A Sister’s All You Need Volume 8 Review

While we might just be approaching the end of 2020, the cast of A Sister’s All You Need ring in the New Year in the series’ 8th volume. With Itsuki’s anime approaching, this is sure to be a thrilling and important 12 months for his future as an author, but it seems things have already begun to go terribly wrong… 

As we reunite with the cast, we’re just days away from the anime for Itsuki’s All About My Little Sister series being announced. The plan is to open the official website with a trailer and special illustration but before this can happen, the anime is leaked by light novel publisher GF Bunko! 

The confirmation of the anime was also due to be on the cover of the series’ latest volume and an image of the book accidentally got approved for going on GF Bunko’s website ahead of schedule, leading to eagle-eyed fans spotting the news. Of course, this leads to anger from the anime team as well as Itsuki, but even beyond that, everyone is just disappointed to have their plans ruined. 

Worse still, the illustrator for All About My Little Sister is so heartbroken they find themselves unable to complete the special illustration. Now editor Kenjiro Toki needs to find a way to resolve everything peacefully while restoring the happiness of his author and illustrator, which is no easy task. 

I often say that A Sister’s All You Need is at its best when the series is dealing with industry stories and that certainly holds true this time around. Not only is it interesting seeing how a leak like this comes about, but it’s also fascinating to read about the steps taken to resolve it. Perhaps more importantly, this story is incredibly emotional. 

In the afterword for this volume author Yomi Hirasaka admits that the situation Itsuki finds himself in is exactly what Hirasaka went through with the anime adaptation of A Sister’s All You Need (although in that case, the news broke a month early instead of a week). I think this storyline would have been just as compelling even if it hadn’t happened to the author, but knowing it has certainly added an extra depth to it. 

Although we’re used to seeing news leak about potential upcoming anime or big announcements for a particular series, it’s not often we sit and think about how this impacts the people working behind the scenes. This story made me appreciate how disheartening a leak is for everyone working so hard on breaking the news in the most exciting way, be it with the launch of a website or a special illustration. 

I also like that A Sister’s All You Need didn’t overdramatise this plot. Feelings are hurt and people are disappointed, but apologies are made and things go on as normal. No one loses their job or anything, which is something the author could have easily chosen to do. 

There is also plenty of the usual fun in this volume to balance out the anime storyline too. Notably, this time around we see Nayuta, Miyako and Kaiko decide to move in together so that they can be closer to GF Bunko and finally live on their own away from their parents. This will no doubt cause plenty of drama in future volumes, but for now, I’m just happy to see our female cast growing closer to one another away from the influence of Itsuki and the other boys. 

A Sister’s All You Need Volume 8 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press and has been translated by Kevin Gifford. As always the translation reads well with no issues to speak of. If you’ve watched the anime adaptation of the series then you’ll be particularly interested in Hirasaka’s afterword, which goes into detail on their involvement and the decision to rearrange some content. Volume 9 of the series is currently scheduled for an English release in February. 

Overall, A Sister’s All You Need Volume 8 proves a heartfelt read which tackles its subject matter maturely and respectably. This is certainly an example of the series at its very best and reaffirms that beneath all the ridiculous antics of the cast there is something quite special to be found.