I Want Your Mother to Be with Me Volume 1 Manga Review (Mild Spoilers)

Ryo Ishizuka is a naive but hard-working young man, fresh out of school and trying to make ends meet. While studying for an accounting certification, he works at a secondhand goods store. Yuzuki Tachibana is a single mom, significantly older than Ryo, who also works there. Ryo is madly in love with her, even though he knows almost nothing about her life outside of work, or about romance in general. Is there any hope for this one-sided love to work out?

The Writing

You’d be forgiven for assuming a manga with a title like this is nothing but fanservice, the plot a thin excuse to show you a half-naked lady. But in truth, the plot of I Want Your Mother to Be with Me is a mature, thoughtfully written excuse to show you a half-naked lady. The character writing is easily this story’s strongest suit. Ryo, the main character, is both a hopeless romantic and surprisingly emotionally intelligent, particularly for a “dumb virgin” with no relationship history to speak of.

When he tactlessly mangles his first attempt at a confession to Yuzuki, he puts serious thought into why he failed and makes a genuine effort to understand Yuzuki and be there for her and her kid without assuming he’ll get anything in return. He’s persistent, but not pressuring, demonstrating realistic growth without seeming like he’s magically become a different person. I do think some people may read him as a little creepy, particularly at the start of the book, but he sees the error of his ways.

Yuzuki is equally well written, though her characterization is a bit more subtle since she’s not the viewpoint character. She’s a deeply dedicated mother to her son Asahi despite having had a rough go of life. Yuzuki is a lot like Ryo in some ways. She’s a hard worker like him, because she has to be to support her child by herself. She’s also naive in a certain sense. She only thinks about being a mom and can’t recognize why anyone would want to spend time or energy on her when she has none to spend on herself. When coworkers point out Ryo’s attraction to her, she rightfully assumes he doesn’t know what he’s getting into and quickly shuts him down.

When Ryo eventually begins to win her over, it isn’t simply him getting his prescribed “reward” for never giving up on love per the laws of romantic comedy. It’s Yuzuki learning to accept help, and learning that she is allowed to want a good life for herself as well as a good life for Asahi. It’s a realistic arc for two realistic characters, and I really can’t say enough about how well written it was.

The Fanservice

This realism is unfortunately at odds with some of the fanservice present in this first volume. There isn’t even that much overall, either, which makes the issues with it extra glaring. There are two distinct types of fanservice that appear in this volume. Firstly, there are the “mommy” scenes, where Yuzuki acts excessively maternal towards Ryo. They are presented as wholesome and innocent, and aren’t visually horny, but they are blatant fetish material.

These scenes took me out of the story because I can’t imagine any adult, even a diehard mother like Yuzuki, doing or saying those things to another adult that they aren’t already in a relationship with. These interactions stand out because of how much less realistic they are than everything else that happens in the book.

The rest of the fanservice is of the typical “big boobie anime lady” variety. These scenes don’t feel as out of place because they’re presented from Ryo’s point of view and are usually woven smoothly into the story. The best example is a scene in which Asahi vomits on Yuzuki. She slips into mom mode immediately and takes her shirt off to wash it, completely ignoring that Ryo is there. The scene is obviously an excuse to undress Yuzuki for the reader, but it also depicts Ryo’s feelings and understanding for her developing, even as she’s covered in barf and not at her most conventionally attractive. It’s character development and fanservice rolled seamlessly into one.

The Production Values

The issue with scenes like this one is that the art can’t really sell the erotic element. There are some serious anatomy and proportion issues in some panels. Characters’ heads occasionally look massive, their arms are sometimes too skinny for their hands, and Yuzuki’s breast size is inconsistent. It’s not all bad, though. Artist Yutaka Tazawa has an unusual, very expressive way of drawing eyes that allows them to convey feelings better than many manga I’ve read.

The translation and lettering serve the realistic nature of the story well by being generally unobtrusive. The English text is easy to read both visually and in terms of what it actually says. There are no unnatural turns of phrase, and the fonts used are simple and easy on the eyes. If it weren’t for all the Japanese names, you’d never know it wasn’t originally in English.

The Verdict

Despite my gripes with certain elements of this book, I really enjoyed reading it. It’s a well-written, grounded romance with a sprinkling of fetish material, which I think readers deserve to know about going in. But if that kind of thing would normally stop you, you should know that it’s infrequent, not egregious, and ultimately doesn’t detract enough from the story to stop me recommending it. If you’re looking for a sweet romantic comedy and aren’t opposed to some very specific undertones, this first volume is absolutely worth a read.

If you like I Want Your Mother to Be With Me, you might also like…

• You Like Me, Not My Daughter?
• Sweat and Soap
• Sweetness and Lightning

Credits

Story and Art: Yutaka Tazawa

English Publisher: One Peace Books

Thanks to One Peace Books for providing us with a review copy. Receiving a free copy in no way affected the contents of this review.