Manga: Hitorijime My Hero 7

Hitorijime My Hero Vol 7 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Masahiro Setagawa doesn't believe in heroes, but wishes he could: he's found himself in a gang of small-time street bullies who use him to run errands. But when high school teacher (and scourge of the streets) Kousuke Ohshiba comes to his rescue, he finds he may need to start believing after all... and as their relationship deepens, he realises a hero might be just what he was looking for this whole time.

Kensuke and Hasekura have a few problems to work out that have been a long time brewing and came to a head in volume 6. In volume 7, it's time to conclude working them out! I liked that there's still more development to their relationship and it hasn't just stalled and faded into the background in favour of the main couple. We even get a smidge more background on Hasekura as well as a little more depth to how he and Kensuke first became friends and bonded! 

Meanwhile, Masahiro and Kousuke are working on moving in together and actively looking for apartments. However, Kaide sensei might potentially throw a spanner in the works as she saw something at the service station but it could all just be a misunderstanding. It certainly seems like we're heading for a little bit of potential angst or drama thanks to this, although there's a hint of Kaide's own 'scandal' that could prove to be interesting. I'm wondering if I might be on to what it is, but I'll have to wait and see! 

I'm going to be honest, I kind of felt like this volume jumped around a lot. Particularly when it came to time, though there was only one clear flashback. I did get a little bit mixed up as to what was happening and when, although I did like finally getting to find out about Kensuke and Kousuke's father. 

I think that while there's some resolution for Kensuke and Hasekura, there wasn't much progression when it came to the plot overall in this volume, or when it came to Masahiro and Kousuke's relationship though there is a possible set up for some potential trouble coming in the future. 

Manga: Hitorijime My Hero 5

Hitorijime My Hero Vol 5 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Kousuke surprises Masahiro by inviting him out on a spur-of-the-moment road trip. And when they arrive at the hot springs, things get pretty steamy...! As Masahiro gets to know how deep Kousuke's love is for him, he also begins to wonder about what he's missing, as Kousuke's mysterious past tugs at him. Meanwhile, dark clouds loom over Asaya and Kensuke's relationship... 

What a volume this is, the first thing I'm going to say is...beware the ending of this volume because it's intense! 

Not long in to the volume we have Masahiro and Kousuke talk things out after the events of the past volume and they're back on track in no time...or are they? 

While the pair of them head off on a little trip before Kousuke gets busy with work, Masahiro is still brooding over Natsuo and his relationship with Kousuke. But they're not the only ones with trouble on the horizon. Kensuke and Asaya have been our one couple that hasn't had any trouble just yet. They're cute, and adorable...until now. This volume brings some trouble for the pair of them which leads to an interesting situation. 

This volume has the drama slowly building up. On the surface, everything's fine but Natsuo and his past with Kousuke is festering away at Masahiro and it's making things a little awkward on their trip. Both couples relationship problems come to a head at the hot springs and the end of the final chapter had me screeching. Just as things are getting good, just as I was like 'omg omg omg omg' the volume came to a close leaving us on one hell of a cliffhanger and now we have to wait for the next volume. 

Manga: Hitorijime My Hero 4

Hitorijime My Hero Vol 4
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

It's only been a couple of months since Kousuke's confession, but Masahiro already feels like his wife! With so much joyous romance in his life, Masahiro begins to have doubts that any of it is for certain. Unable to feel grounded, Masahiro struggles to keep steady. From fights with his mom, to running away from home, there's still a lot this street punk needs help figuring out...

Keeping the plot moving forward, and fleshing out the characters a bit more we delve in to Masahiro and his home life a little in this volume. There's a sad flashback at the beginning of the volume that gives us some initial insight and a sense of foreboding, and makes an interesting contrast with the following scene featuring Kousuke's family. The contrast is quite stark and it was a nice way to show you why he spends so much time hanging around their house aside from Kensuke and Kousuke. 

We do get some heartwarming and cute moments as usual, but things do get pretty dark when we start to see more of his mother and what his relationship is like with her. It's not really a great situation and I really empathised with him in this volume. 

I also liked that we got to see more of reluctant friends Hasekura, I live for it to be honest. He's secretly soft and you can't convince me otherwise, although why Masahiro went to him is pretty obvious. He probably thought Hasekura's the only one who would understand and wouldn't bother him about it all. Meaning Kensuke had to get involved because Masahiro wouldn't talk. 

This volume also gives us a little more page time for Natsuo the bartender, and I'm so curious about him. He seems a little mysterious, and I've got my suspicions about him, and I'm sure I'm right because it's heavily hinted so it should be interesting to see how that will play out. 

This volume gives us a huge amount of insight in to Masahiro, and it comes at a nice time in the story. It's after we've seen the romance start, and hit its first bump and it's come during a relatively calm time during their new relationship. Masahiro and his inability to go to Kousuke with the issue is going to be the next bump in their relationship that they need to overcome, I think as they still are getting to grips with each other and how they react to certain situations. I did really feel for Masahiro, and I'm rooting for him because I can see why he reacted the way he did, bless him. There's also some interesting bonus content in this volume! 

Manga: Hitorijime My Hero 3

Hitorijime My Hero Vol 3 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Masahiro is starting a new school year, and with it comes all kinds of new experiences and new acquaintances. Now that his friends are in separate classes, though, the peace between the rowdy bunch gets even harder to keep! Seeking stability, Masahiro falls deeper into Kousuke as a comfort. But when the secret of their relationship gets out, does it spell doom for their love...? 

The secret is out in this volume, I did think they'd drag it out a bit longer but we get to have an interesting look at how both different friend groups react to the news. I did love getting to meet Kousuke's friends, Ayaka who's Hasekura's older sister, and her husband Houjou who's...interesting. Shall we say. He's just so extra and a bit...odd. Kousuke's friends provide a certain amount of intensity with their reaction to the news and poor old Masahiro has to endure a test. 

When it comes to Masahiro and his friends, there's a bit of a shake up with them as they start their second year and some of them are separated from the others. So we get to see a lot of Kensuke and Fukushige while they're at school, but they're apart from Kousuke and Hasekura now. Unfortunately there's some trouble in their friend group with Fukushige being super excited to be with them...but feeling like Masahiro cares more about hanging out with Kousuke than talking to them. 

Things do come to a head and kick off in this volume, while I thought it was sweet that his friends were supportive, there was one who wasn't and made a negative comment which I didn't see coming. It's the first really negative reaction Masahiro has had to their relationship. 

The thing I loved about this whole situation was Hasekura proving that while he's grouchy on the outside...he's a softy really by protecting Masahiro. It also allows us to see a different, less soft side to Kensuke because I've never seen him so furious. 

It's an interesting and realistic line for the story to take, and I found it interesting to see how it was portrayed and done although I don't think Fukushige's reasoning was that strong. Everything manages to resolve itself and give us another happy ending after a volume full of drama! 

Manga: Hitorijime My Hero 2

Hitorijime My Hero Vol 2 

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

A few months have passed since Masahiro Setagawa revealed his true feelings for his teacher Kousuke Ohshiba (a.k.a. the Bear Killer, infamous destroyer of punks). But there's no way things will stay nice and peaceful for this pair! And when Kousuke suddenly says they should break up, Masahiro's world is turned upside-down! 

As you can tell from the synopsis we have a nicely handled time skip of a couple of months, it was very smoothly handled off the page. Poor old Masahiro is struggling a bit adjusting to being in a relationship and to my great amusement he's gossiping and looking for advice from Hasekura. 

Alongside Masahiro adjusting to being in a relationship and everything it comes with, there are some cute moments between the two of them, but we also get a glimpse of how Masahiro became Kousuke's underling. Along with more insight in to Masahiro as a character and his past and how he grew up. 

We also get to meet some new characters this volume. Kousuke's friends and they're definitely an...interesting bunch. One of them is Hasekura's older sister who's married to a cop who seems a bit...shady. Like he's good intentioned but he doesn't seem serious enough to be a cop. Thanks to them Kousuke gets to thinking a little bit, and we learn that he wants Masahiro to make friends and know that there's more than one place to belong. 

This volume gives us cute moments, but it also gives us a few ups and downs, as well as some dramatic moments. Hasekura has become Masahiro's agony aunt against his will, he goes to him for advice and to talk things out and while Hasekura is grouchy about it which had me laughing, I do think he does actually care. Deep, deep down. After the introduction of Kousuke's friends I'm intrigued to see more of them, although I suspect they're going to cause some trouble in the future. While this volume does end happily and there's no major incidents we already had some slightly angsty moments as our couple figures out their relationship......and I'm sure there's going to be plenty more. 

Manga: Hitorijime My Hero

Hitorijime My Hero Volume 1
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Masahiro Setagawa doesn't believe in heroes, but wishes he could: he's found himself in a gang of small-time street bullies who use him to run errands. But when high school teacher (and scourge of the streets) Kousuke Ohshiba comes to his rescue, he finds he may need to start believing after all... and as their relationship deepens, he realises a hero might be just what he was looking for this whole time. 

This first volume moves quickly, meet  all the characters, get some background on them and even have a rejection...all in the first chapter. I wasn't expecting the rejection so that was a surprise right from the start, but then again...it's all part of a genius strategy so does it even count!? 

Masahiro is an interesting character, he hates heroes because one never came to save him as a kid. He falls in with a gang who makes him do all their grunt work, and it's while working for them that he bumps into Kensuke and they rescue a kitten, take it back to his house and it turns out Kensuke's brother is the "bear killer" aka the guy taking out all the gangs. Masahiro then becomes Kousuke's underling and Kensuke's friend...all in this first volume! We get such a nice amount of depth to his character, and I really felt for him. He has a bad home life, and he does everything he can for everyone because he's good at doing everything for everyone. Like he cooks for all his friends! He's kind of adorable though, I'm rooting for him! 

As for Kousuke, he's a badass fighter and a teacher now. His little strategy of rejecting Masahiro to get him to realise his feelings works like a charm. I am waiting for more background on him though, but what I'm seeing so far he's a nice contrast to Masahiro and I'm hoping he's going to help Masahiro grow a spine a little. 

The supporting characters are equally intriguing...and in Kensuke's case he's adorable too! I actually find him so hilarious, especially when he's drawn with the big, puppy dog eyes. He and Asaya are hilarious opposites, but also kind of cute. I'm intrigued by their story and what went down with them! Asaya himself is kind of aloof, but I'm oddly rooting for he and Masahiro to become friends because Asaya worked out what was going on before anyone else. I was like yaaassss sort them out Asaya! But he is kind of a little s*** though. 

Oh, and I know the gang members are bad okay, but they're oddly kind of sweet too, worrying about Masahiro all this time and giving him a place to go. Bless them. They're not all bad. 

We get action and tension as the gang catch up with them, and bring Masahiro back in to the fold. We get drama as Masahiro wants to distance himself from Kousuke and Kensuke after the rejection. It's quite the wild ride and a nice mix of different elements to keep you on your toes and keep you reading. 

The first volume establishes the relationship, we have a lot of realisation and feeling examining but there's also some action and drama, we're introduced to the characters and there's also some cute and funny moments too! In short...there's a lot going on for a first volume, alongside all the set up! The art and character designs are nice, there's an interesting and entertaining cast of characters both supporting and main, with different personalities that sometimes clash. Obviously this isn't going to be smooth sailing for them, so I wonder how long it'll last before they're found out and before even bigger drama finds them!