Normally, a story like Lockdown Life with the Class Beauty would have me starting things off with, “Imagine if blah blah blah…” But for once, we don’t have to imagine it; we lived it at the start of the 2020s! The isolation, schools shut down, people losing the ability to act like normal human beings. It’s a situation that we’re still recovering from to this very day, a world that lost a good couple of years to a deadly virus that kept everyone on their toes.

So forgive me if I don’t have the headspace to conjure up a feeling of disbelief, as this “fantastical tale” holds way too many truths to fully take my mind off of reality while reading it. Mind you, I’m not saying that Lockdown Life with the Class Beauty is a bad story. In fact, I think it’s pretty good. However, when one has experienced everything that our two main leads, Yoshino and Hoshikawa, have, it’s hard not to disassociate with what’s being showcased in the manga panels.

Granted, it would’ve been nice if I could’ve shared my living space with a beautiful woman instead of the headache of a roommate I had. But I digress. The story of Lockdown Life with the Class Beauty is pretty self-explanatory. Yoshino finds himself with no place to go, after his dorm is shut down and no one telling him of such a situation. With the virus running rampant, not even his parents will welcome him home.

Just as he was about to make a bed out of a park bench, out pops classmate Hoshikawa, the smartest and most beautiful woman in his class. Hoshikawa offers to let Yoshino stay at her place, as she lives at her apartment alone. Claiming to be dumb with tech, Hoshikawa asks Yoshino to teach her how to use computers, kitchen appliances, and anything else she has trouble learning. The fact is, Hoshikawa knows all about tech, and Yoshino believes that she’s only playing dumb.

But why, you ask? Well, it’s obvious from the first few panels that Hoshikawa has the hots for Yoshino, to the point of her flirting with him during an online class. And it’s also clear that Yoshino has some feelings for Hoshikawa herself. So what now? Is this another situation where readers will have to wait and see who’ll let their emotions run wild first, à la Kaguya-sama: Love is War?

A lot of the first volume of Lockdown Life with the Class Beauty is spent getting Yoshino settled in and seeing a bit of this pandemic do what it does best. In some areas, the duo of Yoshino and Hoshikawa act pretty cute and endearing. But in some cases, it feels like Hoshikawa has some sort of screw loose in her head. Even the way she words how she’s like to be by Yoshino’s side even after this pandemic is over is giving creepy vibes.

And that’s not to say Yoshino is any better. The more Hoshikawa teases, the larger his internal teenage hormone balloon expands towards the breaking point. But who is to say that these situations are being caused not just by their feelings for one another, but also the stress of living in a pandemic? Everyone lost some sense of sanity during that time, and it’s easy to see their actions and reactions being funhouse-mirrored representations of how we acted during it.

Because of that, Lockdown Life with the Class Beauty could be an odd read for some. It has the traditional manga rom-com tropes that aid in pillowing the situation that these characters are in. With that being said, some who didn’t have the best time living through the time of 2020-2022 might not find much comfort in reading a story that represents that time in our lives. If you had a very good experience locking down, got along with your bunker buddies, or perhaps came out of the situation a better person, then you may find Lockdown Life with the Class Beauty a fun read. If you didn’t, then this story may be hard for you to enjoy.

Promotional consideration provided by Robert McGuire of One Peace Books. In stores November 3rd!