Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends (2014)

[僕は友達が少ない]

Volume 11

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

Synopsis:
While the Neighbors Club continues to debate on what to do for the school festival, Kodaka proposes a fortunetelling booth.

Story/Characters:
We start with Kodaka's suggestion of a fortunetelling booth, prompting Yozora to give a demonstration that exploits Sena's gullibility. Yozora, as usual, takes it too far, but before things get too ugly, Kobato shows up to lift Sena's mood. When Kobato brings up that her class is doing a movie, that inspires the gang to copy the idea. Yozora takes up the job of screenwriter, but she quickly hits writer's block and invites Kodaka on a movie date to get inspiration. Unfortunately for them, they end up watching a rather graphic French movie. (It is cute how afterwards Yozora awkwardly asks Kodaka if he's ever thought about doing "c'est si bon things".) We then get something a little more wholesome when they go to a cat cafe, which leads us into a flashback from when the two of them were kids that ties into Yozora's lingering hangups.

Moving on, we have the latest class rankings posted and we discover a rival of Sena's, Aoi Yusa, the student council treasurer. Unlike everyone else, she actually thinks Kodaka is really cool and is jealous that Sena has such a cool boyfriend, which gives our main man a big head. Now, everything that Aoi says about Sena gets Kodaka to be a little more reflective when he's back in the clubhouse. Later, Yozora finishes her script and it initially seems to go well with Yozora even managing to placate Sena's objections, but then it's Rika who ends up calling her out for writing a thinly veiled wish fulfillment story based on her own life and casting accordingly. This leads to them taking a vote on recasting to amusing results. (It is adorable to see how happy Yukimura is about being the lead, to the point where a move for a second vote is immediately shot down.) However, Yozora ends up revising the script for her own convenience, leading to an argument that boils over when Sena says Yozora's past with Kodaka (her primary motivation) doesn't matter. When Kodaka tries speaking to Yozora in the aftermath, she asks him which is more important, the past or the present, which is at the core of their respective character motivations. Where this conversation leaves us, well, we close on a black page with the title and the word "friend" scratched out. In case you're wondering, we've crossed the point where the series was more comedy-focused. There'll still be comedic elements, but from here on out it's going to be more romantic drama than romantic comedy. Depending on your tastes, this is either a sign of the series maturing as it progresses or of it losing its primary charm. Personally, I find myself a bit torn on the subject, but that's part of the reason this series has stuck with me.

Art:
I haven't mentioned it before, but it recent volumes we've been seeing an art shift as Itachi's line work becomes sharper and less sketchy. I suppose it fits with the tone of the series becoming more serious. I like both styles, but I'll admit some partiality to the earlier look as it made this serious more visually distinct. We still get good comic takes, but there are fewer of them. New character Aoi is pretty cute as this tiny little firecracker. Also, I'd love to know why Rika was apparently cosplaying as Kobato in Chapter 49 (and doing a convincing enough job that Itachi felt the need to leave a note that this was in fact Rika).

Other:
We have a color page priming us for the conflict in Chapter 50, a two-page spread of the girls, a variation on the usual afterward from Itachi in the form of a one-page comic, and the character commentary.

Conclusion:
We're getting close to our breaking point with the gang, which can be hard to watch. The tone shift toward more drama than comedy may leave some readers feeling like this isn't what they signed up for, but this is the general direction of the story from here on out, so if you don't like it, I can't say things are going to get much better. However, if the drama has you interested, then it's building up nicely here and setting up some of the conflicts to come. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of this direction for the series, but I can appreciate the craftsmanship in what's being done and I'm invested enough in the characters to want to see things through. Unless you're severely conflict-averse, this one is worth a read at the very least.

Rating:
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