One Week Family – Yatsuhashi

“I’ll never forget those seven days for the rest of my life.”

Young actor, Fujimaru Ren’s one flaw is that he is “not good with children.” So in order to overcome this particular weakness, his manager proposes that he spend a week living with his co-star and child actor, Yuu. On their first day of living together, Yuu’s manager, Kei, shows up at his door and it’s none other than the former child actor that inspired Ren to start acting?!
A lot of things can change for a person in one short week of living together.

One Week Family takes us to the fleeting and often tragic world of child actors. This manga is a lighter yet still nuanced look at that world.

Ren is a young actor who claims he is hopeless at dealing with children, so his manager set him up to live with his future co-actor, the child prodigy, Yuu, for seven days. To Ren’s surprise, Yuu’s manager was none other than his idol, the former child acting prodigy, Kei. He was completely starstruck, then later in the story, he realized he was in love with the former actor. But why did Kei suddenly left acting all those years ago?

First of all, I was so glad this is not a love triangle between the child and the two adults as some manga tend to go down that route. I really don’t like that, so I’m happy Yuu’s admiration towards Kei was more of a child looking up to his role model.

Also, I loved the artwork. It’s so nice to look at. It conveys a wholesome, calming atmosphere that resonates strongly with the story’s vide. Also, the characters are so attractive, and Yuu look so cute. Sometimes in BL manga, female characters are not drawn as carefully. Some don’t even have faces. So bonus points for not drawing the female characters like an afterthought.

The romance is tender and sweet, evolving at a languid pace. It’s quite adorable and touching. The childhood connection trope plays a role here. This is one of my favorites and I love how it is used here. It always gives me a pang when I think of the what-ifs, what-could-have-beens, and fate bringing two people together once again, like Ren and Kei.

The story is full of heartwarming scenes. Aside from the MCs, another major thread here is Yuu and his relationship with his super busy C.E.O. mom. I felt sorry for the kid. He’s only five years old, but he’s working harder than many adults. His talk with his mom was super moving.

Overall, this manga is a feel-good, almost angst-free story about family, the showbiz industry, and building connections. I loved the cover! It perfectly captures everything in the story.

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