I Hate You More Than Anyone 3
Posted: May 1, 2009 Filed under: I Hate You More Than Anyone 3 Comments »Ooh, here’s a good one I haven’t read in awhile. If I recall, the couple dynamic was just starting to get interesting in volume two. Now, I’ve said before that I do not like older/younger couples (most recently when I was talking about another Hidaka series, V.B. Rose), but this is actually one of the few series where it doesn’t bother me. This is probably due to the maturity level of the main character, who is pretty level-headed and motherly towards her numerous younger siblings. And when I say “level-headed,” I just mean in general, because this is the type of series that is prone to letting the characters comically lose their tempers and hit each other. I’m not all that fond of that device, but it’s gotten to the point where I can pretty much ignore it wherever it appears.
There are two storylines running in this volume. One is about the fight Kazuha and Sugimoto had, and the other is about Kazuha’s younger brother Chizuru having something of a delinquent/identity crisis. The rift between Kazuha and Sugimoto lasts most of the volume for no real reason other than the fact Kazuha decides she won’t speak to him until after her exams are over. Because you spend the entire volume waiting for it, and because Kazuha keeps going over the problem in her head, their reunion at the end is pretty awesome. I have to give the book a lot of credit for having such a touching scene so early on.
The Chizuru storyline is an interesting one. When he randomly explains himself to Sugimoto and Honjo, he says he’s acting out because his father doesn’t pay attention to him anymore. This struck me as hilarious, because that isn’t something that would ever come from a teenage boy’s mouth, let alone when he’s being consoled by two 20-year-old guys. His actions don’t strike me as particularly worrisome, but Kazuha and her family get really worked up about it, and Kazuha is furious when she finds out that Sugimoto and Honjo gave him advice. This was a little puzzling, simply because their advice was actually the most realistic thing about the whole situation. I have a feeling the outcome of this will be fairly generic, like Chizuru reconciling with his father and deciding on a career path or something.
Speaking of career paths, Kazuha decides what she wants to do when she graduates. I had no idea/did not remember that this was something that was tormenting her. To be honest, she makes kind of a lame choice, and I couldn’t find it in my heart to side with her since it seems like she’s letting… er, outside forces, shall we say, influence her decision. I’m curious how certain people will take this, and that’s reason enough to be fired up about volume 4. Well, that plus the fact that Sugimoto and Kazuha are apparently back on speaking terms, which should prove to be interesting.
[...] on vol. 1 of Eden (Slightly Biased Manga) Anna on vol. 1 of Gimmick! (2 screenshot limit) Connie on vol. 3 of I Hate You More Than Anyone (Slightly Biased Manga) Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (Manga Recon) Connie [...]
Yay! You liked it!! Yeah, Kazuha avoiding Maki for most of the volume because she wanted to focus on her exams drove me crazy too. I almost wonder if Hidaka-sensei has some past trauma with exams—they seem to come up as an ultimate source of stress for all of her characters at some point. But the reunion was so sweet! I just loved it!! So it kinda made up for the wait.
I really like the Chizuru storyline, even though it takes time away from the Kazuha-Maki storyline. I hope we eventually get to read the other Akiyoshi-family stories that were written before this series, because it seems like things in this series kinda lead into whatever went on in his story. I guess I hadn’t thought about the ridiculous/unrealistic nature of his confession to Maki and Honjo, but you have a point. All the fuss made over earrings seems weird to me too, but maybe it’s a bigger deal in Japan, with all their school uniform-rules? Kazuha herself isn’t allowed to wear earrings at her school, so Chii’s actions were perhaps considered more extreme/rebellious than they would be here.
Unrelated, but I wanted to let you know you inspired me to check out the Full House manga from TRSI’s sale. Knowing it was a comedy actually made me more interested; I look forward to reading it, along with Duck Prince (which was a no-brainer when I saw it on sale… I only wish I had been more aware of Morinaga-sensei’s work when it was still being published!) So thanks for getting me interested in another series I may never get to finish…!! Haha.
Oh, glad you decided to pick up Full House! I still have 3-4 to read, but I can tell I’ll have to quit right when I get to the good parts. I’m still kind of hoping that maybe Netcomics grabs the license to it, but I’m not sure how likely that is. But I couldn’t pass up Full House for $4 a book, it’s so cheap.
Yeah, I figured the crisis surrounding Chii’s earrings might be a school uniform/student conformity kind of issue. Still, it seems kind of weird that they wouldn’t just make him take it out and be done with the whole thing if it was really a problem… but that wouldn’t solve the “real” problem of his rebelliousness, I suppose.
This volume actually made me wonder about those earlier volumes about the family, too. The family is so huge, and all the siblings have their individual personalities, so I wondered how many of the stories took place after this one, how many tied back into this, stuff like that. Hopefully her series are doing well enough that those will be translated sometime in the future.