Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends (2011)

[僕は友達が少ない]

Volume 2

Author: Yomi Hirasaka
Artist: Itachi
Publisher: Media Factory Comics

Synopsis:
Because he has been spending more time with the club lately, Kodaka has to deal with his sister's growing jealousy.

Story/Characters:
We start by introducing Kodaka's chuuni sister Kobato, who despite being a literal chuuni, both looks and acts a fair bit younger than her age. (I like that a full recipe is provided for the meal Kodaka makes for her.) Once Kobato's introductory chapter is over, we find that Sena has gone from galge to eroge and we discover Yozora's rather strong aversion to anything sex-related. After that, Yozora launches her latest activity for the group by putting on a cracked version of the Momotarou story. Next up, Sena invites Kodaka to a pool resort so he can teach her how to swim. This is one of the big events in the development of their relationship and it also introduces Kodaka's childhood friendship, which is a major part of his backstory.

Art:
We get some great expressions from Sena and Yozora from the eroge chapter and there's some good action in the Momotarou one (plus the debut of maid Yukimura, though Oni!Yozora is pretty cute too).

Other:
We start Chapter 6 with a full-color version of the first page and a two-page spread of Kobato. There's an extra comic about Sena and Yozora counter-stalking prior to Yukimura's discovery with them playing together as well as you'd expect. There's a bonus illustration of Sena with thanks from Itachi and the staff along with an afterword from Hirasaka.

Conclusion:
The pool two-parter is the real highlight of this volume and will have a lasting impact. I particularly like the way Kodaka's past plays into the story, so look forward to more of that. I'm a bit on the fence as to how to rate this. I'm tempted to rate it higher just because I like the long-term effects this part has on the story, but if I'm looking objectively, we're still building up to the series' true potential, so I'm just going to say it's definitely worth a read but not quite at the must-have level.

Rating:
Read It