Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends (2013)

[僕は友達が少ない]

Volume 8

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

Synopsis:
One of the sisters at the school offers to help Kodaka with his troubles.

Story/Characters:
We open with Yozora and Kodaka comparing notes after a test, which leads us into Kodaka's introduction to Kate, Maria's big sister. Kate is an interesting character, being very crass for a nun (or, honestly, for just about anyone), but tries to set herself in a counselor role. It'd make more sense if she was older than Kodaka, but you probably know how Japanese media is when it comes to improbable age for characters. We move on to Sena inviting Kodaka to her place to study. Naturally, Pegasus is happy to see him (for more reason than one, as we later discover). And Sena's room... hoo, boy. What a piece of work she is. Stella's little contribution will have greater significance when you learn more about her backstory. There's also a nice bit of bathtime bonding between Kodaka and Pegasus.

Next up, we have Maria barging in on Kodaka's place for a sleepover. She and Kobato go at it as usual, but you see something coming together between them. Then there's Kate being a worrywart calling every few minutes to check up on her sister. We then go the club celebrating the end of their term exams. We get a mini-bombshell when Rika catches something Kodaka says that reveals things that were supposed to be concealed. Rather than dwell on that, we switch over to the ousama game, which is mostly just silliness until the final round. Kodaka's quick thinking allows him to dodge a bullet, but tensions are rising and we close on a much bigger bombshell than the one before, courtesy of Kodaka's dad, that serves as the cliffhanger.

Art:
The art continues to be quite nice, particularly the comedic reaction shots. We get a few well-executed dramatic shots as well that portend to trouble on the horizon.

Other:
We have a fold-out color illustration of the gang, the first page of Chapter 32 in color, and two-page color spread before the table of contents. We get an afterword from Itachi with a 4-koma featuring Kate (who gets angry when she learns she won't be in the next volume) and character commentary.

Conclusion:
For comedy and character development, this is a very solid entry in the series. It also serves as the pivot point for the upcoming drama. It's all well-executed enough that I'm willing to bump this up a notch. It's worth having, so I recommend getting it.

Rating:
Own It