Well, some questions are finally answered and a LOT of hearts were broken in this volume. I really liked Lilina's conversation with Arisa at the cafe, especially when the paneling focuses on Arisa's side of it. Something that I appreciate about this series is that while it won't be winning any awards for creativity or mind-blowing awesomeness, the little touches Musawo adds to scenes in terms of paneling and shadows elevate it above other series. It shows how you don't have to go big to make an impact, just change it up a little to add depth or intrigue. Also, Lilina's and Nejma's talk at the beginning of the manga was awesome. I adore Lilina so much and I love how supportive she is of him and being a shoulder to cry on. She is truly best girl, no doubt.

But moving on to the most important aspect of this volume-how the government handles same-sex relationships and how society views them. Okay, I say "society," but for now readers only see how high schoolers view it. And what I appreciate about this section is that Musawo shows the blatantly bigoted side and the micro-aggressive side. Both are harmful for different reasons; the obvious, "I'd rather be single than marry a guy," is a direct attack against homosexuality, but the minor things like the girl saying, "I don't know, I got a normal one," implies an otherness to homosexuality. That being gay isn't "normal," thus gays are "different" and "other" and should be separated from the "normal" folks. And it looks like there is a separate procedure for gay people, which only adds to "othering" them, but I won't know more about that until I read volume 9. Also, I liked how the one girl calls out the guy for being homophobic, yet is the one who not only says she got a "normal" notice but supports the idea that notices for same-sex couples should be handled separately. A simple yet effective way of showing how it's easy to call out someone else for being blatantly homophobic, yet not recognizing internalized or micro-aggressive homophobia.

And of course, the way Nejima handled Nisaka's confession was so profoundly ignorant and stupid, but I think it works purely because it shows how fucked up people's (especially young people's) perceptions of love are. Make no mistake, I don't agree with what Nejima did, but it makes sense in the context of the narrative. Finally, I'm on the fence as to whether Nisaka's reveal is considered a plot point or not. It has been built up since the first volume, but I get the feeling it's there so that we have a token gay character to silence any detractors who say, "but there aren't any gays in this world! That doesn't make any sense!" That being said, for now it doesn't bother me and I'm waiting to reserve judgment until I read volume 9. While this whole part is honestly a superficial understanding of bigotry, I think it was handled well and showed both sides of the bigotry coin.

That's all I have for now. I really liked this volume and while the Incarnation of Drama Porn may be growing a bit too strong, I'm still having a blast reading this series.

Premise: The government, in order to boost birth rates, instituted a matching program, wherein students, when they turn 16, receive a notice about their assigned partner based on a computational program.

We focus on Yukari Nejima, a rather lackluster male protagonist who everyone seems to fall in love with (just list most shoujo manga). He confesses his love to his long time crush, Misaki Takasaki, who also reveals that he is her long time crush. But, wait for it, Nejima receives his notice. His partner is the lovely, Ririna Sanada. She becomes friends Nejima and Takasaki, supporting their love, all they while falling in love with Nejima herself. Pretty standard shoujo stuff here, but the premise involving the government adds a layer of tension not usually present in this genre. Of these characters, Sanada is the most interesting as she has identifiable character growth.

This manga was getting a little annoying because the intricate love triangle was becoming untenable. It strains credulity to believe that Sanada would keep supporting Nejima and Takasaki, that Takasaki would keep "dating" Nejima, and that Nejima would still be oblivious to everyone's feelings for each other. Some of these things were addressed in this manga as Takasaki "dumped" Nejima. I hope the writers give Takasaki her notice so that the plot can advance in a different direction.

I haven't mentioned one character yet: Yūsuke Nisaka. He is a close friend of Nejima, but has romantic feelings towards him. In this volume, he essentially tries to "ghost" Nejima because he knows that his feelings want be returned. Nejima, in an attempt to keep Nisaka as a friend, kisses Nisaka rather passionately. I have no idea why he decided to do this except that teenagers act irrationally. I always felt like the Nejima-Nisaka plot line was like the unused side car on the motorcycle. This volume makes me happy because something finally happened this plot, but it also makes me feel like the author had no idea what they were going to do with it.

Spoiler

Nejima is the f*cking worst. Who kisses their friends like that? So goddamn selfish. All three of these kids could do so much better.

So, who's going to end up with whom? I've no idea at this point.