Hirano and Kagiura Volume 5 Review

“I’m not an innocent little boy.” Kagiura to Hirano. “I always… wonder how far I can go when I touch you.”

Hirano and his younger roommate Kagiura are ready to embark on another year of sharing a room at their high school dorm for what will be Hirano’s final year. Hirano has instituted a ‘ten seconds a day’ rule in which Kagi can hold his hand for ten seconds in an effort to try to assuage the younger student’s neediness. But it’s not enough for Kagi and eventually he bursts out, “How can I make you fall for me?” Hirano still stands his ground though and Kagiura, upset, retreats, seeking out his classmate Niibashi for advice.

An inter-class basketball tourney comes as a welcome distraction and, of course, Kagiura’s class wins (because they have Kagiura to play for them!). But then, the third years (including Ao Ichinose, Hirano’s first roommate) will be leaving. This only serves to reinforce the inexorable passing of time – and the fact that this will be Hirano’s final year.

It seems no time at all since the Sasaki and Miyano Boys’ Love spin-off Hirano and Kagiura first arrived from Yen Press and yet here we are with the fifth volume (and the sixth to follow before too long)!  Shou Harusono’s art-style is the same as ever, charming and stylish with the insouciant air of having been swiftly dashed off (though her drawings are really accomplished). There are plenty of glimpses of Miyano and Sasaki too (he’s Hirano’s classmate) not to mention enigmatic student council president Hanzawa and Ogasawara. So why doesn’t it quite work? (For me, that is.) I still don’t ‘buy’ the premise that Kagi (who has a huge crush on Hirano) is wearing the older boy down to the extent that not only does he indulge him but Kagi’s wish begins to come true: Hirano is starting to fall for him. Kagi (who has a big line in turning on doleful puppy-dog eyes and staring appealingly at the object of his affections) gets jealous of Hirano spending time with his friend and classmate Sasaki and continues to exhibit a rather unnerving degree of possessiveness when it comes to his roommate.

Also, not much happens in this volume. That shouldn’t be a problem in a slice-of-life high school story, but somehow it is and that’s because we’re re-treading the same school year we’ve already spent with Sasaki and Miyano – and there’s only so much entertainment the mangaka can squeeze out of showing the same events from a different perspective. This is the slowest of slow burns and it still makes for a genuinely uncomfortable read in places. Is it because Kagi’s imposition of his feelings on Hirano feels far too much like coercion? Or is it because the mangaka often draws Kagi’s eyes as dark and blank (a technique often used in manga to suggest that a character is bored, detached or even under someone else’s control)? This has to be a conscious decision on her part as the moment when she draws Kagi with a warm and lively expression after the class tourney is really impactful. After all, he’s the one who taught Hirano plenty of moves in basketball and he’s really proud of that.

Nevertheless, it’s entertaining to see Miyano eagerly telling Hirano about what makes someone’s heart skip a beat (based on the BL he’s been reading) and Hirano telling him not to bring manga to school but nevertheless unable to stop thinking about what Miyano has said. And a little more time is given to Ichinose who is faring much better these days, having been afflicted with bad stomach issues. Is this improvement down to the involvement of the kindly intentioned dorm supervisor whose name we learn at long last? Another little glimpse of their interactions (from when Ichinose was in the second year) occurs at the end – and this still feels so much more interesting as a potential story than the main relationship.

Translation for Yen Press is again by the ever-dependable Leighann Harvey with the same great variety of lettering by DK as in the other volumes in Shou Harusono’s series. There are four colour pages at the beginning, including the double-page spread with the main cast from both series in ‘gangster’ mode. Extras are an afterword from the mangaka and a page illustrating the question: ‘If you were hanging out together on a day off, what would you do?’ Volume 6 is scheduled for December.

This volume is mostly marking time, with infinitesimal progress in the one-sided central relationship between roommates that maybe won’t or even shouldn’t develop for so many different reasons. However, if you’re a fan of Shou Harusono’s art and her colourful group of high school students and their everyday lives, you’ll still want to add this volume to your collection.

Our review copy for this title was provided by the publisher Yen Press.