This December I have been going through the massive compilation of manga that I have been reading this past year and selected a few that I would really like to reread for various reasons. The Trouble With My Boss was one where I could vaguely remember what it was about and decided to refresh my memory while getting in a quick romance fix.
- Mangaka: Mika Sakurano
- Alternative Names: Konna Joushi ni Okomari Deshitara
- Type:
- Genre: Comedy, Romance, Shoujo, Drama, Slice of Life, Adult
- Chapters: 18 in English
- Volumes: 4
- Status: Completed
- Anime adaptation: No
- First Published: 23 October 2017
About:
Akino is an ex-leg model and agrees to go on a blind date with a guy who has a leg fetish. This leads Akino to accidentally discovering her somewhat tyrannical boss’s secret and their rather unusual relationship begins.
My Thoughts:
The pacing is quick but easy to follow and the story does flow. The introduction of ‘rival’ Kashiyae, who has a fetish for taking other peoples girlfriends and then dumping them once they leave their partner, was really sudden. I had expected a bit more closeness between the main couple before any form of a rival would turn up. It was interesting to watch the ‘rival’ became the wingman and set up so many scenarios for Akino to ‘make her move‘ so that he could become the rival and steal her away from Saeki.
The introduction of Saeki’s ex was rather sudden. Their backstory was rather amusing though and you could tell what kind of relationship they had had. The reveal of the origin of Saeki’s fetish was a surprise. I never expected that we would get an explanation. It was just an accepted fact. The brief flashback had a few dark elements and also showed his innocent love of a certain girl and how she had used her precious legs to protect and defend him.
The series is littered with the standard romance tropes but still manages to keep the humour and doesn’t lose the character personalities to the cliches. Saeki keeps giving Akino so many mixed signals that I am surprised she didn’t really ‘push’ more. It is great to see her being more assertive and asking for more little by little as the series progresses. She is not forcing an immediate response but is slowly allowing the relationship to develop more naturally. Although,Ā Saeki’s denseness is rather odd.
Personally, I would have slapped Saeki if he was my boss and talked to me the way he speaks to Akino in the office. Yes, splitting work and personal is great and I admire they have that clear line but the way he reprimands is actually offensive. Plus I would have left her company. They tell her to go to the hotel room and make their client ‘feel good’ so that they can get the business when she asked for advice on how to turn the client down. Uhm, what did I just read?Ā Yeah, that happened.
While Akino does manage to get rescued from the situation mostly I am disappointed by our main love interest. The series managed to touch on many ‘deep’ topics without delving too in depth. It also brings out a few fetishes. I enjoyed that we got to see a few character stories and not just the main couple. I just wish we perhaps had one more volume just to flesh out the relationship a bit more and see more of Saeki developing and accepting his feelings for Akino. The final volume feels a tad rushed and a lot of content was squeezed in.
- Favourite Character: Kashiyae
Rescuing her from the ‘client’ and always supporting Akino is the reason he quickly became a favourite character of mine in the series but his desire to only steal other’s girlfriend’s became annoying. The small bit at the end with him made me appreciate his character even more.
- Most dislikedĀ character: Saeki
What can I say, he is dense and rather ‘abusive’ at work. Some parts of his character really frustrate me. While he did have a few redeeming qualities there were a few things that missed the mark and I just could not come to really enjoy him as the main love interest.
- My favourite moment:
This moment made me smile so much it hurt my cheeks. It did tie up the series nicely and shows that they will continue having some form of problems, from minor inside cooking jokes to headbutting at work. I like that the story wasn’t wrapped up as a fairy tale ‘lived happily ever after‘ as if their lives would be perfect from that moment on.
Overall, I enjoyed it. It was a quick read with drama, romance and comedy. Perfect for that quick fix while balancing the December year-end rush between work and Christmas.
Will you read this manga? Have you read it?Ā
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