Following our review of The Angel Next Door Spoils me Rotten Vol 1, we head towards the second volume of the light novel. With our protagonists growing closer and enjoying each other’s company, they begin to get drawn into each others personal problems. Will it bring them closer through turmoil or scare them?
Please note: There are some spoilers of the first volume of The Angel Next Door Spoils me Rotten in this review.
Quick Recap
In volume one, we left off with Mahiru and Amane enjoying Christmas day together, relaxing and playing video games. It’s a calm ending after the events of Christmas Eve, where Itsuki and Chitose find out about the Angel next door. With their secret ruined, Amane makes his friends swear not to tell anyone, hoping that will be enough to maintain his life with Mahiru. With another holiday coming up, Amane wonders if next year he can still wish to continue his current lifestyle.
Story
Volume 2 starts from where the first one left off, with Christmas leaving through the window and a new outlook for New Year’s Eve coming up. Our main protagonists, Mahiru and Amane, are left to wonder about their plans ahead, especially for the turn of the year. Amane needs to visit his parents but also doesn’t want to leave Mahiru behind. His life has improved so much in the six months since meeting Mahiru, he feels bad just leaving her alone after all she has done for him.
From that opening scenario, their daily life unfolds again with more growing problems. Amane’s mother has practically declared Mahiru as her son’s girlfriend, with his father eager to meet her as well. We also have a look at Mahiru’s past by the end of the volume, with a neat reveal that left me finally connecting some dots in my head. It’s a good way to develop her character further and explain so much more about her.
What I would like to see more of is still Itsuki and Chitose. They are side characters in The Angel Next Door Spoils me Rotten, but they barely feel like characters. Chitose helps Mahiru open herself more, thanks to her bubbly personality, but that’s all she does. The same goes for Itsuki, who is basically worried about his friend at all times, but we don’t see much of him besides that. It would be an interesting development to see the relationship between the two and their lives aside from our protagonists. In a way, developing their characters would also help make the slow pace of the main relationship less noticeable.
Focusing on that, we have the problem of this volume. The author himself, Saekisan, has stated that he will do a slow development of their relationship and intends to maintain the status quo for now. But, that also comes with its own set of problems. Mahiru herself has developed quite a bit since the start of the series, committing to the idea that she truly likes Amane. The problem lies with Amane himself, who has everyone around him and all the pointers in the world to realize he too likes her. But instead, he feels like it will ruin their friendship if she says so. With that in mind, he decides not to act on it. The lack of communication, especially with Mahiru having decided to wait for him to ask her out, brings our romance from a slow breezy walk to a grinding halt.
Art
As stated before, the illustrations in The Angel Next Door Spoils me Rotten are great. At the start of the volume, we see some art illustrating some of the precious moments between Amane and Mahiru. This volume also helps with giving life to more of the side characters, showing us Chitose and Itsuki in a full-color illustration for the first time. That is an important part for me about the art of light novels; bringing to life what could be imagined.
Verdict
Overall, volume 2 of The Angel Next Door Spoils me Rotten brings a development in the plot that explores more of what could be enjoyed in the earlier volume. It also reveals its cards on how the plot will develop. If you are interested in seeing a relationship form soon, maybe this one won’t be it for you. We will see what the next volume holds for us and for Mahiru and Amane — our editor who has read ahead tells me it gets better again!
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Want to read some more light novels? How about checking out the How to Melt the Ice Queen’s Heart which is based on a similar idea? Or our visual novel reviews?
Nick has been gaming for quite a while, a decade now! His first console was the DS but the first one played extensively was the Nintendo 64. He loves a huge variety of games, favourite genres include RPG, platforming, metroidvanias and visual novels. No longer a member of the NookGaming team, but still here in spirit. Follow him on @NickMendz.