Last time around, Kai made an idiotic jump in logic. Fortunately, Shizuki Fujisawa doesn’t drag on this misunderstanding beyond the first chapter of this volume. Although it might have been funny if Kai had tried to set up a Taka’s Romantic Endeavors Support Group, especially since Kai’s group doesn’t message each other much here.
Anyway, Kai wasn’t smooth about pursuing Riko in the first place, and segueing back into “I like you” mode is just as awkward. He doesn’t text her since he keeps writing messages the length of novels, and who knew that commenting on a girl’s height is a poor greeting? (Oh, yeah, everyone.) But behind these poor courtship attempts is a real desire to see her happy and well.
But it’s Riko whose feelings are all tied up in knots. First is the looming wedding between Suwa and Akemi. Then there’s the fact that she became all upset that Kai seemingly gave up on his love interest and went back to his playboy ways. Both end up stressing her out, but one no doubt is more of a factor than the other. I like how the author is showing some overlap between one door closing and another opening. She gets some touching scenes with both Kai and Akemi, but it’s what they specifically don’t say to her that has more of an emotional impact.
However, Hatsu*Haru volume 5 isn’t all about love. Well, at least not in ways you might expect. A new couple is born, but it’s a fake one! Ayumi and Taka decide that the best way to get Kai out of his “Taka x Riko” delusion is for Taka to be taken off the market, and Ayumi is cast as the girlfriend. She pretty much lampshades the fact they’re all in a shoujo manga scenario on multiple occasions, but neither she nor Taka really want to be in one. Meanwhile, Riko decides to turn the shoujo manga tropes on their head by effortlessly taking care of the guys in the traditional “heroine gets hit on” scene — and strikes fear into the heart of Kai, who is watching from the side. There are a lot of these really short sequences and one-liners that brighten the whole story, and they’re placed in just the right spots to not be distracting or forced. On the negative side, Kagura and Tora are still sidelined for any sort of meaningful role, comedy or otherwise.
The art also features some good visual comedy (Kai showing up with a dozen drinks for a collapsed Riko), but what I really noticed was all the two-page spreads. This volume is long enough so that the volume doesn’t feel overly short as a result, but I felt two-page spreads were a little overused. Some of them were quite touching, but one to three wordless or nearly-wordless spreads per chapter for four chapters was a little too much.
Still, while I was not jumping for joy like Miki is on the cover, Hatsu*Haru volume 5 went back to being the Hatsu*Haru that I like.