When I did a poll of what manga to review next on the shoujo subreddit this cute little manga won second place. Yona Of The Dawn won first place. So, with that being said, please enjoy my review of Yamaguchi Kun Isn’t So Bad Vol. 1.
Chapter 1
15-year-old Satsuki Shinohara is being harassed on the train while on her way to school. Until her classmate, Yamaguchi-kun, steps in. She is surprised by his kindness at first because he is rumored to be a Yakuza. This misunderstanding mainly stems from the fact that he has a bit of a mean face and is a country bumpkin. The reason that he is usually very quiet at school is that he’s a model student.
It doesn’t take Satsuki long to warm up to him, although unfortunately, whenever she approaches Yamaguchi at school, her friends think she is being bullied. Satsuki musters up her courage and asks Yamaguch-kun to be friends. He agrees, and the friendship is off to a wholesome start.
Chapter 2
This chapter opens with Satsuki spectacularly failing a math quiz. ( I feel you, girl.) Yamaguchi-kun finds this laugh-out-loud funny because she had requested that they compete via the quiz that morning while on the train to school.
After Satsuki teases him a bit for his shyness, Yamaguchi-kun catches her attention by pulling a mini kabedon move to make her blush instead. When Satsuki asks Yamaguchi-kun to tutor her in math, he adorably shows concern for how others may treat her.
Satsuki expresses how she hates all the undeserved rumors surrounding Yamaguchi-kun, and her kindness surprises and amuses him.
The friendship is definitely on the up and up for these two. If my shoujo instincts are right, I predict a love story.
Chapter 3
As suspected, Satsuki’s heart just won’t stop going doki-doki ever since she became friends with Yamaguchi-kun, and she wonders what it could be. (Girl, they call it falling in love)
Satsuki and Yamaguchi-kun’s class is on a field trip, and Satsuki is determined to ask that he join the group. (Ah, the magical school field trip where there is typically a confession, or the male lead gets to demonstrate how cool he is.) Satsuki and Yamaguchi-kun have a good old roof-top lunch moment where cuteness ensues as she works up the nerve to ask him about the trip.
Satsuki learns of Yamaguchi-kun’s random competitive streak and is disappointed when he turns her down regarding the school trip. As usual, it is out of concern for her, not disdain. Yamaguchi-kun doesn’t want others to treat Satsuki poorly for being friends with him. Satsuki vows not to give up that easily when Yamaguchi-kun also says no regarding spending time together on sports day. In the end, Satsuki’s wish of being in the same group as Yamaguchi-kun comes true, but just the thought of it stresses him out because he doesn’t want others mistreating Satsuki.
The day of the school field trip arrives, and there is a hater in the mix named Ishizaki who tries to bad mouth Yamaguchi-kun every chance he gets. Conveniently, he shuts all the way up whenever Yamaguchi-kun tries to call him out on it.
The atmosphere within the larger group of classmates is awkward. Still, when they have a moment alone together, Satsuki realizes that Yamaguchi-kun has gone out of his way to research where they are so Satsuki can have fun.
Surprisingly, Ishizaki-kun isn’t a hater. He actually admires Yamaguchi-kun and doesn’t know how to approach him. He thought the only way to get Yamaguchi’s attention was by calling him Yakuza. Apparently, he has the logic of a spoiled 5-year-old.
Satsuki is ecstatic at the possibility of Yamaguchi-kun having a new friend. She agrees to help Ishizaki not behave like a 5-year-old. Yamaguchi-kun thinks that Satsuki and Ishizaki are getting close, which bothers him. When Satsuki clears things up, she realizes he is acting jealous. He comes up with a clever way to hide his red face from her.
Yamaguchi-kun is polite and always refers to Satsuki by her last name, Shinohara, and always includes the polite honorific san. He gets a bit jealous when he realizes Ishizaki kun is more casual with her and doesn’t use the honorific. In a moment of jealousy, he calls her by her first name and declares it drives him nuts to see how close Ishizaki is with her.
Impressions? I can see why so many people recommend it! it’s so cute. My ML weakness is tsunderes. I blame Kyo Sohma. I’m looking forward to volume 2 for sure. I wonder how quickly the two will realize that they are falling for each other. The series definitely gives me Honey So Sweet vibes. Volume one seemed a tad short to me. I’m used to volumes being five chapters long, and this was only four chapters. It was definitely a cute and fun read, though.
