Ayumi Suzuki was having a hard time. Between her husband Takuya's backhanded compliments and the loud parties he insisted on hosting at their house, she could barely keep her head above water. Takuya seemed to be trying to relive his glory days by inviting over the usual group of old high school friends to sing and drink all night, while Ayumi was stuck cooking and pouring their drinks. Hard as that was, she still stayed devoted to her husband... And then she found out he had been having an affair with a woman from that "usual group" of party friends! As she listens to them having sex and badmouthing her like the insults were their pillow talk, Ayumi finally hits her limit. Now she has a new party to plan: an Affair Expose Party!
Tomoko is 37 years old and works in the general affairs department. In the same department is a woman known for her eccentricity, Haru Hatsuse. She doesn't care at all about how others see her, wearing flashy clothes and saying whatever she feels like without reading the room. Tomoko's friends mock Hatsuse and call her "a quirky and strong willed elderly single woman." One day, Tomoko's friends start to see Tomoko in the same way and make fun of her... Do all women have to worry about having an "aging look"? Or aim for marriage? Hatsuse, who has always lived being true to herself, somehow makes other women's lives burdened with various problems, a little easier to live!
Content Warning: this title contains material that may be distressing for some readers. Suzuki works at Fuma Home Inc., a real estate company. He decides to quit after suffering through its toxic work environment, being harassed by superiors, and forced to work illegal hours. His resignation is accepted, but he is only allowed to leave the company after 3 months. From the next day, his boss starts treating him like trash and the president tricks Suzuki into making a mistake that causes him to be held liable for the damages. When Suzuki is feeling devastated, he meets a woman named Shizuka. She claims to work for a "Company Demolition Agency" and tells him that she will destroy the toxic company on his behalf. What will Suzuki do?
"I wonder if he no longer sees me as a woman..." Orie has been married to her husband, Takuya, for ten years now. They've been trying to have children for over seven years without any luck. She feels like he's given up and no longer cares about having children with her. Constantly seeing her friends posting about their new babies causes her to spiral, questioning her self-worth. At the OBGYN, she meets Keisuke, who's accompanying his wife, and the two hit it off, discussing their troubles with conceiving. What does it mean to be a wife, a mother, a woman? A powerful, touching drama about the universal struggles of womanhood!
"From now on, you belong to me." Despite being born into a family of priestesses, Kotoko only possesses a slight amount of spiritual power. Being compared to her twin sister who has strong spiritual powers, Kotoko has been mistreated as the disgraced priestess since childhood. One day, in order to save the village that has been experiencing a terrible drought, her parents decide to offer Kotoko as a sacrifice to the ruthless Fox God. Kotoko agrees for the sake of the village. However, when the Fox God, Kannagi, appears before her, he tells her that he will take her as his wife... A lonely girl is sacrificed to a God and finds love for the first time!
Kiri and her husband, both in their 30s, have been happily married for several years. They don't have any children yet, and Kiri knows that at her age they'll need to start trying soon if they ever want to. Yet she can't seem to take that first step, knowing that once she makes a decision, she won't be able to turn back. While Kiri agonizes, feeling more drained with every pregnancy announcement she hears, her husband seems awfully detached and casual about the whole thing...? In a sudden rush of motivation, Kiri takes the plunge and manages to get pregnant, only to face a world of new, unfamiliar challenges as a first-time mom-to-be. This story of one woman's journey into motherhood is for the women also struggling to decide, for those already expecting, for long-time mothers reminiscing about their own pregnancies, and of course for the men in all their lives. It's a story anyone and everyone can enjoy.
"I'm living on the green side of the grass." Successful career woman Sono never let envy drag her down. She had everything she ever wanted, and she'd gotten it all through her own hard work. On top of her growing list of accomplishments at work, her relationship with her boss (and live-in boyfriend) Taiya was going great, with a proposal right on the horizon...until one unexpected twist brought her whole perfect life tumbling down around her. Heartbroken and needing an escape, Sono moved to a run-down little apartment, only to realize it had a secret hole in the wall that looked straight into the neighboring apartment. When she sees what the neighbor is getting up to, she can't seem to look away, and as the days pass she finds herself more and more obsessed with peeking in on her neighbor... A mature love story about a career woman intent on being "strong and independent," the mysterious boy next door, and their slowly intertwining lives.
Juggling work, raising her daughter, and taking care of the house, every day is a struggle just to survive for wife and mother, Yuri. Despite this, the only thing her husband Yuto does to help out is pick their daughter up from the nursery. Although Yuri isn't entirely happy with the status quo, they live a relatively happy life together. But one day, she discovers a familiar sweet scent and a long, black hair on her husband's shirt when doing the laundry. Suspicious, she takes a peek at her husband's texts and finds an intimate conversation between him and their daughter's favorite homeroom teacher at the nursery, Miss Moe!
Meiko has the perfect life. Kentaro is the perfect husband. He supports the family with his high-salary job at the bank, helps around the house, and is the perfect father to their son, Kota. On his days off, he even volunteers at their son's daycare. Little does she know that he is having an affair with none other than one of Kota's daycare workers. Devastated, how will Meiko handle this affair?
Yuriko, 35 and single, leads a humdrum everyday routine of work and looking after her disabled father. At the kindergarten where she teaches she's treated as an old maid, and at home her father won't listen to a thing she says. And of course she has no plans to marry... after all, she's just going to live out the rest of her boring life here in the countryside anyway, right? But while she's lost in thought over it, she causes a fender-bender. She doesn't know how to react, but Sosuke, the man in the other car, tells her he'll forget it ever happened... if she has sex with him! But after she goes with the flow and "just does it," it turns out that he's actually the father of one of her students?! And as if that weren't enough, Takumi, her kindergarten's cheeky young chief director, arrives on the scene...? Thus begins a clumsy love triangle for a flawed adult who had given up on love.
Mami has tried marriage once and failed, so now she's looking for something else. Even if her peers won't get it, she wants what she wants: not marriage, not romance, just a man to spend time with when she needs some company! Sure enough, when she brings this up at her junior high class reunion, her friends all gang up against her. However, a handsome former classmate she'd almost never spoken to before--Nakamura--does empathize with her! When Mami learns that Nakamura is also once-divorced and, just like her, is looking not for a wife or a girlfriend but just a woman to spend time with, she makes a life-changing decision. She's given up on living her life according to what's "normal." After spending thirty-some years toiling under the crushing weight of societal expectations, one woman finds herself a partner in crime and a new lease on life in this modern-day survival story.
"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.
They made a vow to always be honest with each other. They were supposed to live happily ever after. But fast forward to two years later, their relationship has become strained. Kenya's attitude towards Rin has made a complete one-eighty. Day after day, Rin puts up with his derisive comments about her appearance, all because of her weight gain. When she discovers that he's even been cheating on her, it seems they've reached the point of no return. The story of a woman's journey to discover independence after facing betrayal by the man she once loved.
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!"
The daughter to a family that owns a development company, Ruka Kosaka, is reunited with her childhood friend, Mikage Mizuki, after 13 years... for an arranged marriage. The two know they are getting into a loveless marriage, but if just something can help start their relationship off on the right foot... or so Ruka thought, but Mizuki seems to be distant and uninterested in anything. Looks like it's not worth getting hopes up. However, the first chance Ruka gets to look deeply into Mizuki's eyes, it seems like there's far more feeling, passion even, than what she's been led to believe.
Shiori works at the same online apparel company as her boyfriend, Keiichi. But on the day of their 3rd anniversary, she discovers that he's been cheating on her. Heartbroken, she goes to drown her sorrows and ends up passing out at a bar. The man she meets takes her back to a hotel to rest, but as he tries to leave, Shiori pulls him back. Moved by his sincerity, she asks him to spend the night with her. She thought she'd never see him again, but in a cruel twist of fate, he has become their company's new CEO! Moreover, Shiori discovers she's pregnant with his child?!
It all started as an accidental call. But it was actually a phone call from three years in the future!
Masaki had finally gotten her life back together after a devastating breakup with her boyfriend, who severely mistreated her. Then, one night, she received an accidental call on her supposedly broken phone. Why does it only work with him?! Although it started as a mistake, they began calling each other more and more. What started as something light and casual has grown into a bond of healing for Masaki. Now she wants to meet Kanzaki, but there's one big problem...
What in the world is going on? Could this be destiny? A stunning story of love filled with twists and turns, born from a paradox in time!
Eighteenth-century France--the eve of a revolution. At the court of Versailles was a certain dressmaker who enjoyed even greater influence than the nobility, despite her commoner roots. This woman's name was Rose Bertin. Favored by the tragic queen Marie-Antoinette, she was then swallowed up by the tides of revolution. This is the story of the bold, pioneering woman credited as the mother of fashion design.
42-year-old Kyoko Otsuka has spent the last 13 years living life as "mom" for her rebellious daughter and soft-spoken husband. Kyoko thought her average and hectic life would continue this way until one day she is told that she only has a year left to live! Shocked by this news, Kyoko decides she wants to spend the remainder of her life "living for herself." She declares to her family, who have been spoiled and taken her for granted, that she is done being their "mom" and is going to take back her life as "Kyoko"!
"You wanna get married?" I'm Ito, and my boyfriend Daisuke suddenly proposed to me! We've been together for 8 years and have been living together for 3; finally, it's my turn to walk down the aisle! But it didn't take long for the excitement to wane and my worries to set in. He doesn't rinse the dishes no matter how many times I tell him, he leaves his dirty clothes on the floor, and he's ALWAYS on his phone. Did I mention we never have sex, too? Will I truly be happy marrying him like this? It's hard for me to say what's on my mind to him, but I don't have the energy to start a relationship from scratch with someone new. With these thoughts swirling in my mind, Dai and I go on a long-awaited date and find ourselves at a mysterious shop called Cafe Untye. I drink the tea that's chosen for me and the words, "I don't want to get married!", pop out of me?! What the...?! My mouth just moved on its own...?! Cafe Untye is a peculiar place one can reach only when a "tie" leads you there. This title is a collection of enchanting stories intricately woven through the bonds of individuals who visit the cafe.