The Komukai family’s life changes forever when Tohru introduces his bride-to-be, Komugi. For the mother (and maybe grandpa), they have the best of thoughts. For Yukari, the daughter, she has the worst since her brother’s involved. For Dai though, he senses something is up with Komugi as a few habits (leaving early and coming home late), alongside an awkward smile gets him to think there’s something more to her than she’s letting on.
He probably didn’t expect that being a former biker gang member was one of them.
The Delinquent Housewife! mixes perception, worries, and some comedy into a work that manages to be quite interesting. Komugi is a former member of an all-girls biker gang, but she is shedding that away thanks to the times (and maybe growing up). At some point she met Tohru, and they fell in love. Cue some point later to now. As Komugi and the Komukai family attempt to get used to each other, Tohru announces he’s going on a business trip. It was a one week trip to Okayama, he said.
Then that one week later, he reveals on a cassette tape (yes, a cassette tape) that he’s in Singapore.
Ignoring the fact that Tohru doing this seems irresponsible, this literally puts everyone in a bind. And the one who’s got the most to prove is Komugi, who just moved in. And…she can’t do much household work. That leads to Yukari, who obsesses over her older brother, to find any dirt on Komugi she can get. And it leads to Dai, the younger brother, discovering Komugi’s past life (and lame cooking skills). How in the world can Komugi get out of this one? Well, it’ll take a lot of work…and luck.
This is an interesting story since we get to follow how Komugi, who wants to be with the man she loves, tries to actually become a normal woman. The problem, however, is the questions of why Tohru didn’t tell her about his trip, and whether she can even get along with the family. She’s got a ways to go with Yukari, who sabotages her efforts whenever she can, and after seeing her mother-in-law’s reaction to a biker gang segment on TV, her past needs to stay hidden, it seems, for good.
That’s probably why Dai had the luck of discovering Komugi’s past, as he has to figure all of this out. He at least seems like a good dude — when it looked like Komugi was about to get beat up (she wasn’t), he recklessly jumped in to save her. But it also seems like he doesn’t want to do much with her but has little choice. Now that Tohru is going to be away for a long while, how exactly will he improve or change as the series goes on? I can only hope in a decent way, but well, you never know.
The backstory wasn’t explored much in this volume, but it certainly was teased. From Komugi talking to her friends and her leaving the house late, something took place as she grew up that led to her joining a biker gang. But what got her to change? These are all things I imagine the series will explore, and I’d like to see how for sure.
The comedy aspect isn’t as present as you’d think with such a premise. There are some funny moments, like when one of Komugi’s friends told her off because she’s unemployed and hangs up laundry horribly (“What are you, an artiste?! You wanna be an avant-garde laundry artist?!), but it feels more like how Komugi gets better at doing basic chores and how she can be with her new family takes more precedence than anything else. Or maybe it’s just volume 1, and volume 2 will bring the laughs.
In any case, between the story and artwork, which helps bring some normal moments to life as characters plot out schemes (Yukari) or try to get away (Komugi as she tries to cook eggs. Yes, it’s that bad!), The Delinquent Housewife! is pretty enjoyable. Chances are you’ll want to give this a shot when you can.