ARC Review: Shortcake Cake, Vol. 3 by Suu Morishita

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 3 by Suu Morishita
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

An unflappable girl and a cast of lovable male roommates at a boardinghouse create bonds of friendship and romance.

When Ten moves out of her parents’ home in the mountains to live in a boardinghouse, she finds herself becoming fast friends with her male roommates. But can love and romance be far behind?

Chiaki and Ten pretend they’re dating to dissuade Rei, Riku’s younger brother, from continuing to bother her. But Chiaki believes that Riku still has feelings for Ten and tries to bring them together.

This volume was hella cute, with some great heart-pounding moments, and seemed more directed on the romance story developing. So, after Chiaki and Ten pretended to date, Rei seems to be off planning new things (I hope he continues to stay out of the picture), but Riku is still a little sad from his rejection. His attempts to make Ten feel at ease, though, are noticed by her, and there is a little awkwardness between them, but also some growing feelings. Chiaki, meanwhile, feels dejected over Riku being sad and tries to get them together – me thinks he is kind of hiding from his own feelings in this case. Ten continues to be straightforward in her interactions, which feels like a refreshing change from just plain old angst, but she does have moments where she feels flustered in Riku’s presence. Additionally, there was one nice moment between her and Ran with them discussing what kind of love Ten wants – I think it presented a nice counter-argument to the whole ‘first love is intense’ kind of trope. Ten wants to feel at ease, not flustered, and the two boys are the opposing sides, so I am like Ran in this case – I, too, see Chiaki as being more suited to her, but Riku’s sincerity and overall personality feels like it would make for a compelling romance!

Overall, it doesn’t seem like much developed story-wise but the subtle development between the characters, the beautiful artwork, as well as the fact that it is more slice of life (like, general student life) than romantic tension makes this for a nice relaxing romance.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Viz Media LLC, via Edelweiss.

Previous volumes in Shortcake Cake series