My Coworker Has a Secret GN 1

My Coworker Has a Secret GN 1

Even while there are many reports of covert adult otaku in the workplace, Akari’s situation is riskier than most. That’s not only because she calls herself a fan of Ren Nishimori, better known by his stage name Ren-Ren; the true issue is that she spends all of her money on merchandise and tickets for Ren-Ren events to the point where she can hardly pay for food and housing. In an effort to avoid spending money on pricey lunches with her friends and instead spend time enjoying Ren-Ren’s lunchtime podcast, she has gone so far as to invent a boyfriend that she chats with every day. Although she is aware that her lifestyle is not the healthiest in the world, Akari is content—at least until life catches up with her as it inevitably does.

As seen by the fact that Akari didn’t realize her apartment building was being demolished until virtually the actual day, she isn’t the most self-aware of the protagonists. She is mainly shown as being responsible for her misfortunes, which poses a concern because it might not make her popular with readers. But since this is a comedy, her gaffes are mostly played for laughs. However, as the story progresses, we do catch glimpses of how unhappy she was before discovering her beloved Ren-Ren, and that gives this fluffy narrative the necessary substance. She has obviously been in some pretty dark places when she nonchalantly admits that she has no funds because a boyfriend stole them.

We could argue that she actually needs treatment because she is unable to open a new savings account due to the trauma of having her first one robbed, but she has also been managing her emotions well enough. She’s made bad decisions, but they do have some justification, and they are made worse by the way society views her because of what she loves. Her coworker Kaho, in particular, has a negative opinion of fangirls, which makes Akari feel as though she will never be able to share her secret.

She is fortunate to be in need of assistance at the ideal moment and location. Akari accidentally bumps into a lonely bento box on a park bench when a bird steals her lunch, leading her naturally to the man tied to it. When Kazama offers her his lunch, Akari decides to tell him all about it, sure that she won’t see her lunch hero ever again. Of course, Kazama is her new employee, so we might have assured her that it’s unlikely to be the case. When she finds herself suddenly homeless and without the money for a new location, he rushes to her aid once more. If he didn’t offer her a place in his absurdly lavish apartment, it simply wouldn’t be a romantic comedy. (See, for example, My Boss’ Kitten and Our Fake Marriage.) They find themselves living together out of the blue, neither of them exactly understanding how it occurred or why it doesn’t feel like such a bad thing.

There isn’t anything new or fascinating about My Coworker Has a Secret, and Mushiro occasionally seems to be picking rom-com clichés out of a grab bag. However, despite all of that, it can be a lot of fun and does work. While Kazama is about as emotionally intelligent as a piece of cheese, although that is something we see him beginning to work through, Akari is prone to believing stupid office gossip, which causes her to make some pretty wild assumptions about him, even though she knows from Living With Him that it is all a bunch of hooey.

Did his transgender friend need to be a supporting character in the book? No, but it also didn’t require Akari to be such a terrible cook that she cuts herself every time she picks up a knife, and neither of them are used very poorly. It’s not surprising that this is the author’s first serialized effort because the most of this first volume feels like a story that its creator is still learning how to write. However, it’s also obvious that they’re learning, and this suggests that the second volume will be much stronger than the first. This suggests that even while it isn’t spectacular, it is a tiny bit better than merely “good enough,” and it will probably be worthwhile to give the series another chance to succeed.

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