REVIEW: Love Me, Love Me Not Volume 11

Io Sakisaka is an iconic shojo mangaka, and with Love Me Love Me Not Volume 11, it’s very clear why. Love Me Love Me Not is currently being published and localized in English for United States Audiences by VIZ Media through their Shojo Beat Imprint and features an adaptation by Nancy Thistlethwaite, translation by JN Productions, with lettering and touch-up art by Sara Linsley. The series centers on four characters: Yuna, Akari, Rio, and Kazu. While the first half of the series focused on settling misunderstandings between the four and the budding romance between Yuna and Rio, the most recent arc of the series has focused on Akari and Inui.

In Love Me Love Me Not Volume 11, we get the chance to see both Akari and Inui grow. For his part, Inui confronts his parents, speaking his truth and asking them to understand his love of film. Instead of turning away from his problems, he embraces the challenge and with that push, he also finds the courage to confess to Akari. Now, he’s turned down Akari in the past, pushed by his own insecurities, but with Ryosuke trying his hardest to pull Akari, his ex, back to him, has the door closed for Inui?

The short answer is no. The long answer? Well, Akari has finally found herself or has at least come farther down the path to fighting for what she wants and not bending to others’ will. At the start of the series, Akari was the headstrong and pragmatic character that seemed to have a strength that her best friend Yuna lacked. Akari was brash and focused on making herself fall in love when she wanted to. But when Ryosuke called her an empty can, she had to evaluate herself. That’s where Akari and Inui’s character growth began. They confided in each other, trusted each other, and now in Love Me Love Me Not Volume 11, the two’s relationship has come together. Both grow to meet where the other is.

Sakisaka has a way of writing characters that not only grow in their romance but also apart from it. While I loved the development we saw for Yuna, a timid girl turning into a confident, Inui and Akari are the best-written characters of Love Me Love Me Not. While I do have an infinite love for Yuna, the way Sakisaka has treated her more confident characters by exposing their vulnerabilities and having them learn from them is masterful. For Akari, her growth is truly about accepting that she does in fact deserve love for being who she is, not someone that others want her to be. And for Inui, it’s about learning to stand up for himself the same way he does for other people. These moments of introspection and resiliency do a lot to make Love Me Love Me Not a great series and this volume only solidifies that.

Now, the art in Love Me Love Me Not is great, but it’s the characters that make this a shojo series that is more about a high school romance. It’s really a story about finding out who you are and can be, and ultimately how you can be there for others. With 11 volumes out now, it may seem be intimidating to jump in, but if you have the time, you definitely should make the leap.