I’m so sick of people complaining about reading fucking mangas. If I don’t want to watch stationary pictures then that’s my fucking business. You fucking neanderthals.
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Sweat and Soap, volume 7 by Kintetsu Yamada
Warning: Some Spoilers.
Kotaro and Asako continue to adapt to living together, moving from the dating phase in which both people try to be their best selves all the time, to now always being together and trying to learn to relax and just chill in their shared home.
One of the things this series does well is introduce side characters that we want to know more about and that we’re happy to see again, enter Tsubaki chef of the product development’s cosmetic division. In the office cafeteria she happens to meet Asako for the first time and compliments Asako’s skin, part of me hopes Tsubaki is being flirty and we might get another gay character, hopefully this time openly gay in the narrative (looking at you chef Okura). She’s confident, stunning, and as it turns out, kind. Fingers crossed. (UPDATE after I wrote this review I read volume 8 and not only is there no indication of Tsubaki being gay but there’s a hint that Okura is straight… oh well).
We also meet Kotaro’s family, three wonderful people, I’d love to know more about his father who’s the quiet serious type. There’s not a toxic person in the whole series, yet everyone has their own personality, troubles and flaws. We even get a return of the foreigner who hit on Asako last volume, Henrik, giving us an opportunity to get to know him better, his personality and general attitude towards life and love -there are no villains here, and Kotaro gets a chance to get past jealousy but also explain to Henrik what Asako means to him. While the encounter with Asako was fleeting for Henrik, it wasn’t for Kotaro.
Review by Book Hamster
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Sweat and Soap, volume 6 by Kintetsu Yamada
The volume starts with Asako considering buying lingerie for her Valentine’s day date with Natori, she’s buying lingerie for the first time and it’s sweet to see her overcome her shyness, however the reason why this short scene is noteworthy is because although the impulse originated from thinking of Natori, Asako spends more time considering what she likes, what kind of style she prefers, noting the importance of underwear fitting properly and whether she feels good wearing it. She’s looking forward to Natori seeing it but is also happy to buy it even if he doesn't get to see it, because she likes the lingerie herself. This is important because it’s a simple step to communicating to the audience that women dress for themselves, they wear what they like and what makes them feel good, and while they may want to be admired, they do not, as misogynist would want you to believe, dress solely for the attention of men.
Over the last 5 volumes we’ve come to love Asako and Natori as a normal couple who handle any normal relationship hiccups with calm and honesty, and they still do that in this volume… but things get more serious this time, with complex feeling from both sides, things get resolved-ish in the end but boy do we feel the pang of their first serious fight. It’s a complicated thing; Natori plans a wonderful day to celebrate Asako’s birthday but during that something awkward and unpleasant happens, Asako doesn’t realise it and Natori doesn’t want to bring it up so as not to ruin the day. Things get bottled up and Natori starts acting odd, of course Asako feels something is off…
Never fear though, I believe in these two.
Review by Book Hamster
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