Renovations with a Gyaru - Ch. 1 - A Big Bath is the Best!

[Ares19373]

The premise is good. This guy can actually write interesting story. But the character and the art is just 7/10 i hope the author will improve over time. But home improvement niche is definetly interesting and i hope this isn't just a gimmick but an actual good niche+romcom formula like my dress up darling

 

[Artimid]

I'm actually trying to suss out the age gap; he might be a couple years older, but he's also described as a big dude; they could be roughly equal in age, and reuniting after some time apart. (She's not in any uniform and I didn't see any in a closet or something so they could both be out of high school at this point.)
If it is age gap that's fine too--but it would be neat to see them both be adults in this situation, personally.

Exactly this. I was really worried he'd be like some middle aged guy somehow and she'd be in high school, but all indicators is that they are roughly the same age, especially the last few frames she looked aged for middle school at the earliest, and he looked roughly the same. So, hey, big points for that in a manga!

 

[miraclebirdman]

So when does his wife get her comeuppance?

 

[Scruffy]

So when does his wife get her comeuppance?

Most likely why the wife did what she did is because Japan does not have a “no fault” divorce system. There has to be a reason. She clearly wanted to break up, so created the reason. It sucks, but it is a consequence of Japan’s divorce system.

 

[Senros]

That was nasty from the ex-wife. And the thing about not contacting her friends/family/acquaintances is also nasty. Basically make it so that he can't clear his name with them and she doesn't have to worry about the people around her finding out she is a massive bitch. She wasn't even able to keep the house, so what was the point? Was she having an affair and wanted out? Did she think he was too boring and wanted someone more outgoing? If she was only after the money, it makes little sense, because the dude didn't have so much to give and had to sell the house to pay for lawyers, settlement and who knows what other fees...

The age gap doesn't seem too big, probably around 5 years, at most 10, but doubt it will be 10. He seemed to be around 15-16 in that flashback and she seemed to be 8-10. She is already working, though that doesn't say too much. You can drop out of school or don't go to high school and start working straight out of middle school
And she seems to have experience in construction, so there's a decent chance that's what she did.

And about the MC. You might say, "He should just speak up and clear his name. It's easy!" Well, it can be easy and it can also be really fucking difficult. It depends on the kind of person you are. The dude is clearly super depressed and has trust issues. From what the girl said, he was the quiet, but kind type who wasn't sociable (good with words, I guess.) Maybe timid or introverted, too, maybe both, maybe low self-esteem. We don't know how people treated him in the past. It's not super common for an older kid to spent a long time with a younger kid who is not family, even more just the two of them. Did he have friends before? Doesn't seem like it. At least no decent friends.

So we have a dude who probably always had depressive tendencies, probably has low self-esteem, was never treated well by his peers and most people around him, who got divorced papers out of nowhere that said he was abusing his wife, a dude who not even the lawyers (even his own?) didn't believe him and got isolated and now is depressed and has trust issues. And you expect him to just convince the people around him somehow? That's a tall order. Not impossible, but not easy and if you are depressed, even if you know what you should do, you often don't. Give this man a break and let him heal

I'll read this. My forever depressed ass enjoys the pain and healing this brings

 

[IamaTire]

Cute, wood walls in a bath, isn't that a bad idea?

 

[shinobanana]

I think it's a more simple power fantasy like setup. The flashback says that the house was just built and then we learn that he had to then sell the house to settle the divorce claims because "he looked scary" so neither his lawyers nor friends (GET NEW LAWYERS AND FRIENDS THEN ARRGGGGHHHBRRGVRRGG!!! 😡🤬🤬🤬) believed him. It sounds like we're supposed to believe that the woman was just an awful gold digger who married the MC with the intention of taking advantage of his appearance mixed with a lack of social skills to get away with a huge settlement and sympathies (for having put up with an abusive husband) to boot. What sucks is that the MC is so gentle and lacks so much self-esteem that he still puts it on himself and thinks he "accidentally did domestic violence without realizing it or remembering it."

I say power fantasy premise because it really just feels like readers are supposed to feel really bad for the MC, absolutely hate his former wife, and push hard for him to get with his super kind childhood friend. Like an isekai takes the idea of a" black company" to the extreme, has the MC worked to death, and then rewards them with being overpowered in another world. Here the idea of a bad relationship (particularly an exploitative gold digging wife which is several stereotypes) is taken to the extreme, the MC loses everything and then some, and he's rewarded with a super kind new love interest + a free place to stay.

I think the author is probably delusional and believes this is a real thing that happens commonly. Maybe she is dating or related to a wifebeater and believes his explanation of events.

 

[shinobanana]

People who claim this is incel have never read stories about male victims of marital abuse. The main way they are controlled is being told that no one will believe them and if their abuser hurts herself and says he did it, it'll work.

Its really not that hard to imagine a guy getting frustrated and angry and being secretly recorded by his wife would get fucked over by it.

This is incel because you will only ever imagine getting married.