So, you’ve given up on your dreams, moved back home, and are now being forced to work at a bathhouse by a yakuza member..!?
Before we start the review…
What’s the Japanese level?
I rate this as a late intermediate – early advanced series. To see my reasonings for my rankings, please click here!
Who wrote this manga?
This was written by Takashi♂. You can check out their X here.
Info about the series
- There are 3 volumes in Japanese.
- There is currently no English version
You can check out this series for yourself below.
What happens in chapter one?
Miyako grew up in a single-parent household with an amazing father. He supported her artistic talents and encouraged her to follow her dreams. She accepted his support and moved away for college to study painting, but eventually took a corporate job.
She already felt rather guilty for giving up on the dream her father so heavily supported, so when she heard the news that he has passed away, the guilt began to eat at her. She quickly makes the trip back to her hometown, and goes through his old belongings kept in the family business—a bathhouse.
When she takes a quick break to go on a walk, she comes across an injured
man and takes him in to patch him up. When he asks if the bathhouse has opened for business yet, she breaks the news to him that her father has unfortunately passed away, and that the onsen will be closed indefinitely.
He takes the news a little bit strangely and informs her that this means she will have to take on his massive debt. It turns out that this man, Hebidsuka, is a member of the yakuza, and Miyako’s father just so happened to borrow an unbelievable amount of money from his organization to keep the bathhouse afloot. So now, it’s up to Miyako to pay it back.
As she’s been living away for the past 10 years, she’s long forgotten how to take care of the establishment, but thankfully Hebidsuka is there to give her instructions. After lending her father the money, he spent his time watching over him at the bathhouse. Now that Miyako has taken over, he tells her that he’ll be here to watch over and protect her too.
After quite a bit of cleaning, they are able to open the bathhouse and Miyako realizes just how important it is not just to her parents, but also to all of the residents of the town. They have a successful night, and just as they’re about to close their doors, a group of businessmen make their way in.
These men offer Miyako enough money to get her out of debt and then some. All she needs to do is sign over the rights to the bathhouse to them. She declines, finally realizing just how important this place is. But it doesn’t seem like this will be the last time we see these men.
My thoughts on this chapter
I enjoyed this introduction to the story! It seems like Hebidsuka really was fond of Miyako’s father. While he treated her a little bit coldly at first, upon learning that she is his daughter, he changed his tune very quickly. Him knowing her by name, and also showing her how to perform the job duties, shows that he clearly was doing more than just watching her father as he ran the business.
I do hope that Miyako is able to do something artistic while she’s stuck at the bathhouse. One of her defining characteristics is that she’s upset with herself for giving up on her dream and never speaking up for herself. If she just ends up moving home to continue her parent’s legacy… she’s still not living her dream! She’s just continuing someone else’s dream.
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