Thank you to NetGalley and Viz for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Love Me, Love Me Not is a solid series for the shojo lover in your life. Volume 10 provided closure to some issues from previous volumes as well as set up conflict for future installments, and I'm excited for the next volume.

Translation: Nancy Thistlethwaite
Lettering: Sara Linsley

Love Me Love Me Not has pulled off a switch that I usually dislike: switching the main couples in a romance. Now, I know that the crux of the series has always been the parallel journeys for Akari and Yuna, but with over half the series focusing on the latter and her growing self-confidence, it’s safe to say that she and her love interest were the focus of the story. Now, Yuna and Rio are dating officially and doing great. Which allows Akari and her love life to take center stage in Love Me, Love Me Not Volume 10.

Love Me, Love Me Not Volume 10 is written and illustrated by mangaka Io Sakisaka. The volume is also localized and published in English by VIZ Media’s Shojo Beat imprint and features an adaptation by Nancy Thistlethwaite, translation by JN Productions, with lettering and touch-up art by Sara Linsley. In this volume, Akari and, to a lesser extent, Kazu remain the focus of the story. While Yuna and Rio are doing great, Akaru and Kazu remain platonic but not for lack of emotions.

Last volume, both Akari and Kazu were experiencing problems at home. For Akari, the seemingly impending divorce of her parents may lead her to move away. And for Kazu, he must carry the weight of his family’s future after his brother took off to England and solidified himself as a failure in his parents’ eyes. While this duo have taken the focus of the story, and it is about their path towards each other, Love Me Love Me Not Volume 10 is as much about them growing as individuals as it is growing closer to each other.



For starters, Akari’s ex-boyfriend is still in the picture and making a move to remove the “ex” from his title. Focused on winning her back, he says that Akari’s relationship with Kazu is nothing more than “licking each other’s wounds,” bonding over their pain but not moving past it. This line shakes something loose in Akari, the same way that Kazu being told that he can’t take care of Akari did for him.

Instead of pulling Akari to him, Ryosuke instead pushes Akari down a path of self-reflection. While I enjoyed the start of the series greatly, by diving into Akari as a character, Sakisaka showcases that teenage romance isn’t the only thing at the center of Love Me Love Me Not as a series. Instead, the lesson is that sometimes you really can’t love someone until you’ve done the work to love who you are when you’re alone. And that’s the beauty of the series, and it’s showcased in such a strong way by focusing on Akari instead of the romantic Yuna.

Overall, Love Me Love Me Not Volume 10 is a great volume. It’s filled with angst and drama, but it’s also filled with characters growing and moving forward. The angst isn’t just there to make things messy anymore; it’s there to push characters to grow and learn. That alone makes this series worth picking up.

So my complaint with the previous volume is that things were moving slowly and things do happen in this volume! Sort of! We get some apparent closure with the divorce saga, we see fallout with Kazuomi's family, and we see the new Akari love triangle competition firming up. This is a much better paced, although still a bit too dreamy, volume in the series.

Absolutely loved it!! I already need the next volume immediately!! If you are looking for a great teen manga to read this series is a must!

Gaaaaah!! This volume is so good yet so frustrating!! I really want Inui and Akari to finally see eye to eye on their situation, but it seems like we'll need to wait for it!

The students at our school have finished the Blue Flag series and wanted something new so I tested this out as an arc. It has all the elements they enjoy...a group of friends, complicated relationships, teen angst, cute illustrations. The bonus for me is that there is nothing inappropriate and I can happily approve it for our library.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Another great volume in this story of two very different girls who live in the same apartment building and become friends. With Yuna and Rio now together the focus of this volume shifts to Akari and Kazuomi. These two kids are both dealing with realistic problems at home. Akari's mother and stepfather are fighting and she has to decide if she can stand up to her mother in the face of another possible move. At the same time her ex is trying to convince her he has changed. Kazuomi has to decide whether he should remain passive or let his parents know what he plans for the future. Both want to be with the other but worry about their compatibility and how they can support another person when they haven't been honest about what they want in other aspects of their life. Overall, a great addition to a story that is a light, sweet, book about romance and friendship that also has enough depth to not make it frivolous.

This volume packed a whallop! Akari and Inui are working hard on the future they want, with various walls in the way. They try hard to work through them in this volume. Inui has a hard road right now. His family is very strict in what they want for him, and it's not what he wants. Akari wants to make changes, and learn to speak up for herself. She wants to start with her mom, but the timing always feels off.
I can't wait to see what happens in the next volume.