My Dad’s the Queen of All Vtubers?! Vol.2 – Manga Review

My Dad’s the Queen of All Vtubers?! is a comedic deconstruction of the VTuber industry. This review will be looking at the second volume in this series published by Kaiten Books. If you’re new to the series, we suggest you start with our review of Volume One. We cover the premise and introduce the characters there. Vol.2 My Dad’s the Queen of All Vtubers?! expands on this.

The same as volume one, this manga is written and illustrated by Wataru Akashingo. It has been localized into English by Andrew Hodgson, a well-known translator in the industry.

Story

Vol.2 My Dad’s the Queen of All Vtubers?! starts by reiterating Takashi’s struggle. He’s being bribed and manipulated into being a VTuber by his father. When his father tells him it’s time to stream, he darkly responds with a ‘Fock off, pyon’. It clearly conveys his feelings about it.

I did laugh at the lengths that his father went to manipulate Takashi. Some of it was incredibly obvious, even to him. Despite this, it was still effective. Only after the obvious do you see the elaborate setup work done.

Many of the same jokes are continued in this series, but they’ve not lost their humor yet and it spins them in new ways. One example; Takashi’s mother is still struggling as a VTuber and thought of as an old man. But it puts her in new situations. One that particularly made me laugh involved her playing otome games and failing hard at charming the guys. Perhaps that’s partly because of my own extensive visual novel experience. I’m glad that they’re keeping the jokes fresh. It was a concern that it was going to get repetitive quickly.

As well as the same topics in new ways, this volume introduces some new aspects. Gaming is one of them. So far, we’d mostly seen people being cute (or trying to) on screen. But gaming streams are very common for VTubers. Other parts of the industry that weren’t mentioned much before are touched on like managers, modelers, and sponsorship. It’s interesting to see this side of things represented.

Away from the Queen

The cast of My Dad’s the Queen of All Vtubers?! starts to expand and deepen a little in volume two. We get to know some new characters or those who’ve only been briefly shown before. One new person starts their own VTubing journey, with some help.

While the main focus still remains on Takashi and his father, some chapters show Takashi spending time with his friends and his crush. Much like the previous volume, one chapter focuses on his father and mother’s romance in the past too.

While the primary focus of My Dad’s the Queen of All Vtubers?! is the often absurd comedy, it was nice to see it venture outside of this here. Sometimes it touched on a rather sweet, if unusual romance. One point had some apt commentary about the roles we play versus true selves. Having moments like this mixed in made it a more valuable experience. I’m sure that many VTuber’s in particular could relate to being a different person online.

Art

If you’ve read the review of the previous volume, there’s nothing new here. The use of art in My Dad’s the Queen of All Vtubers?! is impressive. There’s plenty of visual gags and characters are shown to be clearly expressive. It really helps bring the comedy to life. The art was great and there are some detailed panels where needed.

Verdict

Continuing on from a great volume one, Vol.2 My Dad’s the Queen of All Vtubers?! keeps up the pace in the second volume. It’s still absolutely hilarious. I continue to be interested to see its take on VTubing too. I think this series will appeal to anyone who enjoys comedy manga or just those who have an interest in VTubers.

VOL.2 MY DAD’S THE QUEEN OF ALL VTUBERS?! IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Looking for some more reading? How about checking out the Dr Stone: Reboot Byakuya manga? Or our visual novel reviews?

Many thanks go to Kaiten Books who provided a review copy of this title.