Only the Ring Finger Knows Volume 4 (Yaoi Novel)

First and foremost I want to talk about the translation. Karen McGillicuddy lends a new set of eyes to the OtRFK series, replacing Duane Johnson from two of the previous volumes. I'm not sure where the quality change came from, but this translation is the most cohesive, clear, flowing and consistent of the series thus far. There are still typographical errors, but they are few and far between, and don't distract the eye the way they did in previous volumes. The poetically descriptive writing style is vastly toned down in this volume, giving way to a more clean and straightforward means of describing situations and events (there were far fewer "from the bottom of his heart"'s in this book, which honestly was a pleasant change). I'm not sure if this is a change in the nature of the adaptation, or a change in Kannagi's writing style, but I list it as a plus. Secondly, the illustrations were done again by Hotaru Odagiri, and as always, her style is typical "shojo pretty," however, there were only four illustrations in the whole book, and while they were spaced a bit better to match the events they depicted, they were still a page or two off. Thirdly, there is only one love scene in this entire 250+ page book (far outnumbering the pagecount of the first two books and about matching the third). This isn't a "make or break" sort of issue, because as it was written (or perhaps as it was adapted) the scene is far more tangible than offerings of previous volumes, which seemed too keen on flowery allusions than actual descriptions of what was actually happening. If this is an indication of how these scenes will play out in the fifth and final volume (in hopefully greater numbers) I'll be quite thrilled to read it when it comes out. As for the book itself, get ready for an angst-fest. This volume of OtRFK is a total downer, from the brooding to the misunderstandings to the underhanded plotting (and not just by Kazuki's brother this time). Wataru spends an inordinate amount of time waffling about his relationship, not with Kazuki whom he is more devoted to than ever, but with Masanobu. He knows he needs to break it off cleanly, not only to settle the jealousy of his boyfriend, but to ease the suffering of his upperclassman and friend, but he just can't seem to separate his own fear of being the "bad guy" for pushing Asaka away and hurting him by breaking his heart once and for all. Things aren't helped when Kazuki finally spills all the beans about his former "strictly speaking" girlfriend, now awaiting serious surgery in America alone. Bring in Masanobu's hot-headed over-protective younger brother and Shohei's usual scheming to try and break the couple up, and this volume is an exercise in misery. The cliffhanger that was predistined to lead into the final volume of this series doesn't help to assuage any reader's feelings. But that's not to say that this book isn't worth reading. If you are as emotionally invested in this story and t