Welcome to Romance Roundtable: a feature where the editorial POME Crones gather together to discuss Romance Manga. Today we’re covering volume 1 of Boss Wife by Mayu Sakurai, a book that really has it all — love!! romance!! intrigue!! jokes!! and even #looks!! Plus, this book has an added bonus for fans of the Yakuza video game franchise: a few possible top shelf deep cuts.
CC: I will be reading vol 2 regardless but if y’all are interested in covering it in RR lmk bc I LOOOOOVED this book
Jenny: i’d be down but mostly bc this was like max hornt and that’s always fun
Rachel: haha same honestly!
i thought the book was just ok but i enjoyed how sexy it was
Jenny: same
CC: for the folks @ home: there is one panel in this book that summarizes the whole premise even better than we could
Jenny: i think i’m only lukewarm on this one is probably the fault of my own expectations tbh
it’s called BOSS WIFE
but it’s
Jenny: and not that the wife is the boss
but i DO love a get married first, learn to love later
CC: Boss 10 Day Fiance
Jenny: LOL yes
CC: look, LOOK ok
my partner has been just barreling through all the Yakuza games and spectating them these past several months made this book even more fun for me
i am convinced this artists was a big Yakuza fan who was just like, but what if these games were…..sexy…….
Yakuza but the wife guy protag actually gets a wife
Jenny: oh bless
Rachel: good for him!!!
CC: i love this for him and also for me
Jenny: big THIS energy
loved that for sure
CC: ok the one and only Yakuza video game deep cut
that i will insert tonight, I Promise
is this
CC: i am pretty sure this is a reference
Rachel: LOL
Jenny: i love it if so
CC: bc in Yakuza 0, the protag runs a real estate company and in Yakuza Kiwami 2, he co-runs a construction company
deep cut
i love it
Jenny: now hiring buff dudes and tough guys! i love it!!
CC: the yakuza franchise is a loosely themed collection of excellent minigames with high drama running between them, 10/10 A++ would recommend watching someone else play them, but ANYway
wife guy boss
very good, very wholesome, i would die for both of these goofballs in love
you know i love that #goingsteady content and what could be more Going Steady than a married couple striving together towards their goals
Rachel: yeah!! i mean i love that this wasn’t a like, first time love kind of deal
two adults who have a history rekindle their love (and PASSION) for each other
you love to see it
CC: and you definitely get to see it
Jenny: a married couple actively communicating!
oh lol yes
he love-a to suck-a da tiddy
Rachel: lol yes i feel like this comic went out of it’s way let us know that Yamato is a boob man
Jenny: there were definitely points where i felt like
Rachel: LOLLLLL
Jenny: is this us?
are the readers voyeurs at this point?
CC: just two wholesome newlyweds going to the bone zone at least once a chapter
good for them
Jenny: i mean yeah it was v good
CC: I was surprised by how good all the gags in this book are
it isn’t Way of The Househusband: The Prequel, which I appreciated — I liked that it is a very sincerely told love story with an interesting premise
but the Jokes
Rachel: LOL yes i have this same screenshot!!
Rachel: dressing like a drunk toddler
DRAG HIM
CC: also
CC: just fun and silly
Rachel: honestly the faces they gave to Mio are just top tier
CC: LOL
i loved this one
Jenny: lol another good one right off the bat — when they bump into each other for the first time in years, admit they used to have crushes on each other back in high school, to go a hotel to fuck, and then he shows her his tattoo…
Jenny: and she’s immediately on the bus home, googling
“what to do if your crush is in the yakuza”
Rachel: HAHA yeah i had to reread this part several times because it was actually a little jarring!!
that is one complaint i have about this book
some of the transitions were a little tough to follow
CC: i think i just got swept up lol
i think the original tweet got deleted
but all throughout the book i just thought of this tweet
CC: the video of the person running away from the mandalorian in a sexy way
but like
me running away from my yakuza boss first love who wants to love & support me 4 the rest of our days
Rachel: HAHAHAHAH yesssss
CC: me, a broke ass artist, running away from my hot yakuza first love [for 5 mins before deciding to come back and get married]
Rachel: ok so the artist thing!! i wanted to talk about that
i wish there had been more of it
like it’s a driving factor for her but then as soon as they get married, it’s not a thing anymore
oh wait rewind rewind
we haven’t done a proper recap!
CC: yeah i guess that butt screencap leaves a lot out hahahaha
Jenny: right! so, they’ve bumped into each other on the street, almost hooked up, but she ran away bc he’s in the yakuza; unrelated, she quit her job at a trading company (?) to pursue her dream of making a living as an illustrator, then her mom died, her dad racked up a lot of debt and skipped town, so now she’s being hounded by gangster loan sharks
CC: oh yeah and he can’t technically inherit leadership of his family’s yakuza clan unless he has a family of his own, and he wants to inherit in order to turn them all legit
Jenny: v noble
CC: the main thing i didn’t really understand, going back to your point about the transitions Rachel, is the story behind why he got the tattoo
since they say the current leader?? [his dad] did away with the tattoo policy but had him get one as a lesson for going behind his back to look out for their dudes? or? something??
Jenny: i think it was like he had to convince his dad to get rid of the tattoo policy (and that it was a hard argument to win) because it made re-entry into non-crime society too hard; so it was reserved as a severe punishment?
and when one of the main guy’s henchmen messed up a job, our boy stepped in to receive the punishment in his place, bc he didn’t want his goon to worry about finding another job later in life?
idk i’m not 100% on that though
CC: ooooh that makes sense
Rachel: that’s how i read it too!
mostly (and i fully support this) i get the vibe that the artist wanted to draw some sexy back
and the tattoo is an excellent excuse to do so
CC: truly
definitely got a lot of mileage out of that back tattoo
ok but i do wanna get back to what you were saying about the art rachel
did you mean that
this was not enough for you??
Rachel: ok this was cute and very good
it’s just the last time her art is ever a focus for the rest of the book!
CC: yeah i mean it is v goofy but also the sole time she gets to do art things in the whole book!!!
i am very intrigued by the idea of Mio taking commissions within ~~ the family ~~ LOL
Jenny: love the idea of the sister asking for sexy art
Rachel: like the whole reason she decides to go along with the marriage is because 1) he’s hot, 2) the extreme validation of the person who rejected you in high school coming begging, and 3) to work with him to live a “normal” life which meant financial stability as an illustrator
CC: an ill advised but powerful trio
Jenny: i mean: good and valid points all
i stand by it
Rachel: yes i mean it is really working out for her so far!! lol
except the last part, i guess
which is my beef
Jenny: yeah well maybe that’s why we have to do volume 2
maybe there’s more illustrator content in there
this was so much homewares shopping and cooking adventures
Rachel: i want to see more of this giraffe mascot
CC: i will bet y’all $5 that they make a giraffe mascot costume and one of the goons will need to wear it
Rachel: HELL YEAH
Jenny: i would be a fool to take that bet — that is absolutely happening
i need it to
Rachel: i mean, instead of final thoughts
i would love to hear y’alls predictions for book 2
Jenny: besides more fucking
CC: i mean that’s a given
Jenny: i think something dramatic with the brother-in-law — maybe a tense dinner? with swords?
CC: oh yeah i think a climactic fight scene is a good bet
Rachel: makes sense!! interested to learn more about the beef those two have
Jenny: perhaps over beef
Rachel: waggles eyebrows
CC: i have a deep cut prediction
Jenny: yes
CC: i predict that after this fight, the brother-in-law will get punched until he is not evil (or at least vaguely unsavory) anymore and will become a good husband
Jenny: oh! i would love to see it
CC: if the yakuza video games have taught me anything — sorry for breaking my promise y’all — that has to happen or the story can’t end
if you get punched enough you just become good
Rachel: oh dang, a good life lesson!!
nobody mentioned that in my krav classes
CC: maybe it only works if you get the full back tattoo
again, video game logic, probably like eating meat you find on the ground to regain HP
i guess we never know until we try!
Rachel: hahahahaha
ok i have 2 predictions
we see a butt and not just titty
CC: ooooh i like ur big brain on that one
Rachel: 2. Mio starts drawing a slice of life comic about a yakuza wife guy and it’s what kickstarts her illustration career
Mio… draws Way of the House Husband
Jenny: OH!!! I LOVE IT!!!
CC: LMAO OMGGGGGGGGGGGG
full circle
amazing
i love it
i DO think that this story feels like a way of the househusband prequel at times
isn’t the wife in that one named like
miku?????
Rachel: HMMMM
COINCIDENCE????
CC: I THINK NOT
Join us next time for even more love story shouting in our next Romance Roundtable!
All images in this article via volume 1 of Boss Wife by Mayu Sakurai unless otherwise noted.
