Suzuki-kun's Mindful Life, Vol. 2

Suzuki-kun's Mindful Life #2

by Yuhki Fujimoto, Leighann Harvey (Translator), Katie Blakeslee (Letterer)

Contrary to his intimidating appearance, mild-mannered Suzuki Kaoru has a heart of gold and a passion for baking. Since freshmen are required to join a club, Suzuki hopes to join the home ec club. But what’s he to do when one of the members runs away as soon as she sees him?!

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Contemporary, Young Adult

160 pages, Paperback

Published December 16, 2025

Reviews

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I've never been able to share my hobbies with anyone like this before…"

This volume was absolutely wonderful!

I really enjoyed volume one, but I would say I enjoyed this one even more! It was so emotional and heartfelt to see our sweet male lead be able to pursue his hobbies with other people! When he tells a few girls he hasn't shared his hobbies with others before (as he used books and online guides to help him), I totally teared up! So so so happy for him and how his high school experience is so different from his middle school!

But oh my goodness, the way he helped one person from middle school was pretty amazing, honestly! I was with his buddy, who told him he should avoid that guy, but honestly, how Suzuki handled it was really inspiring!

The ending did make me tear up as well, and I think it's an extremely emotional chapter. I don't want to spoil it, but I had to really be mindful due to my kids being around because the experience his friend is going through hit very close to home, as I went through the same thing. I'm glad he's got a wonderful friend like Suzuki to support him!

I'm very much looking forward to volume three!

[Sol · Rating 3 out of 5]

“True strength is being able to win without ever fighting. If you believe in yourself, nothing anyone says will ever faze you. You win in [your heart].”

3.5 ⭐
This volume was really adorable. I liked it a lot more than the first, because it centered on Suzuki's friendships and own self confidence much more, rather than his romantic interest in his sister's preschool teacher.
Of course, the preschool teacher in question does feature briefly in this volume, but it's in a much subtler manner, and another adult does tell Suzuki that he doesn't have a chance-- so that kind of gave me hope that the two's relationship won't go anywhere. I'm only saying this because I'm the preschool teacher's same age, twenty-six, and if someone ten years my junior had a crush on me and was following me around town trying to figure out information about me, I would be extremely creeped out and uncomfortable. (In fact, I kind of wish her friend had told her about Suzuki stalking her. Of course he doesn't have bad intentions, but it's still pretty weird.)

But besides that small aspect, I really loved everything else about this volume, and it made me feel as though the series was beginning to hit its stride.

First of all, it really tugged on my heart strings to get to see Suzuki's father, who looks scary but is clearly a sweetheart. I just thought that the family's conversation over FaceTime was the sweetest thing ever, and they clearly have a very adorable family. Furthermore, the confrontation Suzuki had with Arata was handled really well, with Suzuki having the confidence to admit to Arata that he didn't like him but also that he doesn't want him to suffer. That chapter plucked on my heartstrings. You don't necessarily ever have to acknowledge what your bully is going through, because like Haruna said, a rough life doesn't give him an excuse to treat people poorly-- but I thought that that resolution was pretty powerful.

Just as well, the chapter about Suzuki checking out the Home Ec club was really nice. I very much liked Suzuki's acknowledgement that the Home Ec club might be a place where girls are looking for a girls-only space. I thought it was really kind and respectful that he thought about giving up on the club in order to make the girls more comfortable -- that's true ally behavior, and I appreciate it. But I'm glad that there was a happy ending, and that Suzuki's efforts to come out of his shell are being rewarded by his classmates with a happy school life. Getting to see Suzuki really enjoy his time at school for the first time in his life gives me a refreshed feeling. It's just so wholesome, and it's nice to see a character making the most out of things.

The volume ends with a slightly more somber tone as Suzuki is finally able to be there for Haruna when he's hurting, too. I'm really glad that these two found each other, and are able to share their genuine emotions. The thing that I really love about this manga is that there's no toxic masculinity, all of the boys get along so well and everything is so wholesome.

It's a sweet manga that I'm not crazy about, but it's starting to get better for me, and it's both easy to read and somewhat enjoyable. I'll probably check out the next volume when it becomes available the library.

[marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vol. 1 ★★★☆☆

I enjoy this series a lot! When I started this volume, I was worried it would turn into a redemption arc for the bully. Thankfully, while the story acknowledges his difficult circumstances, it never excuses his behavior—it's more about Suzuki finding closure for that period of his life. I'm also happy about how Haruna and Suzuki's friendship is progressing. You can tell Haruna feels comfortable with Suzuki and don't mind being vulnerable with him. Other than that, this volume is about Suzuki making friends that are into the same hobbies as he is. It's just really sweet.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continues to be a very cute, but not overly saccharine slice-of-life. This one's mostly focused on Suzuki really building out his friend group and recovering a lot of the confidence he'd lost when his middle school best friend had bullied it out of him.

That bully-friend gets more context here, with Haruna tracking down another old classmate to find out the true story. It turns out the guy had simply been lashing out at Suzuki because he was upset about his parents' divorce. His father had cheated on his mother, and his mother let her life, and their home, slide into utter mess after the divorce. She kept up a public face that was all perfect meals and fancy decor and cheerful soundbites, but the reality of their trash-riddled, loveless home was far different.

Too embarrassed to talk about it with his friends, he pushed all his anger into being cruel to Suzuki, who - with his love of baking and homey things - reminded him of the person his mom was pretending to be.

It's not an excuse, but it is a reason, and knowing that it was never actually about him helped Suzuki to put some of the harsh words from his past behind him. Especially because all his other classmates didn't really feel that way about him and had simply gone along with the "teasing," because that's what you do at that age. After middle school, pretty much all of them had stopped talking to the bully anyway, while Suzuki had moved on to a new school with people who seem to understand him a lot better.

Haruna was still responsible for kickstarting Suzuki's confidence and getting people to really look at him as a person, but at this point, everyone's flocking to Suzuki for himself: because he's generous and kind and hardworking and just an all-around really fun, comforting guy to be around.

He even manages to befriend the shy girl in the home ec club, and joins a group that truly makes him happy that he would've been too ashamed to seek out before.

I still really love his friendship with Haruna, although the BL undertones got dialed back a lot. I wonder if it's going to go the ripoff route where Suzuki winds up dating Haruna's sister, who "looks exactly like him." For now, though, he's still crushing on the kindergarten teacher, and even has a pseudo-date with her thanks to Haruna.

This is just a very feel-good series. Not a huge amount of depth but so far it's warm and cozy and nice to read.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story that showcases the importance of male friendships without fetishization or any unnecessary demonization of female characters? Yeah—why aren’t there more stories like this???

This is GREAT.

So far, this series has covered emotional regulation really well and has demonstrated the role that close, mutually caring and supportive relationships can play in working through difficult feelings in healthy, productive ways—for a younger, male audience. It’s just really well-crafted.

I appreciate what this series is trying to do and I’m looking forward to reading more~

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less teacher in this one so that was nice and we learn more about his friend. He also continues to expand his world in high school by being himself but with the support of his new best friend.

Please author, please keep the pre-school teacher just someone he has a crush on.

Oh yeah note for future they confirmed she is 26, he is 15. So no to that romance.

[ℂ ✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una absoluta cucada gens edulcorada al meu parer, que mostra com un noi amb una aparença que no es correspon a la seva personalitat per fi encaixa a l'institut i descobreix l'amistat verdadera ❤️ Una sèrie que és un autèntic bàlsam!!!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

tamako chan is love, tamako chan is life

[Valerie Masse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feel good amazing

Absolutely wonderful. The characters are amazing, heartfelt, life lessons, makes you laugh and cry. We need more like this one.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so cute!!! It made me laugh and it made me tear up a little bit. It's so wholesome. I love it.

[Brenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting to get even more worried about the teacher crush thing. But everything is really cute and good so we'll see how it turns out i guess.