charitable, I’d highlight that the point being made is that they (Shizuku and Minami) are indeed worthy of the love they receive, which is good and true. I just wish they weren’t punished by their lovers for struggling with accepting affection.

Let’s not forget that this is still an ensemble story. Iori and Minami are up to their normal hijinks (this time they go to an onsen!). We get one short chapter of Sugimoto at her part-time job glowing about her aquarium date and not taking heed of her boss’ advice not to get her hopes up. Unfortunately, Heke-sensei and Shinohara-san finally succumbed to Mikanuji-sensei’s love of “slapstick” violence for one gag, but otherwise their chapters continue to be a sweet love story of a failgirl nerd and her blunt-but-secretly-tender lover/boss. It’s all solidly entertaining stuff.

If you have been waiting, nay, shouting at the pages for Shizuku and Saori to finally just get over themselves and have it out, then you will be pleased as punch here. With 3 out of 4 couples established, that leaves one last problematic pair to wrap up.

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

Overall – 8 Somehow made me “happy” for the worst couple here

The story of these mismatched women continues in Volume 8, coming our way in August.

Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, as well as the writer for the blog Oh My God, They Were Bandmates analyzing How Do We Relationship in greater depth.