Ouch. Well, this series took a hit after the last volume. And that’s mostly the heroine’s fault.
Makoto and Reita continue their sort-of relationship, but it’s not going much better than before. Reita continues to act all haughty, and Makoto insists the whole thing is fake. Also bad news for Retia: his friend Yusuke keeps emerging as a possible romantic rival. Even worse news for Reita: Makoto just plain refuses to believe that Reita truly likes her.
Plenty of manga stall out the main couple getting together by having the protagonist not acknowledging their or their love interest’s feelings as romantic. But Makoto comes across as rather callous in several places even as, at times, she finds her own heart skipping a beat. Plus, her one heartfelt apology ends up being heard by the wrong guy!
Don’t get me wrong: Reita makes plenty of stumbles as he rudely insinuates his kind-of girlfriend isn’t capable of attracting any other guy and assumes that any odd behavior from Makoto means she’s madly in love with him. That’s been Reita’s personality from the start though, and he does try to show to Makoto that his usual self is a front.
On the other hand, Makoto jumps between being dense, becoming aware of or interested in someone else, and being angry at her “brother”. She should either just shrug off Reita like she did with his original confession or just flip out and tell the whole school they’re not (or no longer) dating. She’s also probably been hiding deeper issues with her father than she let on in the opening volume, so that is something to consider.
Yusuke remains a wild card. Much like Makoto, his actions appear to be wavering between just being a friend and potentially romantically liking Makoto. He hints at his own struggles in being someone’s childhood friend, and it could be that he’s just trying to make amends with his own regrets rather than actually wanting to date Makoto. Combined with the series’ title and all the Reita art, I doubt that Yusuke actually has a chance. But I hope that he isn’t destined to be just the nice guy who serves as Makoto and Reita’s counselor who gets his heart broken. Although Makoto’s BFF is almost giving conflicting advice (telling Makoto Reita is serious, telling Reita he probably can’t overcome the moniker of childhood friends), let her play the role of therapist and give Yusuke his own character arc.
The art also seems just as wispy as the first. It looks even more like Robico’s art (My Little Monster, Our Precious Conversations), so if you like either of those series, than The Walls Between Us will make you feel right at home.
Still, you might not get that cozy feeling if things don’t improve between Makoto and Reita here soon. There’s a difference between tsundere and just being a jerk, and both leads find themselves a part of the latter group in this volume. It’s not a good look for either of them.