MANGA REVIEW | "Let’s Do It Already!" - Volume Six
As I mentioned in my previous Let’s Do It Already! review, the Katsuragis are the worst family you could imagine. Poor Keiichiro needs to follow the family rules perfectly, even if it’s at the expense of his girlfriend Yuri’s feelings. Building a relationship is hard work, but it should be like a challenging adventure, not a nonstop DMV-styled hellscape with more paperwork than there are stars in the sky. Fortunately, as the sixth volume of Let’s Do It Already! shows, someone besides Yuri agrees with that sentiment.
There is one (mostly) sane person in the Katsuragi Clan: big brother Shotaro. He arrives in Kyoto to attempt to make amends with Keiichiro, but all it does is ruin Yuri’s mood. It becomes a race to find some sort of privacy, with Keiichiro going so far as to book a new hotel and have Kasuga cross-dress as a maid there to add extra protection. However, Yuri has a far bigger solution to all of this madness: making amends.
It’s not exactly clear why there was a wall put up between Keiichiro and Shotaro. All that’s initially revealed is that the eldest brother did something to throw him into the dreaded fourth Katsuragi residence, far away from everyone else. Nonetheless, Yuri has a bit of a bone to pick with Shotaro. After all, he ruined any chance for her and Keiichiro to have some quiet couple time away from the madness.
Speaking of madness, what kind of lover sends a questionnaire to their significant other?! And 116 questions, at that?! Granted, if my girlfriend ever did the same thing, I’d answer each of those questions happily (while thinking of naughty ways to punish her 😈). Maybe it’s a cop-out for Yuri to just send Keiichiro a letter, but it does give her the chance to express how she truly feels about him and the situation that they’re in.
Even though nothing truly romantic happened during the Kyoto trip (hell, even that ring Keiichiro gave Yuri was weird!), another opportunity arises in the form of a fancy party. Once again, Yuri has to work hard to impress Keiichiro’s people, meaning lots of dance practices and more time away from one another. And when the party finally arrives…it’s not at all what Yuri or Keiichiro imagined!
It’s at this moment when Shotaro has a chance to speak with Keiichiro. He reveals everything that happened, from their days as big and little bro to why he was banished. While the story is a little bit crazy, it does give Keiichiro and even Yuri a better understanding of why the Katsuragi family has pushed the youngest brother so much. Even if the bitterness between the two of them was nonexistent, the gesture Yuri has the two do for one another signifies a fresh start for the siblings.
That leads to a big realization: the date of the party. And it’s a big one, a date that so many readers of Let’s Do It Already! have waited patiently for. But throughout this entire time, has enough progress been made to make Keiichiro and Yuri a rock-solid couple? Every obstacle thrown by the Katsuragi Family has been conquered by the two, but has it made them much closer? Considering how aloof Keiichiro still is regarding actual dating etiquette, I’m not exactly sure.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
