Kamiya is dead set on pursuing Asuka, even though she’s in a relationship with Ryu. Since Ryu is a commitmentphobe, it’s easy to see why Kamiya thinks he has a chance.

Kamiya wants the same things out of life as Asuka, though he seems obtuse when it comes to picking up on signals. This rather works in his favor. He reminds me of an older type of shojo manga love interest—the “alpha male,” if you will. He is the pushy type, but because Asuka doesn’t return his feelings we feel her discomfort.

Ryu is much more of a contemporary love interest because he reveals his thoughts to us and he’s allowed to be unsure of himself.

Though I am not that keen on Kamiya in general, I am enjoying this war between the older and newer type of romantic interests. I feel that if this series were written a decade or two ago, Kamiya would win. Ryu has had it pretty easy in terms of defeating Kamiya so far, but now Kamiya seems to be evolving into a better guy?!

-Editor Nancy