Love Roma 4

Hoshino and Negishi have been wanting to take their relationship to the next level, but lately they've been at a loss as to what exactly progress in love means. Is it spending almost every waking moment together? Is it being completely honest to the person you love? Or is it making your partner a better person and pushing them to realize their full potential as a human being? After finishing dead last along with his friends (places 421,420, and 419) in the annual marathon race at school the previous year, Hoshino sets his sights a bit higher when he finds out that Negishi finished in 21st place! Then when Hoshino is cajoled into running for student body president and Negishi is enlisted to do a little PR, she finds that Ryo, the girl that has a crush on Hoshino, has more positive things to say about him than she does. Has Negishi begun to take her boyfriend a little too much for granted, and is there a danger of losing him? The shoe is on the other foot later on in the volume as a former classmate named Wakaba shows up to declare his love for Negishi, much to Hoshino's chagrin! In the 3 volumes that came before this Hoshino and Negishi were living in a bit of a dream world and their emotions for each other made for a very insular and self-reflecting storyline. In volume 4, the outside begins to intrude upon their lovey dovey brainlines in the form of Wakaba and Ryo, and even another girl that Hoshino helps out named Saeki. It's almost like the writer is putting them in a lab experiment and testing how strong their love really is. The character interactions on display are priceless and show what goes on in the minds of young lovers. Both of them are beginning to realize that being in love means bringing out the best in each other, not the worst. The art, while simplistic, is warm, charming, and suits the story perfectly. This is an excellent series.

Volume four, which I believe is the penultimate of the series, inserts a new rival (this time for Negishi's heart)... it's not often that we get to see our stoic, plainspoken hero conflicted, and this is certainly one of them as he wants to do the right thing and not be threatened by his musically inclined rival, but plainly is... Other stories in this volume include a bit of jogging to grow closer, staying apart to feel lonely together, and a new good friend (who we've seen before, but not in this light). The art is standard fair with plenty of action going on in panel having to do with the current main dialogue or a side topic. The general flow works well, though I could've done without a couple of standard manga cliches (such as "the boy so pretty everyone thinks he's a girl at first"). Most definitely worth it... pick it up (and the rest of the series)... and wish all relationships could be this sweet and honest.