A Tale of Two Heroines

The new Shojo Beat manga, Love Me, Love Me Not, debuts.

By Nancy Thistlethwaite March 03, 2020

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Io Sakisaka, creator of Ao Haru Ride and Strobe Edge, wanted to create a love story about two heroines with two different views on falling in love. In Love Me, Love Me Not, idealistic Yuna believes in waiting for her destined love to appear, while Akari takes the pragmatic approach of meeting and dating as many boys as possible.

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They each have a close connection to a boy their age. Rio knows that he’s extremely popular with girls, and Kazuomi is extremely oblivious to his own charms where girls are concerned. When the four meet, they all become friends, but romantic feelings soon follow.

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In this series Sakisaka has taken the emotional intricacies she’s famous for and times it by four. I find this series to be a natural maturation of her work, and the decisions her characters make are thoughtful and surprising to the reader. This is a must-read for fans of Ao Haru Ride and Strobe Edge. Enjoy!

Read a free preview of Love Me, Love Me Not, Vol. 1 by Io Sakisaka here!