For fans of The Dangers in My Heart's excellent TV anime adaptation, we're into uncharted waters now. Although the recently released (mostly) recap movie features just under ten minutes of new material, it adapts at most a handful of short chapters from volume nine. The rest of these volumes contain enough material to easily comprise an entire third anime season, which I desperately hope is on the way. After this, there will be only two more volumes, as author Norio Sakurai recently announced volume fourteen would be the last. Before we prematurely lament the looming end of one of the best manga romcoms in living memory, let's celebrate what we do have, and that's a story that, for once, progresses past the point where the main couple confesses their love to one another.

I get that recently, we've been relatively spoiled by romcoms that do this. Horimiya's main couple begin dating fairly swiftly. You and I Are Polar Opposites' main couple embark on their relationship almost from the outset. Yano-kun's Ordinary Days is another example of a supremely sweet and caring couple getting together without excessive faffing around. Yet, for a long time, in popular anime and manga romcoms, this was not the expected pattern. Even one of my top manga romcoms of recent years, Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, ends only a few chapters after a certain relationship milestone, which I felt was a missed opportunity. Too often, manga and anime romcoms are all about the build-up, the will-they-won't-they, the comedic misunderstandings, and the interminable wheel-spinning, rather than the culmination and further progression. It's almost as if some of these writers have never actually experienced human relationships and have no idea how to write them, or at least keep their stories entertaining.

There are no such concerns with The Dangers in My Heart. Sakurai's characters are so well-crafted, empathetic, and amusing that I'd happily read a manga where they do nothing but watch paint dry. Yes, Kyotaro and Anna are dating now, but that doesn't mean they're any less interesting as characters. In fact, there's an argument for the story being even more compelling now that they've overcome the first hurdle towards intimacy; we can now watch them grow and develop through their shared vulnerability. That's the kind of profound character interaction I want from this genre.

Kyotaro's still the same edgy teen, prone to overthinking and self-sabotage, yet now he knows for sure that Anna loves him just as much as he loves her. His concerns have changed from his previous uncertainty to his feelings of inadequacy and anxiety about how to progress their relationship. From my own past experiences of dating as a teenager, this feels acutely raw and convincing. After all, it's Anna who asks Kyotaro out; she also initiates their first kiss, even though afterwards she voices her disappointment that he wasn't the one to do so. Yet she still loves him, doesn't berate him for his timidity, and keeps gently nudging him out of his comfort zone, while being (mostly) respectful of his boundaries. While in previous volumes it was Anna who seemed oblivious about personal space, here Kyotaro finds himself paralysed by doubt about how and when it is appropriate to touch his girlfriend. It's painfully relatable.

We must remember, though, that Kyotaro and Anna are only in their third year of middle school, so while Anna may look older, neither is emotionally (or legally) ready for a full-on sexual relationship. Like any hormonal teens, they skirt the boundaries, and I won't reveal how “far” they go, but let's say there is a convincing and realistic progression in all aspects of their relationship that does not present as voyeuristic or inappropriate for readers to witness.

The course of love never runs smooth, though, because if it did, there would be no drama. Volume nine deals with the immediate emotional and practical ramifications of Kyotaro and Anna becoming a couple, volume ten covers a summer study trip with multiple characters in a small, pressure-cooker environment where tensions flare, and there are some very embarrassing misunderstandings. Kyotaro begins to make plans for his future in volume 11, while becoming more aware of how his very existence may jeopardize Anna's career, and volume 12 demonstrates how absence doesn't only make the heart grow fonder, it heightens certain other desires too… Kyotaro's concerns with Anna's career are reminiscent of Sakuta and Mai's relationship in the excellent Rascal Does Not Dream novel and anime series.

With the central relationship mostly secure, we spend more time with the entertaining side characters, meeting the other members of Kyotaro's sister Kana's college band. I particularly love the chaotic, shark-toothed Momo, an acid-tongued disaster of a law student who “survives on vodka and energy drinks”. She brings a certain degree of heightened conflict into poor Kana's life. Kana is also a fun character, and I'm unsurprised to hear she recently got her own spin-off manga, which I hope receives a translation soon.

Sakurai's art remains as variable as ever. Sometimes she draws the most meticulously constructed and realistic character poses, yet other times she fills the page with funny blob people. I'm not always sure whether this is truly only for comedic effect or because she's rushing due to a deadline. These later chapters are far more serialized than before, and it's not unusual for a single storyline to take up an entire volume. This gives this section of the story a very different vibe from how it first began, when it was almost like a gag manga. Humor is still present and correct, but it's not so much the focus now. This is a more serious relationship drama about two young people facing their future together, which just happens to be quite amusing. I still love it to bits, and although I'm sad to hear only two further volumes remain, I can't wait to get my hands on them.