By Kyosuke Kamishiro and TakayaKi. Released in Japan as “Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

I spent a lot of this volume wondering how seriously I should take the yuri pandering. There is, and I think this is the 4th or 5th time I’ve said this, a ludicrous amount of boob grabbing in this book, to the point where it’s almost every 4th or 5th page. This is partly a consequence of the plot, which is a class trip, meaning lots of scenes of the girls off by themselves, but still. But we also get a suggestion that a girl confessed to Mizuto because in reality she was in love with Yume (which is… not QUITE true) and a lot of bi panic in this book, which is sometimes played for comedy, but also sometimes meant to be taken seriously. Finally, near the end, we get… well, we get something that I am reluctant to spoil because this volume is a mystery, but it at least suggests that there are SOME actual lesbians in this series. And that Isana is absolutely bi. (We knew that already.)

It’s class trip time, and everyone’s off to Okinawa! Of course, there are a few hiccups. Mizuto and Yume have had their first time, and really want to have more, but “surrounded by our classmates” means that’s not gonna happen. Yume’s attempts to hide who she’s dating are spreading all sorts of rumors, and while she’s able to control and dissuade the guys confessing to her, Mizuto struggles a lot more when he’s confessed to… by Asuhain? On the trip itself, we get a gyaru group who seem to be wrapped up in SOMETHING, but it’s unclear how sinister it actually is. We get snorkeling, we get shopping. We get Yume realizing that Asuhain has been avoiding her ever since the last volume, and she can’t figure out why. And, perhaps worst of all, Isana’s breasts are now public knowledge, and everyone wants to grope them.

So yeah, as you guessed, this is still mostly a series for horny guys. That said, there is serious stuff here beneath all the boob jokes. The author tries to tell a mystery, and while the culprit is not a surprise, it is mildly interesting seeing Mizuto doing his detective work while also being smug about it. The subplot with Asuhain is handled seriously and works really well with her character – she’s always felt like “Yume only one year behind”, and this just reinforces the hell out of that. And then there’s Isana, who I think is finally giving up on the polycule. It’s framed as a joke in the end, in that she tried to see if seeing Yume and Mizuto being romantic and loving would give her heartache but she was too distracted by Yume’s sexiness, but that and the other surprise revelation makes me wonder if the author is, perhaps, going to give us a token nickel by the end of this series.

Probably not. Next volume we’re back with Akatsuki, so it will likely back off from Isana a bit. Still, under all the fanservice there’s still a nice little story. But man, you have to dig past a lot of fanservice.

By Kyosuke Kamishiro and TakayaKi. Released in Japan as “Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

This is the first volume taking place after our main couple have gotten together… again… and as you can imagine, it’s leading up to one big scene. That said, it certainly does meander before it gets there. This series has always played with viewpoint – from the start, the main chapters alternated between Mizuto and Yume, usually with some variation on how they used to be in love but are older and wiser now. As the series went on, we got more and more viewpoints from the POV of other characters, such as the best friends of our lead couple, or the rest of the student council. And honestly, with this volume I think we may have finally gotten an answer to the question “how much is too much”. I think everyone in the entire cast with the exception of Isana gets a look in here, and it makes the book too scattered. It’s only in the final dramatic battle/love scene that it settles down – ironically, when the POV switch is at its worst.

Mizuto and Yume are now a couple once more, but there is a slight problem – they’re still stepsiblings. As a result, they have to hide their relationship from both their parents and from everyone at school. The latter is only slightly successful – Minami and Kawanami figure things out pretty fast – but it does mean that there are a certain amount of repressed feelings that are happening. And, of course, this book also takes place around Valentine’s Day and White Day, with all the plots that you’d expect with that. We get another couple getting together here, despite some truly amazing amounts of self-hatred and loathing to get through in order to accept it – and as for Minami and Kawanami… it may be a bit longer, but they’re making real prgress as well. As for Mizuto and Yume, their parents taking an extended away trip means that they may finally be able to go all the way this time… provided this does not turn into Kaguya-sama: Love Is War again.

I will admit, I was schnookered by the author. The moment the two of them decided that this was going to be some sort of contest to see who admitted to wanting to have sex first, I was fairly certain that they were going to end up just doing nothing till their parents came back. But no, for once the two have semi-matured enough – and are prepared enough to buy nice lingerie and condoms – that they actually do end up getting past the competitiveness and having their first time. The sex, as you can imagine, is elided rather than explicitly described, but the elision is actually very clever, relying on the swapping narrative POV to give us the rhythm of two lovers coming closer and closer to a climax. Also, as with the previous sex scene in this series, the first time is not necessarily “the best sex ever” – it’s typical first sex – but they’re both happy, which is all that matters.

That competitiveness may end up returning after the cliffhanger ending to this book, though thankfully it will be in the classroom rather than the bedroom. I just hope we can get back to primarily being Mizuto and Yume’s narration.

By Kyosuke Kamishiro and TakayaKi. Released in Japan as “Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

For a series whose strongest point is not its fanservice, this series sure has a lot of it. That said, at least the fanservice serves a narrative purpose. Even the sex scene in the book – not between our two leads, I hasten to add, but between Aso and Hoshibe – ends up demonstrating, somewhat painfully, that the blush of first love is not always perfect, and that sometimes simple physical difficulties can “ruin” your perfect memories. Meanwhile Yume has been revving the fanservice up, in an effort to get Mizuto to drop his stoic poker face, and ends up going overboard, to the point where he finally snaps and screams at her in desperation. As for Isana… well, yeah, that is fanservice pure and simple, but it also serves to underline for Mizuto that he can’t simply pretend to be a logical robot who makes every decision using bullet points. And that’s important, because there’s a rather annoying thing undercutting this wannabe romantic reuniting… they’re both family now.

It’s Christmas, and Yume has a lot to worry about. She’s set a deadline of the new year to either get Mizuto to rekindle their relationship or just give up, and he’s not cooperating very well, to the point where she’s forced to do things like wave her cleavage at him and hope he reacts. Her birth father wants to meet with her and Mizuto, and given that he’s never particularly cared about Yume before, she’s not quite sure why. And Mizuto has started spending all his time at Isana’s place. The last is for a very good reason – having seen Isana’s art and how good it is, he realizes that she needs a manager in order to achieve anything, as she has no real drive to succeed of her own. So it’s time for Pixiv accounts and Twitter alts, as well as drawing more and more so that she improves. But doesn’t everyone still think they’re dating?

The “is this incest or not?” part of the conversation is not really resolved here, mostly as, well, the premise of the series means that “not” is going to have to be the correct answer. I think the fact that they’ve only been siblings for 9 months takes the curse off it a bit. More difficult is that these two are both big, BIG nerds, and it not only comes out in their school work and reading but also in how they live their lives. Mizuto has never really felt passionate about much till he gets the idea to “manage” Isana’s art, and he proves to be very adept at it. Unfortunately, he’s also listening to Yume’s dad, who is projecting hard onto Mizuto and giving him advice that may not be that helpful. As for Yume, she doesn’t want to cut Mizuto off from Isana, who is her friend as well, but can’t quite work out how close they should be after he and Yume become a couple without resorting to math. Never decide how friendly your lover can be with other women using math.

The author is quick to assure us the series is not ending despite the couple confessing (reconfessing?) at the end, so we’ll see what the fallout is. But this was an in-character, if not entirely satisfying, way for these two to fix things.