Too Many Losing Heroines! (2025)
[負けヒロインが多すぎる！@comic]
Volume 4
Author: Takibi Amamori
Artist: Itachi
Original Character Design: Imigimuru
Publisher: Ura Sunday Comics
Synopsis:
When Yanami sees Lemon out on the town with her crush, she suspects hanky-panky and drags Nukumizu along to spy on them, but they're not the only ones on the couple's tail.
Story/Characters:
I don't imagine most of you were as quick as Yanami to cast aspersions on Lemon's character, but we can always use a good comedic tailing sequence. Yanami isn't the only one with suspicions, as Ayano's girlfriend Chiharu is also spying on him and Lemon. Now, Chihaya is a sweet girl, albeit with squishy ethics when it comes to the privacy of others. She wants to do what's right by Ayano and is willing to bury her feelings and pull out of the race if needs be (though this love martyr attitude gets tackled similarly to how Sousuke's well-meaning encouragement of Yanami to find new love isn't as good of a thing as the person may want to think it is). Things get hilariously turned on their head when Ayano sees Nukumizu with Chihaya and thinks that he's the one getting NTR'ed (yes, even with "NTR" in big, bloody letters in the panel). Things seem to get sorted when we have a big group date to a science museum (which everyone but Yanami is enjoying immensely), but then Lemon makes a careless comment that blows the whole thing. Well, crap.
Lemon runs off to avoid facing the fallout and it's Tsukinoki who round up the Literature Club ladies (and Nukumizu) to go reel her back in. We get a nice little road trip (and it is nice to see Tsukinoki and Komari still thick as thieves) to Lemon's grandma's out in the country. On the surface, Lemon seems fine, but Tsukinoki chides Nukumizu on his habit to go for a quick fix and encourages him to take a little more time to help Lemon work through things. We get a nice exchange between Nukumizu and Yanami before he goes out to see Lemon and the big conversation to follow will have to wait until next time.
Art:
The art continues to shine here and I really do like how Itachi gives us these nice big panels to really show that off. You may or may not be happy about the few pages of Tsukinoki's Dazai/Mishima slashfic. A fun thing about the road trip is that it's portrayed in 4-koma format. Also, as a minor note, because the storeroom scene back in Volume 1 was toned down from what was in the anime (and as I understand it, the original light novel), I wasn't quite expecting the two-page bath scene spread. Not necessarily saying anything good, bad or indifferent, just that it was unexpected.
Other:
The color insert further showcases Lemon-chan's impressive flexibility and then we have a two-page spread of our trio of losers chilling out in the countryside. Under the dust cover is three 4-koma with Kaju agonizing over her brother with her friend Gon-chan. We also have a bonus mini-chapter where Yanami and Chihaya meet up in Nukumizu's room to discuss strategy and embarrass him with a girl's-eye view of an otaku den. (Kaju comes in for the save like the best imouto she is.)
Conclusion:
We focus on Lemon this volume and though you might have thought her situation was already a done deal, we (and she) learn the hard way that it's not. The trip to Grandma's provides a nice change of setting and an opportunity for some good character work. The resolution is going to have to wait until next time, but there's more than enough here to keep fans of the series happy, so if you're counted among that number, be sure to add this to your collection.
Own It