I Hate You More Than Anyone 6

Banri Hidaka – CMX – 2009 – 13 volumes

Okay, so in between volumes, I only remember how long it took me to get into this series, and not how much I currently love it.  Thus, it was a complete surprise to me when I picked up this volume and absolutely flew through it.  The impending date between Sugimoto and Kazuha that kept getting put off didn’t hurt anything, either.

I’m intrigued with how slow this series moves.  It takes its time with all its little developments, and I think that helps immensely.  Too often in shoujo, a plot point is introduced and dealt with in the same chapter or volume, which is fine.  I often don’t like to be kept waiting if the story is really good.  But I do like IHYMTA’s slow pace.  Kazuha still hasn’t confessed her feelings for Sugimoto, even though it couldn’t be more plain that she loves him.  She just can’t bring herself to say the words.  Similarly, Maki’s background is still a mystery, and other characters keep hinting that he was kind of a rough guy.  We also have the ongoing Chizuru problem.  I like him as a secondary character because, again, his problems are ongoing.  He rebels, and the older boys have a talk with him, but it’s clear that he’s still having problems, and it looks like they may carry over to other volumes.  Chizuru’s adolescence isn’t just magically fixed after he starts having problems, and neither is his strained relationship with his family.  It makes him a more real character.

Senko is a great character, too.  She’s silly beyond belief, and I don’t like her gags most of the time (though one panel with her leering made me laugh pretty hard), but I love what a good friend she is for Kazuha, and I also love her ongoing romantic problems.  The solution to the aforementioned problems is fairly obvious to the reader by this volume, but it looks like it’ll take a long time getting there.

A new character is introduced this volume, with not a lot of explanation given.  It looks like he’ll simultaneously complicate things and open up Maki’s background for us, though I’m sure it’ll be another couple volumes before that develops all the way.

I’ve got two more volumes of this in reserve and one more on the way, and am really looking forward to reading them.  I’m surprised by how attached I’ve grown to this series, especially since I didn’t particularly like it at first.

I was also struck by how sweet the back cover illustration was.  It’s worth mentioning.