Sayaka Shimada, 36 and single, loves three things: her job, her favorite singer, and her mother, who lives with her. Even with her junior coworker Sugaya tossing thoughtless comments her way, she'd poured herself into her work, and when she paused to look up she found herself on the cusp of her late 30s. Partly at her mother's suggestion, Sayaka visits a matchmaking service. The man she's introduced to is sweet and earnest, and things start moving smoothly toward marriage. Though it hasn't all sunk in yet, she is well on her way to a happy future--and that's when a sudden injury leaves her mother hospitalized. The injury is nothing too serious and Sayaka is settling her nerves, until she notices something off about her mother... A poignant and much-acclaimed depiction of the struggles of caretaking and building a future, issues faced by countless people every day!
Kokoro Kurogane is a beautiful and hard-working perfectionist known for her icy personality. Always arriving at the exact same time every morning and completely dedicating herself to her work, she is admired... no, rather feared, in the office. One day, a handsome heartthrob, called Tohno Takaomi, transfers to the office after working abroad in America. He is intrigued by Kokoro, who is secretly known as the "strict" and "impossible to read" "Ms. Ironheart" by her colleagues. He tries to get close to her, despite the barriers she's put in place, but this unexpected attention is throwing her perfect system out of whack!
Set on becoming a clothing designer, she got herself a job at a leading apparel company - only to end up assigned to the reception desk. Yet Mio Adachi didn't give up there. She spent her days practicing design, on top of performing her receptionist duties, in hopes of one day moving to a department where she could actually work in fashion design. That fateful day comes, though with an unfortunate twist, when a higher-up in the design department sees a sketch by handsome top-class designer Miyabi Shito and mistakenly thinks it's one of Mio's...! Caught between the pull of her lifelong dream and the weight of starting it off with a lie, what path will Mio take next...?
What would you do if the perfect marriage candidate came along and said he wanted to be a "househusband"?
Having been focused on her career until now, Michika has finally begun looking for a marriage partner at the age of 35 when she meets Sho Unomori, a department manager at a major company who is kind, thoughtful, handsome, and one year older than her. "There's got to be something!" Michika throws question and after question at him, seemingly unable to find anything that even remotely resembles a flaw in this perfect man. That is... apart from the confession that he reservedly shares at the end of their date of his dream to be a househusband. Shocked, Michika thinks to herself, "Absolutely not," and kicks all hope aside. But as she spends more time with Unomori, she starts to want to get to know him better...?!
"I will never draw comics again... so please forgive me, mother." Megumi is a girl who received a sponsorship award for her manga comic at only 16 years old. However, it caused such a great distress amongst her family that it forced her out of her home. Now. 15 years later, she's living with her partner Tamaki while working as an assistant in various jobs. Out of nowhere, a famous manga artist by the name of Unsui Genda appears, putting into motion something in Megumi's life that has been at a standstill for too long.
"Can you remain calm if I do this to you?" "I can...but...ahh..." "Really?" The places stroked by his passionate tongue feel so hot that my brain is going on overdrive. It all began when Homare's mother brought home a handsome yet sarcastic man to be her new live-in butler. As she holds a deep hatred for men, Homare complains to her mother, but alas she refuses to change her mind. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, not wanting to be the odd one out, she lies to her friends that she has a boyfriend and promises to go on a double date! Unfortunately for her, there's only one man whom she can rely upon on such short notice... Cue the start of a love lesson taught by a sensual, sharp-tongued butler!
Aya (29) and Shota Shinozaki (31) have been married for two years. Recently, they've hit a rough patch due to a disagreement on when to have children. Aya wants to give it more time to prepare for their child financially. Shota on the other hand, is getting impatient, telling Aya she's just overthinking the situation. Needless to say, she's shocked by his unfounded and irresponsible optimism. And as he continues to pressure her, she only grows more disheartened, and a rift forms between her and Shota...
"Stop talking and sit down. Then, I'll teach you how to have them falling head over heels for you." Dumped after turning thirty and left on read by the guy she met at a mixer, Miho has fallen into despair as she struggles with her love life. One day she stops by a bar and meets a mysterious woman named Beniko who is surrounded by handsome men, even though she doesn't have what society would normally consider "good" looks. From that day forth, Beniko takes the clumsy in love Miho under her wing, and begins teaching her "how to be a loved woman." Every chapter includes a "Make Your Love Come True Q&A" by popular relationship columnist, and author of this manga, Yusuke Asada. Check them out for tips & tricks on how to gain confidence in yourself & improve your love life!
"I got myself fired in the fall of my 33rd year." Six years into marriage, Mai Murata is now raising two young children while both she and her husband work full-time. Her colleagues often say she's "living the dream," but in reality she's struggling to handle work on top of doing all the childcare on her own, and it feels like she's constantly apologizing: to her boss, to the daycare center, and on and on. Amidst all this, she happens to try out a virtual flea market app and finds an amazing deal that makes her day... and leaves her chasing that same high again and again until it's all she can think about. Addiction can happen to anyone, even you. This tale explores one person's struggle to escape that insatiable, unstoppable need and find genuine fulfillment.
I want to be married... And someone like Tomizawa would be perfect!
Mariko, 29, wants to seal the deal by 30. However, marriage requires affection and Mariko's affection is reserved to a man she can respect! She's single at age 29, also aware that she can't let go of her pride. One day, a chance to date THE ideal-candidate, Tomizawa, falls right into her lap!! Delusional or not, she can't let anything jeopardize her opportunity to hear those wedding bells ring. A chaotic private life and dramatic sequence of events keeps her on her toes. Is marriage even on the table?!
I got totally wasted at a party and ended up spewing my guts... and some hot guy saw me?! I ran away, thinking I'd never see him again, but we ran into each other on campus the next day! He may be good-looking, but he spilled the beans about me throwing up to his friend, and on top of that, he keeps calling me by my first name! He's seriously the worst! Despite all of that, my best friend Yuka is head over heels for him, and now she wants me to help hook her up! She even brought his friend into this mess... What will happen in this 4-way love affair...?
"I got my happy ending after marriage! Or so I thought..." Three ladies who went to the same school together admit they have dated nothing but losers. Miraculously, they have all gotten married, but marriage was not the goal. A controlling husband, an overbearing husband, and a mama's boy... with these marital problems, where will they go from here?!
Within Breighlinam Palace, rumor has it that Prince Edouard has executed may of the maids and butlers that have come to serve him. Philippa is desperate. After her parents fell to the epidemic, her aunt and uncle wants to sell off her younger brother and sister. To hold them at bay, Philippa is determined to work at the palace to save her. However, on her first day, sword drawn, the prince threatens her if she were to betray him. Can Philippa save her brother and sister, or will she end up another victim of the Prince's?
"Ah...jeez! I want to have sex...!" Aya is a 33-year-old office worker who's dealing with sexual frustration. She wants to feel the touch and love of a man but hasn't had a boyfriend in 8 years. And societally speaking, if women show their desire, they are looked down upon. One day, Aya's flirty supervisor Dojima invites her out for drinks. Dojima is divorced and down to have a one-night stand instead of a partner. Hearing this, Aya makes up her own rules to not get carried away or have any regrets for having a one-night stand and sets out to make her one-stand a reality.
She's finally got her shot at a nice job at one of the biggest companies around... working as the CEO's girlfriend?! Asahi hasn't been able to find work but has been getting by on a delivery job while looking for a more permanent arrangement. When she gets into her next interview, she realizes that she's just walked into a less-than-favorable reunion. Taiga Kagura, managing director of the company, is heading the interview. Just a day ago Asahi accidentally ruined his suit while chasing down a taxi, and now he wants compensation... for her to be his girlfriend in an elaborate contract. 3 Months. Asahi doesn't like the sound of it, but what other opportunity will she have for her resume...?
Lisary falls in love with Marquis Orion's only son, Hugo, while working as a servant in the Orion manor. Many protest the idea of a nobleman marrying a servant, but through the power of their love, Lisary and Hugo convince the marquis to allow their marriage on the condition that she go away to finishing school to learn how to be a proper aristocratic bride. Though both their hearts ache to be separated, she departs for the school... Six months later, she returns from her studies and rushes straight to Hugo's side. However, her excitement at finally seeing him again is cut short when he looks at her and blearily asks, "Who... are you...?" Thus begins a fantasy romance about this former count's daughter, raised as a commoner, and her second chance at love with the amnesiac nobleman her heart desires!
Pregnant and stuck at home with her emotionally abusive husband and self-serving in-laws, Sekka tried to grin and bear it by holding onto the hope that he would change once the baby came. Then she finds out he's been cheating...and while she's still reeling from that news, he deliberately sets her beloved pet cockatiel loose, which finally pushes her past the breaking point. Unable to stand by and watch her suffer anymore, her twin sister Rikka makes an offer: "I'll take your place and get revenge on your husband!"
A rose desperate to hide her thorns finally blooms in this office romance. Suzu Takamine, the office's unattainable beauty who turns down anyone that asks her to date, is carrying a painful secret. Whenever she tries to be intimate with a man, they faint for some reason. Suzu wants to get married someday, but with her condition ruining her dating life, she's losing hope for any happily ever after. When the office playboy, Kinase, learns of her unbelievable secret, Suzu is shocked to hear him offer his "expert assistance" in resolving her problem. Now she has to decide: Will she give him a try?
On a moonless night... I hear your voice for the first time. Ume was abandoned by the family she married into because she was unable to bear children. She returns to the village where she was born but finds herself alone as her parents die from a spreading disease. As told in tales of sacrifice to the gods, the village also begins to experience a shortage in the crops of their farms that will only continue until someone is offered. Ume is not able to bear a child but as she does not have any children, she is able to lie her way into being offered to the gods. Waiting for her at a shrine deep in the mountains is a wolf god with silver hair and beautiful nails that shine in five different colors... what will come from this encounter between a despised god and an unhappy girl?!
*This volume compiles ch. 1-5 of "The Lying Moon Princess's Marriage: I Will Gain the Wolf God's Favor"
Akari is good at her job, beautiful, and her sense of style is beyond compare... but she has a secret. She's almost 30 and she's still a virgin! One fateful day, a new department chief takes over -- the handsome Shinomiya. "You're my subordinate now, which means from today, you have to do what I say." Shinomiya is a condescending bully and he and Akari clash from day one. Akari finds herself drinking her worries away at his welcome party and before she knows what hit her, she's completely smashed. She wakes up the next day to find -- Shinomiya emerging from her bathroom half naked?!?! Thus begins Akari's comedic office romance with her callous new boss!
*This volume compiles ch. 1-6 of "From Zero to Office Romance"