I didn’t know where to catalog this: in hot blooded fangirls or real suave dudettes.
I came back to this series yesterday because I couldn’t stop thinking about how badly the main heroine’s ex-boyfriend treated her. Oh man, I hate how Sumire was treated throughout the series by back-stabbing co-workers and just, mean sexism but it hurt to see her bundle it in.
Sumire Iwaya works at an office, she’s been to both Tokyo University and Harvard and she’s good at her journalist job at the newspaper she works at. This doesn’t come without it’s pitfalls, she’s hated by her female co-workers and because she’s good at her job, men are emasculated by her. She only has her friend, a married mom named Yuri Shirotae.
The first chapter starts with her saying: “I would rather die than cry in front of someone” while pushing forward an eyeglass cleaning cloth.
I was hooked immediately.
On the first page, you feel bad for Sumire because it shows that her boyfriend (who worked a job at the same company but by making less and having a lower status) cheated on her and got his girlfriend pregnant. That was a one-two punch for me, it’s every woman’s nightmare, that there was a second woman and that she’s now pregnant. In the live action, it’s painful to watch her ex-boyfriend and his wife having their child and enjoying the joys of married life that Sumire was entitled to, but in reality no one is “entitled” to anything. (Dry.)
Outside she picks up a young man in a box, whom she names Momo, named after her childhood dog.
The young man happily accepts the title as he is fed, washed and cared for, as well as treated like a dog.
No really. She treats him like a dog, more specifically like her dog Momo. I think it’s a bit extreme, but yeah. I know a lot of people still mourning their dead pets, I had awesome pets myself. It’s a lot to take in as a normal person, but if you read manga, like me, you are like, “whatever.”
Momo’s real name is Takeshi Gouda and he is a dancer. There’s a lot more to that story and he is his own character. I want to talk about bad ass ladies and not-romance so I will leave that to YOU to read in the manga if you haven’t read this yet.
That’s the only picture of Momo is this review (yes, I am the monster of anti-love) up above in the picture.
There is a lot of office drama, anyone who has been on a group assignment knows this.
There are a lot of other characters, Sumire eventually ends up dating the PERFECT MAN name Shigehito who is tall, with a high education and high income. Every girl who has dated the perfect man or woman know that it’s not always a fairy tale.
This manga is very much about having a good job and keeping it, being in love and finding the right partner, dealing with affairs, dealing with loss and depression. But it’s also about triumph and success. Don’t let your downer friends talk down this manga, it’s probably better than that terrible manga creator Miki Aihara. But Miki Aihara is not a josei artist, like the creator of this manga Yayaoi Ogawa.
I have no idea what is the best work to read across of this,it’s a josei work. I would say Honey and Clover as there are a lot of aspects of office life and working in an office, but that’s Honey and Clover weak comparison as it is mostly about college art students.
Nana, but Nana is more about female friendship and working in the music industry. I haven’t read or watched Hataraki Man.
Forgive me but I will update the “if you like this manga, you will like Kimi wa Petto.”
Kimi wa Petto is a good manga, I guess I’m having writer’s block now. Hurgh.
This manga is called “Tramps Like Us” in the US and is put out by Viz. It is 14 volumes, there is also a 10 episode Jdrama (Live Action Japanese TV series) that you can watch. I do recommend this series! Please check it out!
Forgive me but I will update the “if you like this manga, you will like Kimi wa Petto.” Please check this manga out in the meanwhile.
