Yakumo-san wa Ezuke ga Shitai.
Beauty and the Feast

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A very comforting, wholesome, feel-good story, perfect for readers who enjoy slice-of-life and food manga.

The main focus of the story is definitely food, so I wouldn't recommend diving into the story specifically looking for romance, ecchi or any dramatic plot. It's simply 89 chapters of Yakumo making food for Yamato.

I binged the whole series in one night and I still go back to it and choose a random chapter to reread purely because every chapter is so comforting. The way that Yakumo is portrayed is so endearing, it just makes me want to sit down and listen to her talk for hours. There is ... never a moment where she is written in a way that is disrespectful to her character or backstory. The food that she makes for Yamato always looks so good and the way that Yamoto enjoys eating everything is so satisfying - it's almost like watching a mukbang video. I really love the way the author draws the characters' expressions and gestures so genuinely. The interactions between the two characters are just so funny, adorable and cringeworthy, which just makes the story even more loveable.

While the story eludes to an age gap relationship in the story, it's very innocent and written in a way that is tasteful and not sexualised. That being said, the author does sometimes draw pin-ups of Yakumo for the chapter titles lol.

As for any cons I will agree with MagicMaterwelon that the story could have explored Yakumo's backstory and emotions more relating to her becoming a widow, or even expanding on Yamato's childhood further to flesh out how and why he developed his independent character trait.

All in all, would highly recommend for an easy, no commitment, light read.

I picked up Yakumo-san because I was itching for an age-gap romance manga and then reading the synopsis got me somewhat interested in it.

I read it in a span of a couple days. It really is quite a wholesome manga about a widow (Yakumo) trying to move on from her past with this young baseball player (Yamato) who has quite an appetite. It made me happy while reading it of course but honestly it's not really a romance manga when I think about it (or at least not explicitly so)

I was hoping to see even more about Yakumo's past, how she battled with her loneliness, ... or even Yamato's feelings. To my perspective at least there's not any explicit showings of Yamato's and Yakumo's relationship being more intimate, it may seem like it's leading to something more but it's just the same thing all over again. Even after the ending, I still wished for "more", I'm not one to HC a lot so getting an ending like that is something that I struggle with.

For the characters themselves, while not bad in writing, Yamato in particular, the protagonist, just feels like he's there, he could probably be fleshed out more but seeing him devour food is still entertaining. Perhaps I'm biased because I like Yakumo-san's character, but I do think she's one of the better characters here (no duh) probably due to us learning of her past and constantly learning about her feelings and emotions.

Despite me feeling that the romance or emotional moments sometimes is a bit lacking, it shouldn't deter people from reading this sweet-savory Slice of Life Manga.

P.S, so I think this is probably not a romance manga (?) it's just that one of the artworks and a couple chapters just really lead you to believe that it is, but if it is a romance manga then it's very lacking in that regard. Still very cute though

Plot
our female MC Yukumo is a widow. She lives alone and is still mourning the death of her husband. When a high school boy (our lead male MC) moves next door alone, she gives him some leftover food. From that day, he comes over daily for food after his baseball practice. The rest of the plot is both of them eating / cooking food.

Good stuff
1. Lots of food. we have everything from live barbecue to leftover curry.
2. nice thicc milf. has plenty of bra shots and them boobies are great.
3. decent art.
4. no stereotypes. Almost all characters are nice people, ... but it is a Slice of Life manga, so that is to be expected.
5. has a fluffy and chill vibe. Our female MC still talking to her dead husband is really sweet.

Bad stuff
1. It is a slow manga. Out of 78 chapters, the plot just remains stagnant until chapter 67. There is no romance until the final chapter. Honestly, there are like 5 proper chapters which have plot progression.
2. repetitive.Seeing the same formula of cooking/eating in the same apartment with the same characters gets boring after a while. But that is the content of most chapters.
3. Age gap is absolutely unnecessary. FMC was 28 years, while male MC was 16. But we never actually use it for drama or anything except for a couple jokes about sugar mommy. male MC could have been an adult and it would have worked better as a mature adult romance.

Generally speaking, the manga is so slow, that it is boring. The characters don't have enough charm to actually keep the viewers interested during the cooking/eating chapters. and the dialogues are just plain. There is no ecchi despite having such a gorgeous female lead. felt like wasted potential.

Anyway, only read this if you have free time and just need something drama-free to skim over without using your brain. The very definition of "Nothing ever happens".