MANGA REVIEW | "How Do We Relationship?" - Volume Eleven
Every coupling will have their complications. Although we always try our best to listen to the needs of our significant others, it sometimes will come at the cost of our own needs. Yes, compromises make for a stronger and earnest bonding, but it doesn’t take away some of the bottled-up urges and feelings one may have. Volume Eleven of How Do We Relationship? showcases exactly what happens when we try to compromise for the better, only for the situation to go dire.
On one side of the story, we have Saeko and Yuria. Although they hope to have their romantic future set, it’s the rest of the things in life that seem to be more complicated. Yuria’s got her five-point life plan all figured out, whereas Saeko doesn’t have the slightest clue what she wants to do for the future. This causes a slight bump on the road, as Saeko feels awful for not being as clear-headed as Yuria.
Miwa and Tamaki, on the other hand, have a more straightforward issue: the quantity of intimacy. Both of their sex drives are the polar opposite of one another, with Miwa’s on the high side and Tamaki on the low side. In order to make Tamaki feel more comfortable, Miwa decides to hold back on her urges. However, it turns out that doing such a thing causes a rift to form between the two of them.
It goes to show no matter how hard you try to have a strong relationship, there will always be a few hurdles you’ll have to jump over. How Do We Relationship? doesn’t shy away from these sorts of complications, and it showcases them well enough that they don’t have to be LGBTQ+-exclusive. You see Tsuruta having his fair share of intimacy troubles with his girlfriend, with one big problem that can be similar to what Miwa is going through. And then there’s Lucha, whose lack of a girlfriend demonstrates the troubles of modern-day dating scene. (Okay, he also whines and bitches about lacking a SO, which may add to his loneliness problems for the foreseeable future.)
For Saeko and Yuria, they have been together long enough to know how to overcome these troublesome situations. They’re not fixed via arguing or with lots of sex; they’re dealt with via talking like adults. The future is always uncertain, and while Saeko doesn’t have a clear pathway to what she wants career-wise, she at least is trying her best to get herself out there. Yuria understands this, and instead of simply pushing her too far to find that career path, she’s allowing Saeko to take her time and figure it out herself. After all, she’s only in her early twenties, and that quite a young age to think about your next 50+ years of your life!
Sadly, it’s a lot more complicated for Miwa and Tamaki. Miwa attempts to go at Tamaki’s pace, holding back from being intimate and repressing her sexual cravings. But all that does is put a wedge into their relationship, as it’s clear that Miwa isn’t listening to Tamaki at all regarding what she wants. A low sex drive does not equate to no sex drive; it just means that her urge to fool around isn’t as big as Miwa’s, whose drive is seriously off the chains! Because of this, it causes Tamaki to do something drastic, and it makes Miwa feel all the more awful for allowing her to go this far.
In the end, Volume Eleven of How Do We Relationship? shows two kinds of dating situations: one healthy, the other unhealthy. Compromises can be good, but sometimes they can build up to something that can break a relationship somewhere down the road. For now, things seem to be taking a bad turn for their coupling. Love may not be a competition, but Saeko and Yuria seem to be winning at the game of How Do We Relationship?, even if they have their fair share of problems.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
