A Fun and Heartwarming Read!

"Turns Out My Online Friend is My Real-Life Boss! 1" is a delightful ride that had me laughing and rooting for the characters the whole way through!

Hashimoto, an average salaryman, has a rough time at work thanks to his perfectionist boss. Shirase just trying to figure out how to be a effective boss. Hashimoto finds solace in his favorite online game, where he vents to his best friend "Uma." When they finally meet, Hashimoto is shocked to discover Uma is actually his boss!

This manga is funny, cute, and well thought out. The romance feels realistic since the characters are adults, making it even more relatable. If you’re looking for a feel-good read with a unique twist, this manga is a must-read. I can't wait for the next installment!

reelllyy rreally sweet and cutr story about an pffice worker who's just a bit clueless and the his manager.
i loved how their relationship developed and kumataro was adorable!
funny, sweet and a perfect story for boys love enjoyers and those new to the genre!

This is a sweet and fluffy rom-com that is sure to give anyone a good boost of serotonin when needed.

A fun read but I found there to be a lack of chemistry between Hashimoto and his boss. I was totally shipping Salted Salmon with Hashimoto instead.

Such a fun read!
Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy.

This Manga is funny, cute, and well thought of. The main idea of the story so far is simple enough to enjoy it but it still has an interesting development. I like how Hashimoto is not the typical overly shy guy who doesn't take any decisions out of fear, but he's just unaware of what others mean and accepts his faults. He's a direct and sincere character, I like that. I also like the love triangle that it's shown in the story. It's so funny how direct the characters can be and that still creates some misunderstandings.

I like that the love part in the story doesn't seem forced or instantaneous as the main characters are already adults. It's more realistic in that way.

Overall, I love it. I'm looking forward to reading more of it.

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha Comica for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a short, sweet and funny manga, where, as the title says, the main character Hashimoto has an online friend he knows through a game they play together. He complains to this friend a lot about his insufferable boss—only to find out, when they meet up irl for the first time, that his online friend is his real-life boss!

Hashimoto is adorably oblivious to how he’s seen by other characters, especially Shirase, but also their other in-game and irl friend Kumada. It made for a lot of misunderstanding, which in turn made me laugh a lot.

Hashimoto and Shirase are adults working together in an office setting, and Kumada is a high school kid, but all in all this manga read very much like YA. There’s no spice whatsoever, and one very chaste kiss you can’t even really see on the page. That being said, it seemed that they were taking their relationship/dating very slowly, and I’d definitely be interested in reading volume 2 of this story to see how the characters and their relationship continue to develop.

Awkwardly endearing.
The story of AAAAA and U.M.A is as lovely and simple as its is hilarious.

From Secret identity to miscommunication trope, all of the basics of this romance brought a hilarious element to the story. As the title speaks, the two coworkers coincidently begin to get along online but the true story begins when they first plan a meet up. From there, the series of awkward, surprising and caring events unfold.

It was 4 star read for me because it felt like the romance was more about realizing their feelings rather than falling for each other. It could also be because as a 1st book in the series it was the preface, an opening of what is to come. I can't wait to read more of AAAAA and U.M.A and see their relationship develop,

This was such a fun and cute manga! I love all the online tendencies of the book. Cant wait for the next.

Such a cute and fluffy read! It does feel like this could be a complete standalone novel in itself so I’m curious to see how the author will expand on the storyline. I really liked each of the characters—they all felt very mature, and I was so relieved to see a BL manga that didn’t feature/romanticize a toxic relationship or MCs. The miscommunication plot lines were about as strong as the conflict got, but there definitely was a lot of (comedic!) miscommunication! This is to say if you’re looking for any *serious* drama, or are averse to comedic miscommunication tropes, this might not be for you. I also felt like the depiction of romantic gestures once they were together definitely wasn’t very strong; I understand that this might be something the author is saving for future explorations of their relationship and I appreciated the wholesome, slower progression to lover that’s so often missing in BL, but this might not be the best for people who enjoy more explicit (for lack of a better word! 😆) romance. The art style was so cute, and overall it was a good slice-of-life BL!

This was a super cute slice of life manga about 3 oblivious boys who were so confused and just wanted to play games on their phone! I thought it was super cute

This story was really cute. I didn't have high expectations going into this story though. Just from the cover it is giving me renta vibes. If anybody reading this doesn't know what that means, it's a website where thou rent each chapter. They tend to produce things quantity over quality. Which is fine. I wasn't expecting anything amazing from the story. But it was cute and kept me engaged.

The story revolves around office worker Hashimoto who's life outside of work revolves around a phone game called LIA online, and his relationship with his friends in the game. Things get more interesting when he finds out who they are in real life and one of them turns out to be his boss. Of course, this story wouldn't be complete without a romance, so once they get to know each other more in real life, sparks start to bloom. It was fun to read about how oblivious Hashimoto was to the advances of his friends, but in the end it was nice to see his flustered face when he accepts he has feelings for one of them.

My favourite part of the story was transitions between things taking place in the real world and how things happen in the game. The art style for the story also really fits the game avatars. I really love the designs for the avatars too. They are so cute and really match who the characters are. Really makes it feel like the characters designed them themselves.

That being said, I have to say the plot was lack luster. Though I enjoyed the characters, there wasn't anything going on in the story that felt high stakes enough to make me invested in the story. All that goes on are some miscommunication. The premise of the story also isn't that original. Lots of stories have the exact same premise. It would have been more fun to read if there was one more curve ball thrown in there.

So overall, it was fun to read. An easy, light hearted story. But there is nothing in it that would make me want to grab the second volume if there was one.

First off all, I love the formatting of the chapter numbers - small details like that really add to reading experience and immersion. This was a fun read! Even though it says it volume 1 of the series it definitely feels complete on its own. Miscommunication is an often used tool in rom-coms and it can be hit or miss for me but the way it's used in this story I enjoyed it! The misunderstandings between the characters were always funny and didn't lead to frustration or hurt. It was amusing to see the boss type lololol with a complete straight face. While the characters were fun I was a bit meh about their romantic relationship and they didn't really have any 'aw that's cute' moments together in my opinion. I think the gaming aspect could have been shown in more detail, it felt like it was left vague and generic on purpose.

As the title says, this is a story about a guy whose online friend turns out to be his demon boss. It is a really cute story. I love Hashimoto's reactions. They are super funny and cute. Also, I love how wholesome this story is. It is really hard to find BL stories that are wholesome and don't involve abuse or toxicity. That is one of my favorite things about this book. The only critique I have about this book is that the story felt a little slow at times. There were moments when it felt like the story was just being dragged out. If you are looking for a wholesome BL with a bit of a slow burn, then this is totally for you.

I liked how oblivious they were (even sitting next to each other! like ahh)
and the demon boss has a soft gaming heart and a cute alternate personality to match that only comes out when texting him. The highlight was watching him switch between an intimidating boss persona V/s nerdy gaming guy

This was a fun take on a classic romance trope, complete with all the fan fave manga tropes - from severe misunderstandings to a confused confession.

While Nmura, stays true to the classic tropes there is a freshness in the characters that stops this manga from feeling tired or repetitive.

PURE SUGAR! This was so cute!!!

The characters are very cute and I loved how dumb/dense Hashimoto is!! All of the misunderstandings were very funny.

I really liked Kuma and especially the big bro little bro dynamic he had with Hashimoto. It was really sweet and entertaining!

The chibis and in game characters were especially adorable even though the horse head had me a bit confused in the beginning not gonna lie hahaha.

I really liked this a lot and will definitely read book 2! thank you for the early copy, I really enjoyed it!

This volume was honestly pretty cute and could stand as a one-shot. The boss and subordinate type of relationship isn't really overplayed or used as a cliche "sexy" trope. I also really enjoy that they (eventually) talk out their misunderstandings, though there are many misunderstandings. This is mostly a comedy with slight romantic overtones. I honestly enjoyed them slowly becoming friends in real life to match how they are friends in the game. Also, whoever wrote this must also be a gamer, because there are no dumb untrue cliches about gamers in this story!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to netgalley for giving me access to this Manga, this was so cute , hashimoto is literally the most oblivious person I have ever read about in Manga to this day ngl, it was a calm read but my only issue is that we never really got to know the characters, and they only ever talked about the game that they played together, never talked about each other's interests and also moving in together after like two months of dating is crazy to me because to me they don't really know each other like at all but other than that it was calm

**Thank you, NetGalley, for sending an ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Another great opportunity unlocked🔓!! This time, it's my first ARC review of a BL manga. Once again, I hope this will be the first one out of many 😂.

The translation and the quality of the art were amazing! I truly enjoyed reading this title. The general feeling of the story was quite light, with funny misunderstandings and sweet couple moments 💞.

We have a cute and oblivious MC, who loves gaming and hates his boss (at least that's what he says 😗, we all know from the title that things are not what they look like). He made a friend online and one day they decided to meet in real life. What could go wrong? Well, said friend turned out to be his boss (it's important to add that he's always complaining about his work when they play together). This caused a few awkward conversations and some misunderstandings, but their friendship survived and they got even closer.

The boss it's the first one to notice his feelings, and also the first to confess (he went for it without fear, it was really unexpected). They get together at the end, and everything went smoothly from the beginning. However, there's a third character that has a crush on MC. They play together online, and he's a highschool student. He confessed and MC didn't realize, it was hilarious but I felt a little sad for him. He never had a chance but his attempts were adorable 🥰. A lot of things could have gone wrong with the addition of this character, but the author knew what they were doing. I'm actually hoping for a side couple or a spin-off story for him 🥹!!

PS: This is a great manga to start reading BL, so why not give it a try? 👀

Hashimoto loves playing a mobile game with his online buddy to unwind from work, especially his tough and high-maintenance boss. What if he finds out that his online pal is actually his real-life boss?

I found this story to be a delightful and enjoyable read! Although I’m usually not a fan of the miscommunication trope, the author skillfully made it incredibly cute. While I wish there had been more focus on how Hashimoto and Shirase navigate their relationship in the workplace after discovering each other's online identities, overall, I found it to be a delightfully fun and heartwarming story.