Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love Volume Two focuses on Satomi and Yagyu as they encounter obstacles for their blossoming relationship.

Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love Volume Two
Written by: Ayuko Hatta
Publisher: Shueisha Inc.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: June 7, 2022

The volume opens with Satomi and Yagyu, along with their respective best friends, spending time at the beach over summer vacation. It starts out with some cute interactions between Satomi and Yagyu, and they’re having a good time… until Yagyu encounters his ex-girlfriend. Not surprisingly, she’s slightly older and has a more “mature” look to her in comparison to Satomi. As expected, Satomi is weirded out by the experience and finds herself feeling as if she’s inadequate in comparison to her. Satomi tries hard to hide her feelings from Yagyu, but the usually oblivious Yagyu picks up on the fact that something’s wrong. He manages to find a way to make Satomi feel better about the situation. As the reader can see in this chapter, Yagyu really is a good guy, especially with something that he does near the end of the chapter.

The second chapter sees Yagyu inviting Satomi to spend the night at his house because the rest of his family will be gone. He insists that he’s not going to try to do anything, and she ends up agreeing. Of course, Satomi has to rope her best friend into providing a cover for her, since her parents obviously wouldn’t approve of the situation. A lot of the chapter sees the two of them interacting during their “home date,” with a strong emphasis on Satomi and her reactions to what’s going on. Everything that night goes well, and Yagyu is true to his word.

However, things get awkward the next morning when Satomi goes into Yagyu’s room and finds a girl in his bed with him. It turns out the girl is Yagyu’s younger sister, Juri. We quickly learn that she’s the type of sister who has an unhealthy obsession with her older brother. Juri makes it clear to Satomi that she doesn’t like her, and Juri finds ways to sabotage Satomi and Yagyu’s date at the zoo. Unfortunately for Juri, none of her schemes work. I have to give Satomi credit for standing up for herself, because that’s something she wouldn’t have done a little earlier in the series. I have a feeling that Juri will continue to be a pain in Satomi’s backside as the series progresses, especially with how this volume of the manga ends. I can’t see Juri giving up at this point.

With the first volume of Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love, I found myself making comparisons with My Love Story!! due to the initial setup. However, by the time I finished reading Volume Two, I found that Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love had found its own footing. This series presented obstacles for Satomi and Yagyu’s relationship in the second volume, and the obstacles are realistic. An ex-girlfriend making a current girlfriend feel insecure and jealous felt very realistic, especially for the first potential obstacle. The obsessed little sister is a trope that’s expected in shojo manga, so in that regard, it works as another obstacle. However, more often than not, this particular trope can feel forced. I hope the series can include character development for Juri in future volumes, so she can start coming across as an actual character rather than as just a trope. At this point in the series, Juri is my least favorite character.

Outside of my complaints about Juri, though, I did enjoy Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love. Readers who read and enjoyed the first volume of the series will likely appreciate how the story continues in Volume Two.

The reviewer was provided a review copy by VIZ Media

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