To the surprise of absolutely no readers, Wakana isn’t as innocent as she seems.
You know who else isn’t surprised? Haruma. Because of course you can’t out-manipulate a yandere.
But that doesn’t mean a certain someone isn’t going to try!
First, though, Yoh grapples with Touya’s confession. That weighs on her mind heavily as she, Haruma, Wakana, Sawako, and some college guys hang out together at an amusement park. But for Wakana, the real thrill is going to be stealing Haruma from Yoh. Plus, bonus points for spreading rumors Yoh is trying to get with Haruma from under Wakana’s nose.
I mentioned in my last review I was worried Love and Heart is just going to be various antagonists parading in to mess with Yoh and then being exposed by Haruma — indirectly, of course. Wakana’s scheming is revealed here, and rather early in volume 4. That’s good since her fake cutesy persona is annoying…but Yoh still doesn’t know. She misses the whole reveal about Wakana. It’s fun to see her get her comeuppance, but it’s disappointing Yoh doesn’t get a chance to confront her “friend”. She’s supposed to have at least somewhat of a temper, and while Haruma wants nothing more than to be her permanent knight in shining armor, this would have been a good time for her to show a little of that moxie about herself.
Her boldest move is a scene with Haruma, and spoiler alert, now they’re a couple. Touya escapes Haruma’s wrath thanks to the new 3D chess player: Sawako. Yes, hyperactive, cat-lovin’ Sawako. I knew Sawako wasn’t as clueless as she pretended to be, but man, I was stunned by her. She not only is not going to allow anyone to emotionally wreck Yoh. Even when Wakana tries to prey on Sawako’s feelings for Touya, Sawako basically tells her to STFU.
If that wasn’t enough, Sawako is ready to take on Haruma, as she suspects he’s pulling the strings of all these Yoh-centered incidents. She’s clearly on Team Touya for Yoh, but the manga is also showing Sawako is concerned about Yoh as a friend and not just as the person Touya loves. I don’t know how long Haruma vs. Sawako is going to last, but it’s seriously shaping up to be a thriller.
Yoh is rather flat after confessing to Haruma (and she’s encouraged by an unlikely source). At least the final pages show significant progression on the mystery front, which is otherwise mostly ignored for this volume. So in terms of story, yeah, Love and Heart volume 4 is noteworthy because Yoh and Haruma do get together, but it’s the budding Haruma/Sawako duel that makes it worth reading. Hopefully this will not be something just resolved in a single volume like most of the other Yoh x Haruma interlopers.