Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends (2011)

[僕は友達が少ない]

Volume 4

Author: Yomi Hirasaka
Artist: Itachi
Publisher: Media Factory Comics

Synopsis:
The Neighbors Club tries their hand at a relay novel.

Story/Characters:
As you can probably imagine, the relay novel is a massive cluster F. I want to drop the hammer on Yozora the most, but I have to concede that it was Yukimura who first introduced rape into the story. This is where the club could use a faculty advisor who isn't an autistic ten-year-old. Next we have Rika introduce the gang to a VR game with a wonky sense of humor that goes about as well as the earlier attempt with Monster Karyudo. We then get something slightly more conventional with a karaoke outing. Well, conventional until Yozora and Sena's bent personalities kick in to give the poor staff member ulcers. (The others separate out and have a lovely time, so it's all good.) We close on a discussion of plans for summer vacation, which gets us set up for the next phase of the story.

Art:
Both the relay novel and the VR game provide us with the opportunities for sights we wouldn't normally see (and in many ways, sights we wouldn't normally want to see). Itachi definitely has the chops for dynamic action sequences and it's a rare treat in a series like this.

Other:
We get a full color version of one of the opening panels of Chapter 20 and a two-page spread of the gang. We also have a thanks page from the staff with a sketch of Maria and an afterword by Hirasaka.

Conclusion:
The relay novel in particular gets really tacky, but I suppose it's not so far removed from the usual for this series' sense of humor. We get a decent variety of activities and the promise of more fun to come. Go ahead and give this one a read.

Rating:
Read It