Who Is The Protagonist In 'Submom' And What Is Their Backstory?

Yuki from 'Submom' isn’t your typical hero—she’s a mess, and that’s why I love her. Her backstory is a slow burn. Early chapters hint at her childhood in a rigid orphanage where emotional connections were discouraged. This explains why she’s terrible at expressing affection, even as she desperately wants to help the kids she takes in. The series digs deep into her guilt complex; she blames herself for her younger sister’s disappearance years ago, which drives her compulsion to 'fix' every troubled teen she meets.

Her dynamic with Aoi, the first runaway she shelters, is the core of the story. Aoi’s sharp tongue and distrust force Yuki to confront her own failures. There’s a raw scene where Yuki admits she sees her sister in every kid she helps, and it’s not healthy. The writing nails how trauma isn’t just a backstory checkbox—it actively warps her decisions. Over time, she learns that being a 'submom' isn’t about replacing parents but giving kids agency. The manga’s art subtly reflects her growth: early panels frame her as small and shadowed, but later spreads show her standing taller, even if she’s still imperfect.

Let’s talk about Yuki, the heart of 'submom'. She’s not a martyr or a saint—she’s a 30-year-old with a dead-end job and a closet full of unopened therapy bills. Her backstory is drip-fed through flashbacks: a car crash killed her parents, and the system failed her. What’s brilliant is how the author ties her past to her present. She hoards canned food because she once went hungry, and she panics when kids stay out late because her sister vanished after curfew.

Her relationship with the runaways is messy. She doesn’t magically 'fix' them, and they don’t 'fix' her. There’s a recurring motif of broken dishes in the series—Yuki keeps gluing them back together, but the cracks remain visible. It mirrors how she patches up these kids’ lives while ignoring her own damage. The story avoids easy resolutions; even in later arcs, Yuki still slips into old habits, like smothering the kids with rules when she feels out of control. It’s a refreshing take on healing—it’s nonlinear, and sometimes love means stepping back, not doubling down.

The protagonist in 'submom' is a woman named Yuki, who starts off as a shy, introverted office worker with a painful past. Orphaned at a young age, she grew up in foster care, always feeling like an outsider. Her life changes when she stumbles upon a hidden community of 'submoms'—women who take in runaway teens and provide them with makeshift families. Yuki’s journey is about breaking free from her trauma. She starts by sheltering a rebellious girl named Aoi, and through their clashes and bonding, Yuki learns to embrace vulnerability. The story doesn’t sugarcoat her flaws—she’s awkward, sometimes overbearing, but her heart’s in the right place. What makes her compelling is how her backstory mirrors the kids she helps: all of them are searching for belonging.