Manga / I Want Your Mother To Be With Me!

Why don’t you make like a tree and slowly grow while helping others around you grow too: the manga

Ishizuka Ryo is a twenty-something part-timer who has a crush on his coworker, widowed single mom Tachibana Yuzuki, and works up the courage to confess to her. She rejects him, since however much he may think they belong together, his proposal shows that he's only thinking of himself. He decides to change himself, and in the course of the story, finds himself becoming a better person simply because he wants to help her and her son, not out of any expectation of love. Once he starts taking care of his niece Haruka, she and Yuzuki's 5-year-old son Asahi become fast friends, and Ryo and Yuzuki become closer.

I want your mother to be with me! (君のお母さんを僕に下さい！Kimi no Okaa-san wo Boku ni Kudasai!, literally translated as Give me your mom!) is a romance manga by Yutaka Tazawa, which was serialized in Manga UP! from 2018 to 2020 and compiled into four volumes.

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This manga provides examples of:

• Accent Slip-Up: Yuzuki sometimes slips into a Niigata dialect, which is rendered as a Southern American accent in the translation. The Ishizuka family doesn't speak with an accent, even Ryo's parents, so they may be originally from a different prefecture.
• Almost Kiss:
  • In Chapter 24, Ryo and Yuzuki almost kiss, only to be interrupted by his family coming back home.
  • In Chapter 30, it looks like they're about to kiss, when Asahi (who's asleep on Ryo's lap) wakes up.
• Always a Child to Parent: An unusual variation. Yuzuki keeps inadvertently (and later intentionally) treating Ryo like her son, making sure he eats enough, is sleeping okay, etc. This changes as she starts seeing him as an adult and falling in love with him.
• Armor-Piercing Question: "Can a freeter like you possibly feed a family?"
• Beetle Maniac: Asahi. In his first appearance he's wearing a kabutomushi T-shirt, and later on he keeps a beetle as a pet. Ryo bonds with him by making him an origami beetle, and reading him a book about bugs when Asahi catches a particularly bad case of the flu. Later, Asahi makes his own origami beetle and gives it to Ryo as a good-luck charm before his exam.
• Book Ends: The first and last chapters both have Ryo proposing to Yuzuki at the same place. The second time, he asks both her and Asahi to let him join their family, and she says yes.
• Brutal Honesty: Asahi has no filter and often tells the truth when his mother would like to keep it hidden, usually that she spent a lot of time thinking of Ryo. Haruka is similar, telling Yuzuki how much Ryo thinks about her.
• Bug Catching: In Chapter 7, Ryo goes with Yuzuki and her son Asahi to catch bugs, and they end up catching a large beetle that Asahi keeps as a pet.
• Caught in the Rain: In Chapter 11, the four of them are at the playground when it starts raining, forcing them to shelter under the play structure, very close to each other.
• Central Theme: Being an adult means knowing that it's okay to rely on others, and being someone they can rely on in turn.
• Changing Yourself for Love: Ryo confesses to Yuzuki in the first chapter, but she rejects him, especially when he says he doesn't care about their age gap or the fact that she has a 5 year old son. To her, his proclamations only show that he was thinking of himself. Over the course of the story, his Character Development involves him becoming close to Yuzuki and her son, even acting as a Parental Substitute at times, and learning to care for his own niece. Though he's obviously still into Yuzuki, he's no longer thinking only of himself or acting with ulterior motives.
• Character Development: All four main characters have different but related arcs revolving around learning to both rely on others and be someone others can rely on.
  • Ryo starts the series as a self-centered loser, but becomes more helpful and caring towards Yuzuki, Asahi, and Haruka. His parents give him some good advice about how maturity is letting other people support you, and don't fault him for moving back in with them.
    Mr. Ishizuka: It's because you're an adult that you should rely on us. A person faces more hardships the moment they become one. They'll need someone they can depend on.
  • Yuzuki starts out as a Triple Shifter who feels that she has to do everything as Asahi's only parent, but learns to let Ryo "spoil her" and shoulder some of her burden. He also encourages her to follow her own dreams, inspiring her to train as a chef.
  • Asahi starts as a selfish Bratty Half-Pint, but through Ryo's and his mother's guidance (and through them pushing each other to develop), he's able to become more helpful and care about others' feelings. After the beetle dies, he understands his mother's sadness over her husband's death and resolves to be someone who can "protect" her.
  • Haruka starts as an eager-to-please kid obsessing over being a "good girl" and pulling her own weight, but Ryo teaches her that it's okay to ask for help, and she doesn't have to do everything on her own.
• Cheerful Child: Haruka is an adorable preschooler who's almost always happy, and is often able to cheer everyone else up. It takes her some time to learn that she doesn't have to do everything herself, though.
• Child Care and Babysitting Stories: The manga revolves around Ryo trying to pursue a single mother while also helping to raise his own niece, whose parents are abroad. He becomes somewhat of a father figure to her and his crush's son.
• Children Raise You: Half the plot of the manga, the other half being Romancing the Widow. Ryo's character development is spurred by him becoming a Parental Substitute to Haruka and Asahi, as Yuzuki slowly falls in love with the person he's become.
• Chocolate of Romance: Chapter 19 has the four main characters making chocolate together in Kobaiken's kitchen on Valentine's Day.
• Coming of Age Story: An unusual example, as only the late-bloomer Ryo truly comes of age, learning what it means to be an adult. Yuzuki is already a mature parent, and Asahi and Haruka are young children. All of them have Character Development though. Ryo starts the series as a self-centered loser, but becomes more helpful and caring towards Yuzuki, Asahi, and Haruka. His parents give him some good advice about how maturity is learning to accept support from others, and don't fault him for moving back in with them.
• Condescending Compassion: The first chapter opens up with the protagonist, a down on his luck part timer, working up the courage to confess to his longtime crush and coworker, a single mother. Said confession consists of him asking her out with marriage in mind (fine), deflecting her claims that her age is a problem (fine)... and then proceeding to bring up the fact that society typically sees women approaching their thirties, who don't have their virginity, or already have children as undesirable, and that her circumstances (including her child) don't matter as long as they love each other. Cue her next rejection, asking what he can bring to the table if he wants to start a family with her, and him wondering where all of it went wrong.
• Cool Uncle: a more subtle, somewhat downplayed version; Ryo's character development involves him becoming something of a Parental Substitute for his niece, Haruka, and eventually she comes to see him as the best uncle ever.
• *Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": Yuzuki's dad suffers sudden back pain in Chapter 20, and has to close the restaurant for a few days.
• Death Is a Sad Thing: Asahi's father died when he was very young, and he seems to have internalized "it's okay, since he's in heaven". He avoids getting emotionally attached to the beetle when it's dying, but Ryo helps him express his true feelings, and tells him it's okay to be sad.
• Ear Cleaning: The cover of the second tankobon volume has Yuzuki cleaning Ryo's ears. A bonus artwork shows her cleaning Haruka's as well.
• Face Plant: Asahi shows Haruka the proper way to experience snow: jumping face-first into it. His mom falls on her own face when he throws a snowball at her and she trips.
• First Snow: In Chapter 18, Haruka is excited to see her first heavy snow (presumably she lived somewhere warmer than Niigata, where the manga takes place).
• Food Porn: The food from Kobaiken (Yuzuki's family's restaurant) is drawn in lavish detail.
• Funbag Airbag: Inverted in Chapter 13, when Yuzuki closes her eyes when she's running the relay race, and keeps running until she crashes into Ryo, who's trying to stop her before she trips.
• Get a Hold of Yourself, Woman!: In Chapter 8, Ryo keeps a level head and gives Yuzuki a Cooldown Hug to get her to stop panicking about Asahi wandering off.
• The Glomp: Asahi frequently does this to his mom, only coming up to about her waist.
• Good Parents: Yuzuki is an utterly devoted single mother, becoming a Triple Shifter to care for her young son Asahi, despite it exhausting her. Ryo also counts as he slowly becomes a Parental Substitute to Haruka and to Asahi as he grows closer to him and Yuzuki, and towards the end Asahi even tells Ryo that he'd be okay with him becoming his new dad. Yuzuki's and Ryo's own parents also count, offering their adult children unconditional support and helping them get on their feet.
• Hands-On Approach:
  • Yuzuki does this to help Asahi use his knife and fork.
  • Later on, she holds Ryo's hands to show him how to properly wash them.
• I Hate Past Me: In Chapter 15, Haruka and Ryo pass a wedding store at the mall and Ryo is shamefully reminded of his past actions from the first chapter.
• I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: After Ryo gets over himself, he tries to mend his friendship with Yuzuki by helping her out with Asahi, and taking over some of the workload so she's not exhausted all the time.
• Innocent Innuendo:
  • In the preschool sports fest chapter (13), Yuzuki worries that her lack of athletic ability will make her a burden to Asahi. She asks Ryo if the two of them can go somewhere alone, and the next page shows a shed, with suggestive dialogue coming from it.
    Yuzuki: Ah. Mm.
    Ryo: I'm sorry. Does it hurt?
    Yuzuki: No. I'm fine. Please do it harder.
  • It turns out Ryo is helping her stretch (though still in a rather suggestive position if anyone found them).
• Iyashikei: More plot-driven than most. It's heartwarming and very satisfying to watch the characters grow into better people, and there's basically no conflict.
• Lap Pillow: Yuzuki rests Ryo's head in her lap when they're playing house with Haruka.
• Marshmallow Hell:
  • The back of Asahi's head is smushed between his mom's breasts when he's sitting in her lap, to his annoyance.
    Asahi: Mom! I can eat on my own! And your boobs are in the way!
  • In Chapter 6, she gives a face-first one to Ryo when she's only half awake and mistakes him for her son.
  • In Chapter 7, she tries to stand up after fainting but faints again from the heat, falling into Ryo boob-first.
  • In Chapter 8, she does this to Asahi when they find him after he's run off.
  • Again in Chapter 8, when she sits on Ryo's shoulders to catch a beetle high up in a tree.
• Mood Whiplash: Most of Chapter 12 is a serious story about kids coming to terms with death, but at one point, the beetle startles Yuzuki and she trips and falls butt-first into Ryo's face. The next page shows the beetle has died a few days later.
• Nephewism: Ryo's older brother and his wife go overseas for work and leave their preschool-aged daughter Haruka in her grandparents' care, and Ryo's, since he just moved back in with his parents. Ryo becomes much better with children, and Haruka becomes best friends with Asahi, giving him more chances to spend time together with Yuzuki. Interestingly enough, this becomes a case of nephewism that eventually ends; in chapter 29, both of Haruka's parents are so tired of having to work without getting to see their daughter that they decide to find jobs in the same town that Ryo and his parents live in.
• Parental Substitute: Ryo starts to become this for Asahi, whose father died several years ago.
• Parent with New Paramour: Asahi and Haruka (who's functionally Ryo's kid) both warm up to the idea of Yuzuki and Ryo getting married, though Haruka worries at first that once he marries Yuzuki, Ryo won't have time for her anymore. He quickly assuages her fears.
• Picky Eater: Asahi does not like carrots, and immediately throws them up when Ryo accidentally lets slip that the food they just ate had them mixed in.
• Romance-Inducing Smudge: When Ryo eats with Yuzuki and Asahi in Chapter 5, she wipes away a bit of rice on his cheek.
• Romancing the Widow: Half the plot of the manga, the other half being everyone's Character Development and Ryo becoming a Parental Substitute for Haruka and Asahi.
• Solar and Lunar: Yuzuki's name has the kanji for "crescent moon" and Asahi's has the kanji for "sun". Ryo sometimes looks up at the moon and thinks of Yuzuki, and on Valentine's Day he makes crescent chocolates for her and sun-shaped ones for Asahi.
• Sexy Soaked Shirt: In Chapter 11, they get Caught in the Rain, and Ryo sees through her shirt when it stops.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Ryo wears a suit when he confesses to Yuzuki, which looks very out of place at the thrift store they work at. It doesn't help.
• Shipper on Deck: Both Ryo's and Yuzuki's parents support their romance, as do Asahi and Haruka.
• Spiders Are Scary: Yuzuki is afraid of spiders and insects, but she overcomes her fear to appreciate an origami spider Asahi made for her, and to go Bug Catching with Ryo and Asahi.
• Spoiled Brat: Asahi starts out as this, but gets better once he and Haruka become friends, and Ryo starts being a Parental Substitute.
• Spoiler Cover: The cover of the fourth and final tankobon shows Yuzuki in a wedding dress with a smiling Ryo and Asahi.
• Supreme Chef: Yuzuki's father, the chef at their family restaurant Kobaiken. Yuzuki has shades of this as well, and used to go to culinary school.
• Tears of Joy: Yuzuki and Ryo are both prone to this, confusing Asahi, who wonders why they're crying if they "love each other so much".
• That Came Out Wrong: After Yuzuki fully wakes up and realizes she gave Ryo a Marshmallow Hell:
  Ryo: It's not your fault, Yuzuki-san! You were just tired, that's all! In fact, if you're fine with me, you can do that more often! Yes, come to me, please!
  Ahh, no...! I didn't mean that in a weird way, okay?!
• Through His Stomach: When she finds out he's been eating nothing but snacks, Yuzuki starts inviting Ryo to eat at her family's Chinese restaurant, and sometimes even brings him food when he's studying for the accountant exam. She has no romantic intentions when she first does this, though by the later chapters it's pretty clear.
• Triple Shifter: At the beginning of the series, Yuzuki is working part-time at both her parents' restaurant and the thrift store, as well as being a full-time single mom.
• Unable to Support a Wife: Yuzuki asks Ryo point-blank "Can a freeter like you possibly feed a family?" when he proposes to her with Condescending Compassion. He can't, and a significant subplot is him taking the accountant's exam to become certified and get a better job.
• Wedding Finale: A Foregone Conclusion for readers who saw the cover of the fourth tankobon, which features Yuzuki in a wedding dress.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Yuzuki is afraid of bugs, even butterflies when she sees one up close, but tries to overcome her fear for Asahi's sake.