- Mangaka : Mito
- Publisher : Seven Seas Entertainment
- Genre : Comedy, Yaoi
- Published : December 2020 - Ongoing
Minegishi is a handsome, a prodigy in his role as a salaryman, and respected by his colleagues. However, he loves feeding his grumpy coworker, Otsu. Even though Otsu accepts his offer, but he has no intention to take the bait as he refuses to be charmed like everyone else in the office. To Minegishi, the best way to reach his heart is through his stomach. This is the story of a BL office comedy with food placed on the table.
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
Have you ever got yourself approached by a handsome or beautiful office colleague? For obvious reasons, you probably will start to think what the ulterior motives behind those words and actions are. It can be frustrating sometimes as reality isn’t as lovely as the story from manga, anime and light novel, but let us dwell in this world and relax. The story started with Minegishi-san give a souvenir to Otsu from a recent business trip. The chapters focused on comedy banters between the main characters and the pacing and character development felt slow but smooth at the same time—the artwork emphasis on beauty and the beast in an office and BL setting.
1. Having a Banter with a Colleague
It is nice to see which in this case, office workers engaged in an informal conversation without regarding the formalities of their surroundings or jobs. They reminded us of our high-school days or youth in general. But think of it this way, having a full-time job allows you to spend your money on needs and any other leisure that find you fancy outside of work for social interactions and develop an understanding of oneself and others.
Each chapter consists of different special events such as Valentine’s Day; all you can eat yakiniku, Flower watching, and the welcome party took place within the company’s circle. Oh, we forgot to mention that will be a sickness scene from Otsu with Minegishi.
2. Odd Relationship
The chapters and the synopsis show a clear indication that Minegishi carries a romantic interest toward Otsu. To Otsu, he thought Minegishi was making fun of him, but he made it clear that he is only interested in watching him eating any edible food. That kind of thought is natural in that sense. Minegishi has good looks, successful, and the best salaryman in the office, while Otsu is grumpy and chubby, but also good at his job as a salaryman as well.
To anyone who is working in any job or field, this isn’t something that can be left unattended because no matter who the person is, that is suspicious and could be considered sexual harassment. But for the sake of the plot, Otsu have to be dense not to know that Minegishi held such feelings for him. Even everyone else in the office knows Minegishi’s secret.
3. Clean
Can we take a moment to appreciate how pristine their office clothes and how professional they look? The design seems to be simple, but Mito seemed to be focusing on facial expression and sleek hairstyles more as a way to draw the readers’ attention to have an eye contact conversation with the main characters. That approach did draw a different kind of experience to the manga, and it can be difficult for some readers to avert their gaze.
Last but not least, foods drawn in every scene looked too exquisite. The number of details Mito put into them was jaw-dropping and made us feel like ordering takeout or going to restaurants and order them. Be aware that there is a pandemic going on in this time of age, so be sure to wear a suitable mask to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, so please proceed with care and be nice to others.
4. Work Ethics
As we progressed the story, we eventually begin to realize the trend or expect the type of content they had in store for us. However, there is a chapter that was close to the ending of this volume hit us hard on reality, and that is the aforementioned title of this section. No matter what happens and no matter what kind of position the subject holds, it is not right to stand by and pretend nothing had happened and you know what we mean. It is our job to ensure the culture within the workplace and outside of the workplace to be safe and non-toxic among people. If you can’t resolve the issue, it is best to ask for assistance from colleagues, and it has to be done in a safe and civilized matter.
1. The Usual Tropes
Even though the unusual relationship that lies between professionalism and relaxed interactions between the main characters draws out the good side of this manga, most of the chapters were focused on what you usually see and read from romance high-school theme manga in terms of tropes, so if you are not interested tropes like this even though they are taken place in an office environment, you might not like it.
Final Thoughts
Minegishi-san wa Otsu-kun ni Tabesasetai (Manly Appetites: Minegishi Love Otsu) is a soothing and casual manga series. The manga focuses on the comedic type of banters in the office work through an unusual relationship between Minegisihi and Otsu. The character design, environment, and food are clean. Most importantly, the moral ethics that can be exercised in the real world no matter what kind of job or field we are in. However, this manga may not be suitable for readers who had read a decent amount of romance manga in a high-school setting as most of the tropes shown in this manga are common.
If you are interested in reading a BL manga that takes place in an office worker with a comedic banter with Minegishi’s strange taste of staring Otsu’s eating food, you might want to give this manga a go. Let us know what your thoughts on this manga in the comment below!
Author: Nobodies17