Beauty and the Feast volume 3 doesn’t shake up its formula much at all. It is a little surprising to me in-universe only two months have passed since Shuko and Shohei have started eating together (feels longer than that), but this at least provides an explanation why the two main characters are in a bit of stasis right now. But that doesn’t mean things aren’t progressing at all.
One new development you can see from the cover: Shuhei’s little sister drops by. Children in manga tend to either be really sweet or really annoying, and Rui is firmly in the former group. She is a very practical, polite young lady, and she immediately takes to Shuko. In many ways, she’s Rui’s opposite — calm and doesn’t seem to have a problem if Shuhei ended up with Shuko.
Shuko’s friend Yuri also finally meets Shuhei, and while she messes with Shuko a bit, she also hints for Shuhei to keep watching over her BFF. Whether they can sense something developing or just wish it so, who knows, but one thing is for sure: Shuko’s husband is starting to be incorporated more.
Yes, perhaps moreso than Sakura’s appearance or seeing Shuhei being stretched thin at baseball practice is the fact we’re learning more about Mr. Yakumo. Well, Professor Yakumo actually — gotta keep those Maison Ikkoku comparisons going with Shuko/Kyoko!
But anyway, it’s not the fact we see some flashbacks with the visage of Kyoko’s husband both in the main story and the side story set with Shuko and Yuri in college; it’s who she brings him up to. Shuhei has been walking on eggshells around the picture on the altar, but even when the topic is finally broached, he doesn’t know how to react — or even have time to follow up. Beauty and the Feast is going to be a slow burn romance, and so while it does seem like the usual forced bad timing, it still is rather significant to see Shuko moving on to a new stage of acceptance.
Rui of course still views Shuko as a harlot rather than a grieving widow, and her chapter where she decides to dress like an older woman is my one of my least liked chapters in the volume. A drunk Yuri also kisses Shuko in one scene, and while that isn’t the only fanservice scene in the manga, it’s definitely the most forced.
Yes, despite me being as exasperated with Rui as Ritsuko is, Beauty and the Feast continues to be a charming addition to the “food nurtures the soul” manga genre. Even though most chapters focus on Shuko trying to cook delicious meals with enough food for a one-man army, Shuhei’s situation on the baseball team helps connect the storyline to make these daily interactions more significant. Sakura and Yuri are probably with some readers in jumping ahead a couple of steps in the two leads’ relationship, but I wouldn’t mind the pace picking up a little so we could see them together during more baseball seasons than just this one.