A Sister’s All You Need Volume 14 Review

All good things must come to an end, but I find it especially difficult to let go of manga and light novels that finish up after hitting double-digit volume numbers. Nevertheless, the time to bid farewell to A Sister’s All You Need has finally rolled around as Volume 14 brings the story to its end. Is it a satisfying conclusion? Let’s find out! 

Three years have passed for Itsuki and the rest of the cast. Some things have changed significantly like Itsuki and Nayuta now being married and having a child, while some things have stayed the same. Itsuki still struggles to meet his deadlines much to the dismay of Miyako who’s now one of his editors after he joined Branch Hill Publishing, and Haruto and Miyako are still not an item, despite their promise to give it a go when Miyako felt ready. 

In the time that’s passed in-universe since Volume 13, it’s clear that everyone has accomplished quite a lot as they continue to chase their dreams in an industry that’s so fickle. Itsuki is no longer known as the little sister-loving author after the novel he wrote to propose to Miyako and later published became a mainstream hit. But since then, no matter what he does, Itsuki can’t rekindle the same passion he had at that moment and all his books since have been fine, but nothing awe-inspiring. 

This isn’t helped by the fact Nayuta has taken a break from her work to focus on raising their son, which Itsuki is happy about but wishes she’d return to the industry so he had someone else to compete with. The feelings he has for Nayuta as his wife and those as Nayuta the writer are different and, as her biggest fan, he wants to see her putting out new novels. 

Meanwhile, Chihiro is still hung up on her feelings for Haruto and while she continues to try and draw his eye, she’s largely accepted he only has feelings for Miyako. But despite the fact Miyako likes him too, there’s been zero movement on the romantic front and now Chihiro has had enough. Together with Itsuki, she comes up with a scheme that will force them to make a move so that she can finally give up and accept her own broken heart. 

The rest of the cast has changed significantly too, with some having left the entertainment industry  behind and some having continued onward despite some poor sales and reviews of their latest work. It’s reassuring to us readers to find everyone in good spirits, no matter what they’ve been through or what the future looks like.

Rather than being a full-fledged novel in its own right, A Sister’s All You Need Volume 14 feels like an epilogue. It ties up loose ends while giving us a final look at where everyone stands, which is all we needed. It’s also filled with plenty of the crazy antics we’ve come to know and love the series for (although I feel we could have done without Itsuki’s little sister being so obsessed with breasts, but here we are…). It’s a fitting way to send the series off for good, either way. 

When I started reviewing this series back in 2018 I picked it up having enjoyed the anime and thinking it would be something different to read and enjoy. I wasn’t convinced at this point that I’d be reviewing it all the way through to the end, but the fact I have speaks to how consistently interesting these books have been. No matter what happened, I always felt like I had plenty to say and a lot I felt passionately about, both in terms of the narrative but also the development of the characters. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to sit here and talk about each of these books at length and I sincerely hope that you readers have enjoyed reading these as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. 

This isn’t a series everyone will get on with. The comedy can be raunchy and nonsensical and the characters can have irritating personality quirks. As much as this is now one of my favourite light novel series, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. But if you are okay with these things and you’re genuinely interested in the creative process both from the perspective of writers themselves and also the editors and companies who help them along the way, this is a fantastic story with so much to teach you. It often feels like author Yomi Hirasaka writes from experience as the characters face new problems, particularly once they hit the midpoint of the series and that is what kept me invested for so long. There’s a rawness to the emotion buried among the silly humour and once you unearth that, there’s no looking back. 

A Sister’s All You Need Volume 14 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 note. Gifford has done tremendous work with this one from beginning to end, especially with translating all the references and puns that the comedy is often hinged on. 

Overall, Volume 14 of A Sister’s All You Need brings the series to its conclusion with a collection of stories that show no matter what happens to the cast they’ll always be the same characters we’ve come to know and love. As sad as it is to bid the series farewell, this feels like the perfect place to. Hopefully, it won’t be too long until we can read another of this author’s works in English.