This was HILARIOUS, I'm so glad I gave it a try! This is not so much an office romance, but a screwball romcom set in a gamer community, with misunderstandings galore because of the online IDs - they just happen to be a boss and a direct report. This angle doesn't get belabored needlessly, especially after the identities come to light, but I was very pleased to discover that the hilariousness doesn't stop. As far as screwball comedies go, this was time well-spent!

This story was lighthearted, fun, and very cute!

Hashimoto’s cluelessness is so silly and it’s probably one of my favorite manga tropes — the character who is silly and clueless to the point where they don’t realize people like them but the other people just keep gushing over their cuteness.

Definitely a fun, fluffy story that I would recommend to anyone looking for a cute, quick, and silly read, especially if they like BL.

This is an adorable romantic/slice of life manga about Hashimoto, who finds out the person he has been playing an online game with is his strict boss. The plot is adorable and so found myself loving the three main characters. I do hope more characters are introduced later on, as there is no female representation in this series.

The cover drew me to the manga right away. I really liked the art style, and especially loved any scenes of their online characters.

Super cute! Misunderstandings galore, which made for a very funny romcom love triangle. I felt like the pacing might’ve been too fast but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley!

This was something, like I how the art in this one and the story was a little bit slow for me. I do think this book wants to create a love triangle eventually. I'm not sure if I will continue. I liked how the boss listened to the complains without getting mad and tried to change a bit.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this much more than Nmura's other standalone work!

Hashimoto and Shirase had a cute relationship procession -- it was slow and steady and full of heartwarming moments.

Nmura did a wonderful job bridging the power dynamic between them and I loved how patient Shirase was with Hashimoto upon realizing his romantic attraction, how he never abused his power or stepped out of line -- there was no discomfort there (but instead, they got even more wholesome?).

My main grip is that, despite a drawn-out storyline, I never fully felt connected to Hashimoto, our basic hardworking MC, and in turn, I also felt little chemistry between him and his love interest. Don't get me wrong, their interactions are very cute (!!!)... on a surface level only, I would have loved to be able to root for them more and that there would be more depths to their characters -- but perhaps the next volume would change that.

I can't say that this one is a banger but even then, anyone would have a good time reading this, I promise!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the E-ARC!

It was okay, but I didn't believe in the romance between the two main characters. Maybe if there has been some chapters where it shows them fancying eachother at work before they know they are online friends.
Also the time jumps threw me a lot.
And the love rival was uncomfortably agressive about winning over the main character. Even when they get rejected in a very clear way they don't respect the decision and say they will keep pursuing them and look for issues with the relationship.

I discovered this manga on NetGalley and thought it looked cute. From my understanding, Nmura published this story on Twitter like a weekly webcomic originally in Japanese. The episodes were then compiled into a book, which was published in 2021, and this ARC is for the English translation. This version contains episodes 1 through 19 and two bonus ones.
I think it is easy to tell that this book comes from a weekly upload project and that the author is somewhat inexperienced. The episodes don’t always flow together and are fairly short. The original comics were meant to fall into Slice of Life and Young Adult Romance, which I think it achieves. The overarching conflict alluded to in the title is faced about a third of the way through and mostly resolved shortly afterwards. The author/artist does add other minor conflicts along the way, relying mostly on miscommunication due to Hashimoto’s dense nature (the main character). I found it cute, but some people may start to get annoyed by it. There is also a conflict centered on a high schooler pursuing a romantic relationship with an adult, which I felt was a little strange, and there are no minor or major female characters (the few that exist are basically in the background). The artwork is what I would consider the standard manga style, though I did have to use hairstyles to differentiate the 3 main characters from each other. I also commend the artist for being able to mix in the cuter animation of the video game and show us interactions in the digital world.
Overall, I liked the story, but didn’t really emotionally connect to the characters and it’s not something I would re-read. I think lovers of yaoi manga and webcomics will enjoy this book, but probably not people looking for a deeper or more complex story.

Super cute!! It’s not super fast paced but it’s nice in that very innocent sort of way. The character art is great and it was easy to follow along. Great start to a story!

This is a fun enough series, the plot is fairly typical and straightforward, with fast pacing as relationships progress. There's a reliance on miscommunication that seems like it's supposed to be played for laughs, but generally didn't add much beyond prolonging parts of the plot. The characters are fine if a bit bland and i felt like their development was too quick and not depicted well enough.

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

I have heard many good things about this title and I will say it did not disappoint. The main premise revolves around two men who are online friends but don't know that in real life they both work at the same company. At first, this premise seems cheesy and you will get laughs from how long it takes these two to realize the truth. The latter half of this volume made the story worth continuing as it starts to delve into a new chapter between the two. The only complaint that I have is that the storyline with the side character who is a high schooler seemed a little weird at times. Outside of that, I think the story does a good job of focusing on the main two and their relationship. I would check it out if you like series about gaming as well as BL stories.

This was so delightful and silly! I love the utterly oblivious type and I love the trope of best friends online, enemies offline (thank you Meg Ryan and You’ve Got Mail, though let’s forgo the gentrification element). This was so much fun and made me giggle so much, and I look forward to the continuation of Hashimoto and Shirase’s relationship, plus the silliness of Kumada and his crush on Hashimoto.

Thank you for Netgalley, the publishers, and the author and artist for the ARC I read.

This was really cute. It’s actually a little bit longer than the typical manga I read (300 pages instead of 200 pages) so that was awesome, I definitely felt a lot more story progression from having the extra 100 pages. The art style is really nice and the story is really cute. It has some misunderstandings and the main character is definitely a bit dense about things, but I think it cleared them up on a reasonable timeline (like within this first volume, how nice is that). It’s definitely a cute slice of life romance manga with not a ton of plot but with that being said it was nice that there was actually a good amount of progression of the story within this first volume. If anything I feel like this first volume kind of stands on its own with a kind of complete story all in one go. But I am interested in continuing the manga and getting more of these characters because they were really adorable. Also the little author letter/note at the end was really cute.

Not my first time reading manga but it's not something i do often and honestly i should because this was SO cute.
The friends to lovers/online friends tropes are always so good and i feel like especially in this format it's just so fun and easy to read!
3.5 stars! Only because it did have some moments that were too awkward for me personally but still a nice quick read to lighten up the mood.
*Thanks to NetGalley uk, the publishers and the author for the ARC*

This was a super cute and fast read! The misunderstandings were just the right level of funny awkward rather than cringe worthy, and that’s such a fine line to cross! I loved that even when they actively tried to clear ip the misunderstandings, they were still not on the same page 😂

Kumada as a love rival was cute, particularly because he had no chance and other than showing his crush, the narrative didn’t really pretend like he was in the running. It was hilarious that if he had just left Shirase out of his confession then Hashimoto would have figured it out sooner. And when Hashimoto started rejecting him all over again once he realized it was a love confession? POOR KUMADA HAHA!

I adore Shirase!! I love his growth from unknowingly evil boss to just a quiet guy in love with an idiot 🥺 I felt bad that his dates and confessions weren’t landing, but it was so cute of him to keep trying “little by little”!!! Even when they were doing a relationship test run, he went at Hashimoto’s pace 🥺 what a guy!!!

Hashimoto, my beloved idiot, please learn about Ockham’s razor, sometimes the pretty guy really is just confessing to you 😅 I liked the couple snippets we got to see of his thought process though, that man’s mind is like a steal trap haha.


The art was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS TOO OMG SO BEAUTIFUL! And there was so much story in one volume?! Usually volume ones are so sparse on plot but this was perfect!

This was so cute! The only thing wrong is the high schooler crushing on an adult and the adult not having a problem with that. That storyline needs to be taken out.

I got to say I don´t usually ask for BL/GL manga when I´m at netgalley because have a (not so irrational) fear the story will be toxic or badlystereotyped in some way. But, fortunately, this is not the case. In this manga you can find:

- A pretty dense protagonist (but no one takes advantage of his naivety, which I appreciate).
- A LOT of misunderstandments (seriously, I think more than half the book feature these) that got solved in a calm and mature way.
- Friends who remain friends all through the plot (I don´t like the power dynamics at some stories, but this one is perfect in that sense: once the protagonists realize they are boss and employee and warm up to the idea, they keep being friends at behave as such outside of work. No one is trying to overpower the other.)
- No toxic relationships (more like there´s even an emphasis on consent which is what finished to sell this comic to me).
- There´s a love triangle, but it´s very well done and pushes the plot forward without being invasive.

Overall, I want to read to read the second tome when it gets published, because this is going to my reread list.

Hashimoto is unknowingly gaming online in the same guild as his boss. Silly and sweet antics ensue.

This was my first manga read and I thought it was cute! This was a quick read and I enjoyed the online-friends-to-lovers trope (with an added bonus of coworkers and lgbtq themes). A solid 4 stars for this delightful, fun read.

Themes: manga, gaming, work love, online love, slow burn, lgbtq+, rom-com

Turns Out My Online Friend is my Real-Life Boss is a self-explanatory title with little to elaborate on. It’s a cute and lighthearted romance about who game addicts who happen to be co-workers. Full of misunderstandings and lead by a dense protagonist, this series will definitely make you smile!

I had an absolute blast with this manga from start to finish. I was either cracking up at the hilarious miscommunications or cringing from second-hand embarrassment at the awkward moments. The way these misunderstandings played out was both funny and relatable, keeping me hooked on the characters' journey.

As the story went on, I couldn't help but smile as I watched an awkward friendship slowly turn into an adorable BL romance. The way their relationship developed was so heartwarming and felt just right, with each interaction adding to the charm of the story.

The art style was really well done, too. The drawings were not only nice to look at but also captured the emotions and little details perfectly. The artist did a great job making each scene come to life.

I had such a great time reading this manga and was pleasantly surprised by how much story was packed into a single volume. It managed to deliver a rich and satisfying tale that left a lasting impression. This manga totally exceeded my expectations and made for an awesome reading experience.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Nmura and Kodansha Comics for providing the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for a review, but all thoughts are my own*