In March 2021, Square Enix Manga released the first volume of Beauty and the Party in the West. Thanks to the worsening paper shortage and other issues within the printing industry, we’ve been waiting for Volume 2 for a while, but now it’s finally here and we can find out if the series continues to be entertaining.
In volume 1, we met protagonist Shuko Yakumo, who befriended his neighbor Shohei Yamato when she offered to cook dinner for him. This friendship continued undisturbed, with the two becoming more and more comfortable with each other but never encroaching on each other’s lives beyond the meal times they had. share.
Now that we’re in Volume 2, the pattern of those days is starting to change, starting with Shuko attending one of Shohei’s baseball games. Since Shohei always comes straight to her house after club training, Shuko has become interested in learning more about the game and luckily for her, Shohei’s friend and classmate Rui is more than happy. to lecture her about sports when she attends Shohei’s game.
Shohei is happy to see Shuko come to his game and the chapters told from his point of view show that he wants to get closer to her and help her more. This is both to thank her kindness in feeding him and because he’s really in love with her, which I find myself in conflict with, given the big age gap in the game here.
For now, Shuko remains oblivious to Shohei’s feelings and considers herself an older sister. It’s a feeling that is only reinforced when Shohei saves her from a cockroach and recounts how he helped his little sister whenever she saw one in the house. There’s also a chapter about Shuko catching a cold and Shohei coming to cook a simple meal for her and make sure she’s okay, which Shuko considers brotherly, but Shohei considers her crush to be fine.
The problem here is that while Shuko’s dialogue and intentions indicate that she has no feelings for Shohei, author Satomi U goes out of her way to create situations for fan service and Shohei to become still. more attached to his neighbor. For example, one chapter sees Shuko don a teacher’s outfit as she helps Shohei study, which is very empowering for him, as his height is just a little too small for Shuko.
What I was hoping to find in volume 2 is that we would see more of Shohei’s life away from Shuko and in this department it was not delivered outside of the baseball game. I was also hoping to see more of Rui, but similarly, she’s in the baseball chapter and has never seen anything else, which is a shame because she’s an interesting character in her own right. The preview for Volume 3 mentions a visit from Shohei’s little sister, which should offer something new in the character department.
I think the problem for me is that there’s a mismatch between how enjoyable these chapters are and me knowing that it probably leads to a romance. I don’t mind having a romantic comedy of the ages done right, but in this situation, Shuko feels like Shohei should be able to move on when all is said and done, rather than becoming his partner. The way the manga is shaping up certainly doesn’t make me believe it’s going to go in that direction and in the meantime, it just doesn’t sell me the idea that this blossoming relationship is a good idea.
As previously mentioned, Beauty and the Party Volume 2 arrives in the West thanks to Square Enix Manga and continues to be translated by Sheldon Drzka. The translation reads well with no problems to note. Volume 3 is currently slated for an English release in June, so not too much time to wait for the rest of the series.
Globally, Beauty and the Party continues to offer a smooth read, but I don’t particularly like the trajectory the story takes, especially when the angle of romance seems at odds with the otherwise cute slice-of-life tale he’s trying to tell. I can only hope it improves in the future.
