This series seems much more grounded compared to many others on this site. I personally don't think there will be any romance but not because of anything complicated and more for boring practical reasons.

This series follows a female editor at a Japanese publication company, females in Japan typically avoid romance in the formative years of their career due to Japanese culture. Combine that with Tanaka being Toda's editor and thus being in a position of power can lead to an unbalanced power balance in a relationship.

Tanaka comes across as too professional to do something like that in a series as realistic & grounded as this.

Welp...

Amazing series. Really dives deep into the struggles and joys of the creative process, the industry, and of self-discovery. Really can't imagine fitting more into so few pages.

And that Toda finds a new way to communicate what she can't put into words at the end there... just perfect.

For those already going into withdrawal, there's a couple of extras on the artist's pixiv. Can't read em for shit, but there's one what-if where they go to grade school together, looks adorable AF.

This manga was one of the best things I read this year, I loved the storyline and how everyone acted together. That ending was cathartic and I would've been happy even if I hadn't seen it but seeing it was also great. Guess I'll go check out those pixiv extras.

And they were roommates

This series seems much more grounded compared to many others on this site. I personally don't think there will be any romance but not because of anything complicated and more for boring practical reasons.

This series follows a female editor at a Japanese publication company, females in Japan typically avoid romance in the formative years of their career due to Japanese culture. Combine that with Tanaka being Toda's editor and thus being in a position of power can lead to an unbalanced power balance in a relationship.

Tanaka comes across as too professional to do something like that in a series as realistic & grounded as this.

Welp...

Ngl this was such a good surprise and I'm so glad I sticked through this fun Rollercoaster

LOL at the cosplay girl being re-introduced with the title "pervert"

What's with the weird token yuri? Romance is not a focus of the story, their relationship doesn't have any shipping material, the editor MC tries her hardest to deny that they're in a relationship even in private. Yet it ends on a kiss out of nowhere?

Not that I would ever want less yuri in any work ever, but maybe the author could put more legwork in making their relationship less ... platonic, I guess. Now it just seems like it's trying too hard to be tagged yuri or not be called baits.

qualia posted:

What's with the weird token yuri? Romance is not a focus of the story, their relationship doesn't have any shipping material, the editor MC tries her hardest to deny that they're in a relationship even in private. Yet it ends on a kiss out of nowhere?

Not that I would ever want less yuri in any work ever, but maybe the author could put more legwork in making their relationship less ... platonic, I guess. Now it just seems like it's trying too hard to be tagged yuri or not be called baits.

Well, don't overthink it. There were plenty of comments and suggestions throughout that the series deserved a Subtext tag, and even a few for a Yuri tag before the final chapter. Don't think any artist in Japan is particularly concerned with being called "bait." Romance is expressed in all sorts of different ways, and what doesn't read as romance to one person may well fit another's idea perfectly.

Ngl I don't even see this as necessarily romantic, just cute. Toda clearly has wanted to express feelings of love/appreciation throughout the series, but her speech impediment usually stops her; this was just the best way to circumvent that problem. Whether it ends up with them being together in the future or not, they clearly have a connection that transcends "business partners." I mean, one of the main themes of the manga is like, destigmatizing sexually explicit art as purely about "utility," who's to say that a kiss is only about that traditional idea of romantic love? My point is it ain't bait, this is the natural conclusion.

This was a really wonderful slow burn story. Taking the whole run to establish Toda and Tanaka's characters, and to show every step of the growth of their relationship and mutual understanding might not be for everyone but I loved it. I look forward to seeing the end-of-volume omake and hopefully the pixiv extras as well.

what a well-written manga. also lol at how that one cheek kiss at the very end revitalised the yuri tag for this series. its pretty genius imo, the kiss straddles the line between friendly affection and yuri perfectly so the reader can interpret it either way.

what a well-written manga. also lol at how that one cheek kiss at the very end revitalised the yuri tag for this series. its pretty genius imo, the kiss straddles the line between friendly affection and yuri perfectly so the reader can interpret it either way.

Mhmmm idk, the way Tanaka moves her fingers to her mouth reads to me like Toda kissed her smack dab on the lips~ But i can see how it's not 100% clear due to the perspective

Not gonna lie I was hoping for a little more from the ending, like them actually deciding to live together. But a kiss is nice, and better than these kinds of things usually end. It's refreshing to read a manga that has a premise and sticks to it and ends on a good note instead of getting axed/running out of ideas.

Well and it's in response to the editor being like, so, have you accomplished what you wanted to accomplish? And it turns out no, there's one more thing she's been wanting to do, and that's kissing Toda. It's not a chaste kiss, that's why everyone around them is shocked. And it ends with ah! and Mm! because the two of them know each other enough to communicate that way, even if nobody else knows what they communicated.

As far as "why is it suddenly yuri??" like they've been having sexual tension the whole series, which like all of their coworkers have been picking up on forever. And they're both obviously characterized as gay in their backstories. This isnt actually a shocking twist!

Haha nice wait for the final chapter to change the tag to yuri. All in all it was a great read. It's fascinating seeing what goes on behind the scenes of ero manga being a consumer of it myself (for free). Never will I look at ero manga the same or the word utility XD. Toda Seiko is a really cool character.

what a well-written manga. also lol at how that one cheek kiss at the very end revitalised the yuri tag for this series. its pretty genius imo, the kiss straddles the line between friendly affection and yuri perfectly so the reader can interpret it either way.

Pretty sure you don't touch your lips after someone kisses you if it's on the cheek

Gouma-den will probably get to it, but author did a lil short of them on a date on their pixiv

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/82887648

I thought they were going to end platonically with the repeated denials that they were like that and them moving apart, but no, I triple jebaited myself.

Honestly, I would have been fine if this didn't go yuri, but this is alright too.
Either way, I thought this was pretty good.

last edited at Oct 22, 2021 2:38AM

This is one of the best series on this site.

omfg the entire workplace ship them XD
ngl I spent literally 5 minutes just laughing at that part!
Also that kiss!!!!!! It's just, so wonderful I can't describe how happy I was seeing it!!!
And lol it seems like that kiss gives this series the yuri tag huh XD

What's with the weird token yuri? Romance is not a focus of the story, their relationship doesn't have any shipping material, the editor MC tries her hardest to deny that they're in a relationship even in private. Yet it ends on a kiss out of nowhere?

Not that I would ever want less yuri in any work ever, but maybe the author could put more legwork in making their relationship less ... platonic, I guess. Now it just seems like it's trying too hard to be tagged yuri or not be called baits.

Yeah, sure, they were basically married for like a year and literally everybody they know insists that they're a couple (not just in a teasing sense, we got inner thoughts here, they are all fully committed to the ship) but yeah, the kiss is "out of nowhere" apparently. ;p

Gouma-den will probably get to it, but author did a lil short of them on a date on their pixiv

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/82887648

Thanks for the link! I understand most of it thanks to DeepL.

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/81061150
^ this one is about what if Tanaka and Toda were friends from primary school, and gosh it's adorable. I hope that it will get translated!

The finale scene is epic. Not because Toda wanted and succeeded in kissing Tanaka, but rather without any warning, Tanaka closes her eyes EXPECTING a kiss, even though she was still surprised that Toda went ahead and did it. You can also tell towards the end of the manga, Toda and Tanaka can read each other minds...usually only long term couples can do that.

Of course the epilogue confirmed indirectly the relationship. Tanaka knows Toda more than Toda's sister knows about Toda. This is beyond best friends.

I literally binged this entire series in one day, it's that good