The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten Volume 4 Review

Since I last reviewed The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, the series has been treated to an anime adaptation that ran over the course of the Winter 2023 season. But with that over and done with, it’s time to head back to the source material and find out what’s in store for our cast. 

Here in Volume 4, the relationship between Mahiru and Amane is coming to a head. Amane doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of standing beside Mahiru, so he begins a self-improvement plan to become someone suited to be with her. This includes studying more and getting in shape by jogging, both of which Mahiru tells him he doesn’t need to bother with (and is unaware he’s doing for her). 

While Amane is focused on self-improvement, Mahiru continues to grow exasperated by the fact her feelings aren’t getting through to him, no matter how many times she makes pointed comments or gets intimate with him in ways a friend wouldn’t. She’s not happy about Amane trying to keep his distance at school either, so our heroine is slowly trying to spend more time with him there to prove no harm will come to her by doing so. 

The majority of this volume can be summed up as Mahiru wants Amane to confess his feelings for her, he stubbornly pretends not to notice and he gets increasingly annoyed with him. At one point Amane even tells Mahiru that she should back off in case he gets the wrong impression about her actions, at which point I’m sure all of us readers wanted to shake him. 

Luckily for us, Mahiru takes matters into her own hands and by the end of this book the relationship between the two changes significantly – although I’ll let you find out for yourselves in what form that has taken! 

Back when I reviewed Volume 3, I commented that one of the things I appreciated about the series is the fact that Mahiru is trying to move things along, which is something I felt reading this instalment as well. It’s rare to have such a proactive heroine in stories like this, usually, you’d be waiting for the protagonist to figure out his feelings and resolve everything. I certainly prefer the way Mahiru acts since it’s closer to reality where someone may get fed up with waiting and take matters into their own hands, rather than waiting on the other person. 

I also like that author Saekisan spends equal time developing Mahiru as well as Amane this time around. This time around we really get into Amane’s head and begin to see why he lacks confidence in himself and feels unworthy of Mahiru. This is important since it shows us that Amane isn’t being clueless or deliberately avoiding her feelings for no reason and makes it easier to sympathise with his situation (even if it can be frustrating to watch play out at times). 

If nothing else, it’s reassuring that the ‘will they, won’t they’ element of the series is now over and done with. Now for Volume 5+ we’re going into uncharted territory where things between the two have changed significantly, for better or worse. There’s going to be a lot of repercussions from the actions of these two and that’s going to be interesting to watch play out. 

The recent anime adaptation covered Volumes 1-4 of the series, so if you’ve watched that, you’ll already be familiar with the content here. However, the anime significantly cut down portions of Volumes 3 and 4, so it’s still well worth checking out the source material to give you a better grasp of the cast’s feelings. Amane in particularly got very shortchanged by the cuts made to the anime and I think you’ll be able to resonate with him better with the full picture that the book provides. 

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten Volume 4 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press and continues to be translated by Nicole Wilder. The translation reads well with no problems to note. Volume 5 of the series is already available in English and after that comes Volume 5.5, which is scheduled for an English release in September. 

Overall, The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten Volume 4 does a tremendous job of shaking up the plot as Mahiru and Amane move toward changing their relationship. With plenty of character development for both of them, author Saekisan has delivered a book that will keep you turning the pages, eager to see what’s going to happen between the two.