MANGA REVIEW | "Let’s Do It Already!" - Volume Two
You can’t help but feel bad for Yuri Hasegawa. The heroine of Let’s Do It Already! just wants to date Keiichiro Katsuragi normally. But no, he has to come from a super rich and super strict family of politician, meaning normalcy doesn’t exist in his life. So until he turns 18, Keiichiro’s life of love must be filled with compromises that give Yuri a headache. In Volume Two, the biggest headache yet arrives, one that aims to put a wedge between Yuri and Keiichiro.
His name is Kasuga, and his task is to act as a spy for the Katsuragi family. He’s a master of disguise, a pro at mind manipulation, and has plenty of combat skills that’d put any James Bond to shame. But there’s one other thing Kasuga is, and that’s a total Grade-A wanker! Why, you ask? Because he’s now tasked to make sure Yuri and Keiichiro never get to date.
The addition of Kasuga brings forth what we’d call the super villain of Let’s Do It Already! He’ll do anything to keep these lovebirds apart. From trying to steal Yuri’s first kiss to dressing like a woman and interfering with date plans, Kasuga pulls out all of the stops to make sure he succeeds. Thankfully, he didn’t count on how much Yuri and Keiichiro despise his tactics, resulting in him becoming a recipient of some high-appropriate ass-kickings! Of course, it’s not just him that makes this coupling hard to juggle; it’s also the rules and timing of their meetups that result in plenty of frustrations.
A fifteen minute date, for starters? Seriously, who suggests something as loony as this?! Fortunately, some Kasuga-related incidents lead Keiichiro to have a much longer date than initially planned. Some clothes shopping even gives Yuri the chance to see her beloved Keiichiro shirtless, which causes her heart to flutter. But Keiichiro’s got a stronger willpower than his beloved, as he knows very well what would happen if he could hold his girl the way he wants. And honestly, who can blame him?
Perhaps the funniest and sweetest endeavor the couple embark on is an exchange diary. A staple of grade schools in Japan, this leads the two to get to know one another without the aid of cell phones or in-person hangouts. However, while she was hesitant to give the exchange diary a try, it does allow Yuri to finally say what she wants to without holding back. The same goes for Keiichiro, who finds this sort of exchange fluttering his heart.
Let’s Do It Already! has found its stride in its second volume. The addition of Kasuga brings both hilarity and frustration to an already wild and ridiculous dating situation. Although we’ll certainly feel bad for Yuri during this rom-com, it’s not going to stop us readers from laughing at her situation. It might not reach the level of kookiness as something like Kaguya-sama: Love is War, but Let’s Do It Already! is taking the rom-com formula and chopping it up in a blender with a mix of wacky and cute.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
