Hirano and Kagiura Volume 04 Review
“Isn’t there anything you want me to do for you, Hirano-san?” Kagiura (for the nth time).
Second-year Hirano and first-year Kagiura are sharing a room in the dorm at their high school. But Kagiura has fallen for his room-mate – even though Hirano insists – in a kindly way at first and then much more firmly – that he doesn’t feel the same way. Perhaps it’s down to Hirano’s innate kindness that he’s agreed to allow Kagiura ten second of bodily contact (holding hands) a day. Mistake? Well yes, because Kagiura is ready to read anything into the slightest sign that Hirano’s defences might be beginning to crack.
And hanging over all the dorm inmates is the fact that if they want to continue sharing a room with the same person in the next academic year, they’ve got to do well in the end-of-year exams. This shouldn’t be a problem for Hirano but Kagiura might be a gifted sports player (he’s on a scholarship) yet he’s far from strong on the academic side. Even with Hirano’s coaching and encouragement, he’s struggling. So as the end of the school year approaches, Kagiura realizes that these might be their last days sharing a room.
In the meantime, Kagiura confides in his classmate Niibashi who has a refreshingly down-to-earth way of looking at things. Niibashi’s the one to suggest that Kagiura is relying too much on Hirano; maybe, instead of Hirano having to wake him up every morning, he could wake Hirano up instead?
The story of the relationship between Hirano and Kagiura has been really slow to get underway, even if you compare it to the very slow burn of the first volumes of Sasaki and Miyano. It’s understandable that Shou Harusono would want to make these two protagonists very different from her main pair but she’s set herself a difficult task. I think we’re meant to hope/think that Hirano will eventually stop protesting that he doesn’t feel anything for his smitten kohai ‘in that way’ and will give way to Kagi’s relentless insistence. I’m not very comfortable with this, especially as we’ve been told that Kagi wants a relationship ‘like that of his parents’ (which could be seen as cute but also as the response of someone who’s quite young for his age). So, Kagi’s constant pestering of Hirano doesn’t come across in a good light, especially as Hirano has made his position very clear more than once. If the story’s working toward showing Hirano gradually coming around to returning Kagi’s feelings, then I’m going to take much more convincing that this relationship is going to be believable. Kagi’s signature pouting face when he doesn’t get what he wants can be seen as cute or as merely immature. And the more Kagiura protests and pouts, the more I feel the story grinding its wheels.
However, a much-needed breath of fresh air is the reappearance of Ao Ichinose, the student we met briefly in Volume 3, who’s afflicted with bad stomach pains when under stress (especially during exams). Ichinose is Hirano’s senpai and was his first room-mate (back when Hirano was a first-year). We were shown an interesting encounter between Ichinose and the student dorm administrator (one of the staff) at the end of the last volume and here they meet again. I really hope we’re going to see more of them as the story progresses, as Ichinose is an interesting character (and it’s hard not to sympathize with his stomach issues around exam time!)
Shou Harusono’s instantly recognizable style of drawing is gradually evolving (without losing any of her distinctive traits) and some of the full-face reaction shots show a greater use of contour than in her earlier work. From a story-telling point of view, she still favours the slow burn, although here, maybe something else is going on? There’s a long and detailed scene in which Hirano challenges Kagiura to show him how to play basketball (maybe it’s to distract Kagiura from the relentless ‘crushing on you’ situation). This gives Kagiura the chance to be in control, to show what he can do best (and far better than Hirano) and is a clever move by Hirano as it evens out the balance of power within the relationship a little – even if they do eventually end up in the nurse’s office, with Kagi tending to Hirano’s blistered hands. It’s also one of the best drawn chapters of the volume.
With Yen Press bringing us Volume 04, we’ve caught up with Japan (although Volume 10 of Sasaki and Miyano is promised in Japan for February 2024). There are four colour pages at the front, reminding us how consistently good the mangaka is with colour work; the subtle shades of magenta on the cover reinforce this impression, As with all the other volumes, Leighann Harvey brings us a very readable version but this time, there’s no translation notes, although there is a brief afterword from the mangaka. In the afterword to Volume 3, Shou Harusono said that Volume 4 would be ‘a romcom’ but that really isn’t the case here. If you’re a fan of Miyano and Sasaki, there are a few brief glimpses of the two (and a couple of good Sasaki reaction faces) as well as several encounters with Hanzawa and his inscrutable smile, who’s as unpredictable as ever. Yet, overall, I feel the main pair (that’s not yet a pair) makes for a sometimes-uncomfortable read, as if the mangaka is insisting ‘it’s fine for Kagiura to wear down his room-mate’s resistance because possibly Hirano wants a relationship even though he says he doesn’t feel that way’. But that’s just me and you may feel completely differently.
Our review copy for this title was provided by the publisher Yen Press.
