For the fans of enemies to lovers, my next door neighbor shows and some adorable meet-cutes, this manga is the absolute best choice.
I've smiled, I've laughed so hard and I've been so emotional throughout this read, I could not recommend it more! And the illustrations of the manga made it even better!

Cute but slightly kooky woman? ✔️
Dramatic set of events that only happen in RomComs? ✔️
Non-binary and Gay bestfriend out here trying to set the two up? ✔️

I have been in want of a 2000s-isk RomCom for a while and "My Coworker Has a Secret!" hits all the marks.

It's a lot of fun, and I had a great time reading it and blew thru the volume because I was enjoying it so much.

Given this is One of a Two Volume set, I will likely pick up the other one to complete the series.

This was so unexpectedly charming, more so than I really expected from a co-worker romance with the MC being an intense fangirl. I think “fan” culture can often come across as very obnoxious on page (perhaps justifiably so). But Akari as a main character is somehow still a sympathetic one.

The premise of a new coworker randomly offering the MC a place to stay in their luxury apartment after being unceremoniously evicted is a bit outlandish, yes. But it’s also not the most outrageous forced proximity inciting event I’ve read - and the friendship that grows between Akari and Kazama is so genuine I can’t complain. Watching the gradual transition on Kazama’s end from polite disinterest to jealousy was played subtly enough to be cute and not toxic.

I also like the framing of Kazama as this ultra-wealthy heir to a megacorporation mostly because it takes this very well-worn trope in the romance genre and puts it onto this character that is anything but the typical arrogant future CEO. Kazama is unexpectedly domestic with his cooking skills and inherent drive to take care of people. And this first book is really giving, “he fell first and he also fell harder.”

Ultimately, I just wish this was more than just a two-book series.

Thank you to the publisher LoveLove for providing an e-ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

My Coworker Has a Secret! Volume 1 By Mushiro
Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a free copy for an honest review
What's it about:
Akari Has a secret .
.. She has being living a doublerife, to her coworkers she is Akari, a hard
working 25 year-old office worker with a wonderful doyfriend but really she been is a obsessed with the pretty-boy idol Ren-Ren, since her ex-boyfriend ran off with all her savings. The problem is this obsession has lead to her being financially ruined. While in the park a pigeon steals the only lunch she's had in months leading her to run into a young man named ;, while sharing his lunch with her she spills everything, thinking she'll never see him again. When .; turns up as a new employee at the company she works at she thinks her secret is out, but ..; promises to keep the secret she shared with him.
The review:
.. I didn't enjoy this one, I ended up dropping it about half way in, I found Akari annoying and kind of stupid for not realising her building was being demolished till a day before hand, and the art was nothing special and the chibi stuff was distracting.
Rating: 1⭐️

Super cute and funny! I love that this isn't set in high school! There is a lot of questions that I need answered!

DNF – this is about a 25-year-old woman who is a fangirl. She spends all her excess money being devoted to one musical actor. She forgoes lunch to spend time with his live stream, and to save money. But due to workplace politics she does not want to be “out” as a fan girl at work. One day a lovely young man feeds her in the park after a bird takes off with her lunch. She tells him everything. Turns out this random guy is her new coworker. I just could not do this book any longer. I do not get “fandom” life or idols, so to me this is just a young woman acting like a 10-year-old and playing at being an adult. Even the way things are written is dumbed down and childlike, and very unenjoyable.

First of all I want to thank netgalley for providing me with this manga.

This manga tells us of Akari is an average 25-year-old office worker who harbors a secret she hides from her colleagues: she's so obsessed with the pretty-boy idol Ren-Ren that it's ruining her financially!

When her lunch is stolen by a pigeon, a kind stranger offers his homemade bento in its place, and after graciously accepting, Akari tells him the reason she's so destitute. It's the first time she's revealed her secret otaku lifestyle to anyone. Of course, she assumes she'll never see this stranger again... until he shows up as the newest employee at her office! Can Akari trust him to keep her tragic and embarrassing secret from their coworkers?

the protagonist akari is easy to like, even for one to feel identified with her, with the fangirl that she is, I think that more than one has spent on things to support her artist, I like that the relationship is developing little by little, first as a friendship and little by little it will lead to something else, this first volume is well closed, with the desire to be able to read the sentiment, since one wants to know what will happen to the protagonists, what will happen to akari, his companions will know that Is your presentation a facade? Will they continue to support you?

Now as for the drawing, it's uff beautiful, very Josei's, a slightly more mature style.

I recommend it for the moment for all the public, I don't know if later he will get more than 18 but for the moment I recommend it.

I give it 4.5 stars out of 5

Akari is a fangirl who despite having a job is pretty much broke because she spends all her money on this idol she’s obsessed with. One day her lunch gets stolen by a pigeon and a kind stranger offers her his food. And before she knows it she tells him everything, all about her idol obsession, and how she is broke, and how no one at her job knows any of these things about her because she is too embarrassed. Akari thinks she will never see this guy again buuut he turns out to be her new coworker. I’ve read a book with a similar premise, called Can you keep a secret, and I guess I’m a sucker for these romcom type stories because I ate this up. It was hilarious at parts and sweet at other moments. The art style was very pretty. And despite the shallow premise the characters actually had depth to them and there were reasons for their behaviour. Overall it was a very cute manga volume and I really want to read the next volume.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review**

My Coworker Has a Secret! Volume 1 by Mushiro was a funny and lighthearted manga volume about an idol otaku who gets kicked out of her apartment and is offered a chance to crash with her new co-worker who is rich and good at cooking. Sounds like a dream, right? And it pretty much is! This was a chill, slice-of-life, romance volume that felt like a combo or Mr. Bride and Wotakoi and I enjoyed it. The art was great as usual too.

This one is not for me I guess. I'm not able to connect with the character nor the story.The story was so boring and dragging and I felt like it was so repetitive and there is no movement in the story

My Coworker has a secret! is a very cute story. I always enjoy sweet manga like this that also has some humor.

(First of all, thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review)

Synopsis: Akari is an average 25-year-old office worker who harbors a secret she hides from her colleagues: she's so obsessed with the pretty-boy idol Ren-Ren that it's ruining her financially! When her lunch is stolen by a pigeon, a kind stranger offers his homemade bento in its place, and after graciously accepting, Akari tells him why she's so destitute. It's the first time she's revealed her secret otaku lifestyle to anyone. Of course, she assumes she'll never see this stranger again... until he shows up as the newest employee at her office! Can Akari trust him to keep her tragic and embarrassing secret from their coworkers?

OMG, THIS IS SO CUTE! He cooks for her because she can't afford it due to spending all her money on her idol (which honestly, I don't like him. I don't know why, call it intuition). I mean... how could I not be in love with them? Also, we love men who support their women's hobbies and don't call them freaks. I really enjoyed the story, the drawings were beautiful. I need the anime and the next volume ASAP!

This title follows 25 year old office worker Akari, and her obsession with the pretty boy idol Ren-Ren. Despite the happiness that Ren-Ren brings her, Akari cannot share her excitement with her coworkers out of the fear of ostracization. Being the chatterbox that she is, Akari ends up blabbing about her hobby to a stranger that turns out to be her new coworker, the largely non-descript Ritsu Kazama. She begs him to keep her secret and thus begins their relationship.

And this manga is fine. It's fine and it's also the most difficult kind of title to write anything about. It doesn't have much to like, but also doesn't have much to dislike. The title is a rom-com so I'm predisposed to enjoying it, but it isn't very funny and the two leads have no real chemistry. Outside of some wild translation choices, Akari says "Yeet" a few times, there wasn't much to laugh about. The entirety of their romance seems to hinge on the fact that Akari is annoying and can't cook while Kazama is a good listener that can cook. What an incredible pair they make.

I wouldn't be upset if I had paid for this but I wouldn't be in a hurry to get the next volume.

Akari is an average 25-year-old office worker who harbors a secret she hides from her she's so obsessed with the pretty-boy idol Ren-Ren that it's ruining her financially!

Akari, drinks in the club! Who would not buy all (it is with all I mean ALL) the goods on the market with the face of your idol on it?

When her lunch is stolen by a pigeon, a kind stranger offers his homemade bento in its place, and after graciously accepting, Akari tells him the reason she's so destitute. It's the first time she's revealed her secret otaku lifestyle to anyone. Of course, she assumes she'll never see this stranger again...

Well, guess what? It's not like that! He thinks that later this stranger turns out to be his new co-worker.

This was my first manga ever. And what can I say... I loved it. Very. And laughter, really a lot. And then.... Is it so cute!!!! 😫😫😫

I struggled to detach myself from reading, thus ending up devouring it in (if I remember correctly) about an hour. It was a super smooth and enjoyable read. Seeing how Akari tried to hide her fangirl side broke me. Literally. I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my entire life.

And Kazama... Well ladies and gentlemen, Kazama should be ILLEGAL.

I have already purchased my paper copy and I can't wait, I CAN'T WAIT, to have the second volume in my hands. Unfortunately, I will have to wait a little.

I thank Netgalley, Independent Publisher Group, LOVE X LOVE and Mushiro for sending me the ARC copy of this volume and especially for giving me the opportunity to read, learn about and love this story. All opinions are my own.

The story follows a seemingly average 25-year old office worker named Akari with a “loving boyfriend”. However Akari has a secret. Akari is a fan obsessed with an idol named Ren-Ren who has a direct and somewhat rude way of speaking. Akari spends all her money on Ren-Ren merchandise and when her lunch is stolen by a pigeon she meets her new co-worker and then savior, Kazama.

I feel like I read a manga similar to this. A fangirl main character meets a quiet yet sensible rich male lead. It’s not a unique story and it does go by pretty fast as many of the events are common in shoujo romance manga. The story is somewhat predictable yet fluffy and cute enough to keep the reader entertained and locked into the story. That said though, there aren’t many characters in this story so far.

The artwork is clean, cute and simple. The emphasis is mainly on the character expressions and the scene around them so there aren’t many detailed panels. I liked the simplistic approach and it made it easier to read the dialogues and understand the characters’ feelings through their surroundings.

I could relate with Akari because I used to hide my purchases at my office job. I used to buy my items from a store located 3 cities away from where I lived and because I couldn’t ship it to my home (for reasons omitted) I had to pick them up from the store during work hours. Eventually I stopped caring because my workplace was toxic and I didn’t feel like keeping up a false pretense in front of people who would never understand.

Akari’s situation, although unfortunate, was portrayed hilariously while Kazama is a good and understanding male lead. Although Kazama is a little unrealistic because he hails from a rich family while being prehistoric, he has good intentions and isn’t some creepy or over confident person. I don’t know how long this series is but I feel like we might see another side of Kazama soon.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I laughed many times throughout this volume and it was a quick read. I liked how the characters were just being themselves and were relatable between their office and home personalities. Definitely a good read if you’re looking for a simple office romance with comedy.

So cute! I really enjoyed the story. Forget the sunshine one and the grumpy one, give me the chef one and the hungry one. I love to see the hungry character getting fed and falling in love. I found some parts of it a little messy, but in that way that I find a lot of manga messy. They tend to get a bit chaotic at times which doesn't always work quite right for me. But in general, the story was easy to follow and I would definitely watch a drama based off this series.

Firstly, thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book to review!

This book was just okay for me. It wasn't bad, but the female lead was someone I had trouble vibing with. She is a huge idol fan to the point that she doesn't have enough money for food most days. She just seemed irresponsible and somewhat ditsy to me. The male lead was very... blank. He was nice enough but did not seem like he had a personality or anything going for him. 3/5 stars for cute art and a decent enough story. I will probably read volume 2 to see what happens next.

Very cute! I really liked it. The plot was cute but the characters are what made it. I had fun with this and I want to read more!

Summary:

Akari is twenty-five years old, has no savings, and is obsessed with a pretty-boy idol. Her obsession is part of the reason why she's perpetually broke. When a pigeon steals her lunch, Akari hits a breaking point.

Thankfully, a kind stranger is nearby to see her breakdown. His offer to share his lunch saves Akari's lunch – but little does she know that this stranger will soon become a significant part of her life. Can she trust him to keep her secrets?

My Review:

Overall, I think My Coworker Has a Secret! Vol. 1 has a charming premise. I think we've all been part of a fandom that tempted us into buying too much stuff (whether or not we caved to that temptation is a different story). So in a way, Akari's story is fairly relatable.

There's more to her story than one might expect. I appreciated that depth, as I think it was needed. Likewise, there's more to the kind stranger's story, though we have yet to learn all of it (of course).

While I think this was a fun and cute story, I feel like one volume is all I needed. I'm not sure I'd read the rest, as the first volume probably carried the most impact. This is a great read if you like humorous romances with a dash of insta-love.

Highlights:
Coworkers to Friends
Friends to Lovers?
Cutesy Plot
“Tragic” Secret

Trigger Warnings:
Homelessness
Crummy Ex

ARC was given by NetGalley & LOVE x LOVE in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published before the release date (April 11, 2023)

Content/Trigger Warnings: Brief scenes talking of homelessness & financial hardships

If you’re looking for a manga to help you out of a reading slump that’s going to make you laugh or potentially help you out of a reading slump, then let me recommend this manga to you. We follow 25-year-old Akari Sejma, who’s keeping a big secret from everyone one, but when one day she takes her lunch break, things become more chaotic than she ever thought they’d be. When the stranger Akari confided her big secret in, that fateful day, turns out to be the new transfer at her job, Ritsu Kazama, Akari will do everything to prevent the truth from getting out. This is one of those manga I recommend going into without knowing too many details. I had such a blast reading this manga and couldn’t stop giggling during so many moments. It was just a fun read that really helped kick my booty out of my reading slump. This is a real page turner and one that has me wanting to put into all my manga loving friends’ hands!