Manga Review: Love at Fourteen, Volume 2, by Fuka Mizutani

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: March 24, 2015

Volumes: 5+

Spoilers?: Yes, with warning.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Now in the same second-year class in junior high, amid the hormones and angst of adolescence, the unusually mature Kazuki and Kanata go from being boy and girl friends to boyfriend and girlfriend. But with love comes intense emotions, and being teenagers, they go back and forth bottling up those feelings. Will this approach come back to bite them?!

Review:

“Some of us are mature… Some of us are childish… But we’re all fourteen.”

I rather enjoyed the first volume of this series, and yet this one was even better. I’m in love with this series at this point, and am definitely signed on for the rest of it.

It’s stated a lot that the two main characters are mature. And maybe they are more mature for their age, or at least more reserved. But they’re still fourteen. They’re innocent and falling in love for the first time, and they don’t know how to act around their classmates, and they’re still finding out who they are as people. It’s charming and adorable and funny.

The main story focuses on Kazuki and Kanata, two mature students who are falling in love and in a new relationship, while pretending in public that they don’t really know each other. There’s some jealousy here, the two of them confiding in each other and talking and waiting till they’re alone to talk for real. They dance together at one point, alone after they’re pressured not to touch during class. Holding hands for the first time, and realizing that their bodies are changing.

We also get to see more of Nagai and the teacher, who teases him endlessly. Their relationship is interesting and fun to see develop, but I also really like Nagai’s friendship with Kazuki and Kanata. Nagai tries to be all tough and mean, but he’s really not. He worries and he gets embarrassed.

We also met a new character here, Aoi. She’s quiet and doesn’t really talk to anyone and writes everything down in third-person in her notebook. And, [Spoiler!], while trying to discover what love is, she falls for Kanata! When she was first introduced, I was wondering, and hoping. And I’m so excited that we get to see an lgbtq+ character here. Diversity! Yay! [End Spoiler!] 

This is a quieter series, very slice of life. It’s innocent and sweet, but funny and so adorable. I love it, and cannot wait for the next one.