Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

4.5/5 rounded down

Home office romance follows Nokoru and Natsu, two neighbours whose friendship slowly blossoms into a sweet romance.

This story is beautiful and wraps itself up lovely in just 1 volume. The setting of the pandemic and the loneliness the solitary time gave us is one we can all relate to. Natsu slowly draws Nokoru out of his shell; their initial interactions are adorable. Nokoru questioning why she compliments him and not getting the hints she is dropping.

The enjoyed the art style and feel like it fits the story well. The chapters are short and snappy and keep you wanting to read. I'm almost disappointed the story was finished so quick. The ending did feel slightly rushed, wouldn't have minded a couple more volumes of a similar length or maybe a slightly more explored story. Towards the beginning Nokoru mentions 'this is how I met my wife' and the end just felt like a 'okay we're official this is why we married'.

Overall very enjoyable.

This so soooooo cute!! Like, I cannot get over, how literally adorable this story was between Nokoru and Natsu. This is a standalone story of two neighbors who slowly but beautifully fall in love during the pandemic.

What I enjoyed most about this story was it was cozy and mundane (in the best way). Like two people falling in love during the most normal way, no angst, just super sweet, sugar cookie love. I really enjoyed Nokoru-san's character - he was so analytical and focused. It was just so cute to me. I love when introverts fall in love with extroverts - def opposites attract. I also loved that Nokoru-san never tried to change Natsu-san, he just adjusted his life around his love for her.

I really thought it was an interesting choice to make it a single-story manga, versus a series, because I literally would love to read about Nokoru and Natsu living their lives together. They are just such easy to enjoy and love characters, I was not ready to part from them when I finished the book. I also loved the little explanation at the end about the characters - that was a beautiful touch.

Tropes - He falls first, close proximity (at least in my opinion), opposites attractive, cozy love story, HEA.

Thank you thank you thank you, NetGalley and Kodansha for an eARC of this book! I enjoyed every single second of it.

This was a fast and easy read for fans of Sweat and Soap. This is an adult romance about two individuals working from home during lock down and still managing to find love. While this story was very different from sweat and soap, I still think fans will appreciate the adult elements, awkward main male character and very straight forward thinking female character. This is a super cute one off story that I can't wait to add to my physical collection!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for allowing me the chance to read and review this ARC. All of the opinions in this review and my true and honest thoughts.

I thought that Home Office Romance was a very cute and sweet standalone manga about finding love in the time of a pandemic.

Nokoru works very hard as a software developer and when the pandemic hits, he is able to transition all of his work to his home. He invests time and money into his space to make it a comfortable area to both live and work. While working from home, he meets his neighbor, Natsu while they're both out on their balconies. Natsu is an archaeology student and has been spending more time at home since her field work is cut back due to the pandemic. A sweet friendship blossoms between them and slowly becomes more as they start sharing hobbies and meals with each other while remaining isolated from the rest of the world.

I thought Home Office Romance was so great. The story is told from Nokoru's point of view and I thought his fourth wall breaks, internal dialogue, and self-deprecating humor were excellent touches to the story. I don't always love fourth wall breaks as they can tend to be cheesy or over-the-top, but I felt like they really worked with this story and these characters. I loved Nokoru's awkward nerdiness and Natsu's fun and outgoing personality. I enjoyed reading a romance that was driven by the female character and liked the sex-positive representation that Natsu brought to the story. I think what would have made this a 5-star read for me is if we got a little more of the characters together or some content from Natsu's point of view. There is a small time jump in the story/time where they are apart and the reader hears what's going on with Nokoru during this time, but we don't really get a look at what this time is like for Natsu at all. Also, while we get a lot of information about Nokoru's job/projects we don't get many specifics about Natsu's work/studies and I kind of felt like something was missing so maybe that would have helped that feeling.

Overall this was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys rom-com manga with sweet story lines. It was a great standalone and would be a very quick read to help get through a reading slump, in my opinion.

This is an absolutely adorable story! Very heartwarming love story about neighbors who fall in love. The mundane aspects of real life that suddenly become so special when it’s with the person you love. For anyone who likes a more adult romance slice of life, this is for you!

This was a really cute story, I love that it was only one volume, and everything was wrapped up perfectly by the end of the book. Like a perfect little gift to make your day brighter.

I love how relatable it was - just two regular people, living through the working-from-home era and the disruption that we also experienced during covid. And right there they find love. They start by letting the other person slightly influence their lives, but in the end we see how enriched and different their lives end up being, showing us how even little things can lead us to different paths in our lives, making us experience things we would have never experienced otherwise.

This single volume manga story had so much heart! I fell in love with the romance between the main characters. It was so refreshing to see two very realistic people find love in a slow and steady sort of way; you don’t often see that in manga. I also enjoyed the realistic aspect of having their romance take place during the pandemic; it brought up some of the realistic aspect challenges we endured and did so well!

Overall, I would recommend this to any readers who love romance manga, especially if you want something like Wotakoi!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

A man has to start working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic and after fixing up his apartment into a suitable work from home space, meets his cute neighbor with whom he starts a relationship.
I enjoyed this! It wasn’t my absolute favorite, but parts of it were so laugh out loud funny that I had to like it. The part where he asks her to give him fifteen minutes? Comedy gold. The beginning of this manga was a little slow and kind of boring, but it picked up about halfway through when she tries to turn off the lamp and he thinks she’s coming onto him (which was also pretty funny). The romance parts of the book were a little swoon-worthy as well and even though the male main character was…unpleasant? Maybe off-putting at times? He still ends up having a certain charm that I found at least a little endearing.
The female main character was sweet, although she did give off some manic pixie dreamgirl-ish vibes (Archaeology? A little too far-fetched, I think). I did like how the male main character had to wait for her to come back from her digs, though, as we usually see a woman pine after a man in stories like these. It was refreshing to see the man pine for once. I also appreciated seeing her take her reproductive health into her own hands when buying the protection as I think it’s important to erase the stigma in such matters.
Overall, an enjoyable read that I would recommend to cozy, non-spice loving readers.

At this point anything by Kintetsu Yamada is an instant purchase! I LOVED this one shot. It was simple, sweet and had a little bit of steam.
It's wonderful seeing an independent leading lady take the lead in a romance. I'm a huge fan of Sweat & Soap and seeing they little cameo in this manga made my heart happy.
Thank you to NetGalley & Kodansha Comics for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book knew exactly what it wanted to be and about how long it needed to be. This is a short and sweet romance that doesn't overstay its welcome, but each short chapter gives enough insight into who are main characters are that the blossoming love between neighbors doesn't feel rushed or over drawn out. It was a nice little escape of a book!

Really cute story about two people working from home who took an opportunity to get to know someone new and slowly fall in love!! Sweet and wholesome <33

This was honestly the cutest romcom manga ever! I knew it was going to be a five star read from the first few chapters, and I absolutely loved every single page!

The story is set during the Covid-19 era in Japan, in which the world was getting used to lock downs and social distancing. The book follows software engineer Nokoru and archeology graduate student Natsu. Both are neighbours and usually live busy lives, but when the new restrictions give both a chance to rediscover old hobbies as well as a chance to meet each other and slowly fall in love, it turns out there's some upsides to a home office!

I really loved both the characters (it helps that Nokoru looks and acts similar to Levi Ackerman from AOT) and the way they seem to get along. He's a lover of manga and gaming, his life is meticulous and steady, she's an avid researcher and curious soul who's quirky and kind. They balance each other out so well, and I love how Nokoru is often baffled by some of the things Natsu says, such as how his name reminds her of food.

The romance was so adorable and felt so genuine. I really enjoyed the way Nokoru and Natsu's relationship blossomed, from easy conversations on their balconies, sharing homemaking tips and late night convenience store dates, to talking online and sharing each other's books, I especially loved them spending Christmas together just chilling out. As much as it was cute, the manga also has some funny moments too, and I laughed so much whilst grinning like a maniac.

The artwork is sweet and gentle, and the manga is also a standalone. The story is narrated perfectly and ends with an adorable happily ever after, I'm so glad I found this manga because I can definitely say it's one of my favourite reads of this year, and I'm for sure going to check out the creators other works!

5/5 🌟

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for the e-arc!

I was excited when I saw the author of one of my favorite series had a one-shot coming out in English. Home Office Romance is about two neighbors fostering friendship and love during lockdown. This story encapsulated the trials and tribulations of working from home for the first time. I also identified a lot with Natsu's struggles as a grad student. The romance between Natsu and Nokoru is sweet and develops pretty fast but I think due to their circumstances it makes sense. This story wrapped up pretty well and I recommend checking this out when it publishes. If you are already a fan of the author, you will enjoy this series. If you aren't a fan, start with this one shot and see where it takes you.

This was adorable. Fluffy, low stakes, good characters. I wasn't kicking my feet or anything, but it was a cute read and I think it's a good single-volume story.

In what appears to be a blessing from the get Nokuro, an overworked software engineer gets sent to work from home during the Pandemic. He almost immediately finds the benefits to this situation; he can sleep in, he can read his manga, and he's even had the time to cultivate a beautiful garden on his balcony. And it's this garden that ultimately leads his neighbor Natsu to his doorstep. As an introvert, Nokuro has never been good with talking to women, but luckily for him, Natsu knows exactly what she wants, and it's Nokuro!

This was just adorable from the very beginning, but when Nokuro sent Natsu an Excel spreadsheet in order to plan their dates, I was sunk. The fact that Natsu actually filled it out was absolutely just over the top cute! This was genuinely just a short read about life during the Pandemic, one that I found was a breath of fresh air since so many stories I've read during set during that time frame reflect on the insecurities we all felt and in many cases the true horror of the situation. So it was so nice to read something that pointed out that for some people like Nokuro, it wasn't actually that bad, I mean, honestly, probably one of the best things that ever happened to him!

Overall, it's just a fun little read that'll definitely put a smile on your face!

As always, thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the eArc!

3.5
This was a cute Covid era romance, though they never explicitly state the word "Covid". This is about how two teleworkers meet only because they're neighbors. This story is an interesting blend of office romance mixed with {gender] next-door romance. I liked the concept, and I liked the characters, but something about the overall story didn't fully click for me. I think the fact that it was a stand-alone hampered the plot's pacing. The entire story has to be wrapped up within one volume when it very clearly would have done so much better if it could have at least been a 3 or 5 book series. The romance pacing is the oddest of all, with the start being barely anything, and then roughly 3/4 into the book, it ramps up to them being madly in love. The art I absolutely adored. I also really did like the characters, they really feel like they could be real people. This romance, for all its pacing issues, feels very realistic. That's one of the big points that I enjoyed, was how grounded this story was! I just wish it could have been a bit longer, to really help flesh out the romantic relationship between the two main characters.

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

3.5 This was sweet.

As a fellow remote worker, I loved this theme so much. I enjoyed spending time with our characters, and watching them meet and develop a friendship over a longer period of time. Their connection felt genuine and I liked that it wasn’t rushed.

It lost me a bit with some of the structure: it wasn’t always clear who was talking/thinking or I’d have to flip back because the dialogue would seem out of place and check what it was referring to.
Admittedly, this is only the second manga I’ve read, but I was surprised at the sexual themes.

I really liked the ending and a little snapshot of the adventures they’d continue to go on together. Overall, this has a nice low stakes vibe, a sweet story, and a great art style. Bonus points for being a full, standalone story too!

Nokoru and Natsu are neighbours, working and studying from home during the height of the pandemic. One day they meet while hanging out on their respective balconies. Slowly they grow closer together.

This manga was very sweet. We get a friendship between introverts turning into a slow burn romance with a tinge of humour. The pacing is well done, and excellently captures the awkward first steps in a budding relationship.

It doesn't feature any flashy dates, but instead focusing on the every day moments spent together like gaming, hanging out. A realistic form of dating around that age/stage of life, especially during the height of the pandemic.

"Weird, isn't it? Being around too many people left me drained and exhausted... ...but in the end, the cure came from yet another person.”

Home Office Romance is the perfect read for anyone who loves slice of life romance stories featuring adult protagonists. Similar to, but distinct from manga like Wotakoi.

Thank you Kodansha Comics and Kintetsu Yamada for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A beautiful romance that builds through-out and ends with a happy ending. However the main character is just so stiff for me, You don’t really get any romantic inclinations for the FMC until 75% through the book and the it’s all romance and barely any story. I can tell this will be a 1 book manga.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC!

Home Office Romance is a super cute one-shot manga about two neighbours who fall in love during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

I really enjoyed this manga, it has the right balance of humour and romance, and the ending was very satisfying.

It brightened my day, and I think it could brighten yours too, so don't hesitate to pick it up!