Maddies Manga

Working from home: peace for the programmer Nokoru. It gives him a chance to get some more sleep, eat a little better, and even decorate his apartment. Spending more time also means you’re bound to learn more about your neighbours…

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Sample the series!

You can pick up volume one here!

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My thoughts on this volume (Spoilers!)

It’s been a little while since I’ve read a romance manga with slightly older characters, so I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted this at the library. I originally picked it up because it has “from the creator of Sweat and Soap” written on it—though I’ve never read the series, I know it’s beloved.

I ended up being very happy with my blind pickup, as this author is clearly popular for a reason. This manga has the sweetest romance, with none of the little bits of drama that are often thrown into longer series. We have two leads who slowly develop feelings for each other, express those feelings to each other, and then get into a relationship. How refreshing is that?

You may think such a straightforward romance is tired, but please think again. The charm of this series comes from the character building. Knowing more about our two lead’s personalities and interests helps you want to root for them. As the protagonist of this series is the male lead Nokoru, we end up learning more about his perspective than the female lead Natsu, but that doesn’t mean that she’s underdeveloped.

As it’s set during the pandemic, we watch as Nokoru’s life is turned upside down—as a programmer, he really didn’t have much downtime. If you’re not spending a lot of time at home, why bother putting time into decorating? I feel like a lot of men share Nokoru’s line of thought. Wouldn’t coming home to an empty house just make you feel more tired!?

Now that he’s forced to stay at home he finally decides to decorate, and it’s here that we finally begin learning about his motivations in life. He has a great interest in travel, and this interest was discovered though his love for manga! While he clearly finds this to be a little embarrassing, I think it makes him such an interesting character! Who doesn’t want to travel to the setting of their favourite manga!?

This also gives him a connection to the soon-to-be female lead of the story—a grad student studying archeology. It’s their shared love of travel that gives them common ground and allows them to begin their relationship. Even though their personalities are different and their reasons for enjoying travel don’t completely match up, they complement each other. After all, it would get boring if you had shared opinions on every little thing, right?

She’s more outgoing than he is, which gives him an opportunity to listen to her travel stories. He enjoys spending his time reading quietly, which allows her to spend time with him while also working on her research.

I hope I can find a relationship like this one day…

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Things I particularly enjoyed (spoilers)

❤️ Nokoru decorating his balcony to the point that it looks like a little jungle—I wish I was that good at decorating?? I love how inspired he was by his manga!

🧡 Nokoru falling asleep reading in Natsu’s apartment. Even though they weren’t dating yet by this point, it was such a cute, intimate scene.

💛 The little trading game the two had going on for a while—he would lend her some manga, and she would give him little presents in return. When it was almost all over, it forced him to make a little leap of faith in order to keep their relationship moving!

💚 Him taking the world’s longest plane ride in order to visit her while she was away on assignment. He couldn’t handle not being able to see her for that long!

💛 The two of them playing video games together on Christmas—again, this scene just felt so realistic!