Maddies Manga

After hiring a call boy to try to better understand her favourite character, Sakurako makes an unexpected friend.

You can check out this series for yourself below.

Author

Aoshima Kotora

Genre & Tropes

Romance

Info about this series (ongoing)

There are currently two volumes in Japanese. There will be an English version released Fall 2026.

What happens in chapter one?

Sakurako is a rather socially awkward girl. Growing up she was never able to establish meaningful relationships with her peers, and as an adult she now finds herself staying in her room a majority of the time.

For reasons unknown to the reader at the time, she decides to hire a call boy. He comes to her apartment quickly, and the reader sees her living situation for the first time as he does—it’s a little scary. The majority of furniture is hidden away under suspicious white cloths.

He tries to ignore the scenery and get down to what he was hired to do, but Sakurako is far too nervous to be able to do much of anything. In all of the awkwardness the two of them trip, leading to things getting knocked down, and one of Sakurako’s secrets being discovered. It turns out she’s a big fan of a certain game…and so is Fuji, the mysterious call boy!

The two of them quickly begin chatting about the game, and eventually they spend the rest of the day playing together.

My thoughts on this chapter

As I’m not a fan of spice, I was a little bit worried about whether I would enjoy this one at first. Thankfully it turned out to be surprisingly wholesome! Fuji’s character was very sweet from the very beginning, choosing to ignore the sketchiness of Sakurako’s apartment, and her obvious nervousness. Watching the two of them play games together really made them look like genuine friends—not call boy and client—and it’s clear this interaction benefitted Sakurako much more than her original goal.

Even at the end of the first chapter, her newfound relationship with Fuji has her leaving the comfort of her own apartment!

This is a series that has seriously surprised me, in the best kind of way.