No Longer Heroine Volume 4 is well-paced despite how frustrating the characters behave. Most of the characters are not likable, but these are also teenagers. They are at the height of their emotions, where love and crushes are nigh impossible to differentiate. So, each character makes readers yell at the page one after the other. But there’s to be a balance with the characters’ home lives. No Longer Heroine Volume 4 displays teenagers’ negative actions and behaviors, but it’s like watching an accident in real-time, and it’s impossible to look away.
Created by Momoko Koda with translation by Ko Ransom and lettering by Phil Christie, it picks up after Rita kisses Hatori. The Yen Press manga covers plenty of twists and drama within four chapters. Due to Hatori’s obsession with Rita, that kiss was just what she needed to go all-in to win him. Never mind that he is still with Adachi. Hatori’s attempts to be a heroine are long gone. She is firmly in villain territory. Still, she does not hold a candle to Rita.
No Longer Heroine Volume 4 Has Teenagers Occasionally Being Decent
Some might say these are growing pains. But if it were a rite of passage to adulthood, every teenager would behave this way. Still, if readers remind themselves that these are teenagers, it might spare them some blood pressure spikes. Rita’s trying to hide what happened from Adachi, and Hatori’s being too obvious. Even Hatori doesn’t trust Rita, yet she still pursues him. If we are talking about a heroine, the only thing Hatori has are negative traits. She often relegates Adachi to “girl” instead of using her name as though she’s a non-entity.
Rita’s straight trash because he’s dangling Hatori because she gives him attention due to his indecisiveness. He hates being alone and wants to be his partner’s whole world. Inexcusable regardless of the reasoning. He comes clean to Adachi only because he notices tension between Hatori and Adachi, so he wants to get ahead. If that isn’t enough, Hiromitsu pursues Hatori because he does not like Rita and wants to hurt him. This volume has enough drama to fill half a show’s season.
Where Are the Parents?
The lack of parents in this series, or showing each character’s home life, harms the series. Because readers need to get a deeper glimpse into what makes each character tick. Without this context, they appear as awful people. While Adachi does not fit this description, her lack of parents in this volume is especially egregious.
She starves herself to the point of collapsing at school, then pleads with Rita to stay with her because she has no one. She’s in the nurse’s office, and no parent comes. It’s concerning how uninvolved these parents are in their children’s daily lives or how the series opts to leave them out. Only showing one aspect of their lives leaves a void within No Longer Heroine Volume 4.
No Longer Heroine Volume 4 has few laughs despite some attempts at humor. Hatori’s too annoying at this point to even laugh at her antics. There’s funny, and there’s heartless. Unfortunately, Hatori leans toward the latter through most of this volume. The series gives School Days vibes with how ludicrous these kids behave and how nonexistent any adult guidance is in the series. No Longer Heroine Volume 4 has two girls latching onto an unworthy guy. The characters need more depth because all we see are their various unhealthy obsessions and cruelty. But for drama without range, it’s a volume readers will remember, even if it annoys them.
