Love is sweet, but revenge is sweeter. Leo Tachibana is a young man bent on vengeance after Tenma Tsuwabuki humiliated him ten years ago. The episode left his pride in shambles, and his revenge plans depend on making Tsuwabuki fall in love with him so that he can dump her and leave her humiliated.
What he doesn’t expect when he finally arrives to get revenge, is that Tsuwabuki is no longer wealthy. Having lost the family department store and declared bankruptcy, the family is broke and living with relatives. Those same relatives are putting Tsuwabuki on the marriage market so that she can pay off some of her debt.
Frustrated over his ruined plans, Leo offers her relatives 1 million yen for Tsuwabuki. He decides that he will use her as his maid: cooking, cleaning, and doing household chores. An ideal situation… except that Tsuwabuki, with her pampered upbringing, doesn’t even know how to fold clothes!
Undeterred, Leo enrolls her in the school that she used to attend and charms the whole female student body while working on secret revenge plans. However, at every turn, his efforts seem to rekindle love in our young villain’s heart.
When the school president takes a vested interest in Tsuwabuki and kidnaps her to protect her, Leo goes on a rescue mission; no one will stop him from taking his revenge. During the rescue, Leo confesses the truth to Tsuwabuki, who eagerly agrees to his plan. How is a man to get revenge when the intended victim is clueless?
The first volume of The Young Master’s Revenge can seem a little odd. Leo, who seems angelic, hides malicious intentions. Tsuwabuki, the young damsel in distress, is pretty clueless about the world in general, and honestly, seems pretty naive. Student council president Barazono is a bit of an overbearing person, who believes that kidnapping is definitely the way to a woman’s heart.
The story is a little ridiculous when you find out that Leo’s humiliation at the hands of Tsuwabuki involve a turtle biting his bare bottom when he was a child, leaving him with a phobia of turtles. It’s a little far-fetched that this would lead a young boy on a mission to revenge, but there it is. That said, it is definitely an entertaining story.
The characters are often not doing what you’d expect. I did find Tsuwabuki a little fastidious at times, but I think that is just the way she’s written. Leo’s character seems very charming, but also fake, so I wasn’t really sure who to root for in the story. If I had to pick a favorite character, it would definitely be Virgo, Leo’s Shiba Inu. He’s terribly adorable and has a great fear of Tsuwabuki because she loves animals just a little too much.
The story is drawn in a very traditional shojo style, sparkly eyes and all. The characters are all uniquely drawn although there isn’t too much diversity in the beauty spectrum. All the characters are drawn beautifully, with the exception of the adults, which makes sense, as the teens are the focal point of the story. The story flows very well and isn’t cluttered on the page.
The manga has notes from the author on the side that talk about the story and give insight to the characters, something that I appreciated while reading the first volume. The English translation is very well done and readers won’t have any trouble understanding the language.
It’s well-deserving of the teen rating and I believe that teens would definitely enjoy this story. This manga would work well in a larger manga collection that has a wide variety of genres, but probably not for those who are beginning a manga collection. There is currently only one volume at present. More are forthcoming.
The Young Master’s Revenge is a fun and comedic read if it isn’t taken very seriously, and if readers don’t necessarily care about the odd plot. I think that once readers have a little more of the story, the manga might make more sense.
We understand that Leo’s trying to get revenge and that he’s likely going to fall in love with Tsuwabuki later… I just think that the plot is more than a little crazy. However, the overall story is feel-good and light-hearted and a great way to take your mind off work for a little bit. If you’re looking for a hilarious and over-the-top story, then definitely check out this manga.
The Young Master’s Revenge, vol. 1
by Meca Tanaka
ISBN: 9781421598970
Viz Media, 2018
Publisher Age Rating: Teen (13+)
