Sunday, May 5, 2024

Book Review: Let's Do It Already! vol. 1


Free-spirited Yuri Hasegawa and straitlaced Keiichiro Katsuragi have fallen in love. But his elite political family—producing a line of prime ministers—does not allow male descendants to engage in any sexual relations until they are 18. Can the physically affectionate Yuri and rule-abiding Keiichiro keep their relationship strictly chaste?

Yuri and Keiichiro have gotten to know each other on their daily commute to their respective high schools. Yuri makes a passionate love confession to Keiichiro, and he feels the same! Yuri rushes in to kiss her new boyfriend, but…!

Let's Do It Already! vol. 1 by Aki Kusaka will be published June 4, 2024. VIZ Media provided an early galley for review.

The combination of raging teen hormones and the barrier of forbidden fruit makes for a very tense romance that will instantly pull in young adult readers and those older adults who are still young at heart. The twist here is interesting in that it is the young man who is the one saying "we must wait".

Kusaka's artwork and story carry all those classic manga elements that make this illustrated storytelling so popular. I particularly liked the various shots that include detailed architecture and layouts in the background. Everything is very cinematic.

I am hoping more of the secondary characters are developed further as the series progresses. I would like to see another female character that is a counterpoint to Yuri's ways, someone more reserved to offer an alternate viewpoint to the situation. And, of course, the last few pages of this volume clearly are setting up a potential for rivalry in the Yuri-Keiichiro dynamic. That is always welcome.

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