＆－アンド－

&

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
8
RELEASE
February 8, 2014
CHAPTERS
45

DESCRIPTION

Aoki Kaoru is a 26-year-old woman who has never had a boyfriend. Normally unattached and unmotivated in her own life, Kaoru decides to start up a nail salon as a side business in addition to her regular job as a medical clerk. Although having a severe adversity to physical touch, she is forced to confront that fear when she meets a man who can’t help but touch others.

CAST

Kaoru Aoki
Kouga Yagai
Takeshi Shirota
Miyuki
Konno
Akasaka

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

lesbianhivemind
84/100
a manga that depicts well the struggles of women between love and work
This was interesting... I thing I understand why people read shoujo and josei now... The perspective on the world is a lot different. In this manga, a lot is said both about the state of the workers in medicine in japan, and the place of women in this work place. Sexual harassment is portrayed everywhere is this workplace, and in the world, but not dramatizing it as something that makes the world too dangerous for a woman to live in without a man. It's a supplementary inconvenient. It also has a lot of commentary on how some women have no carrier opportunity, and therefore have to rely on marriage to think about the future. The author talks about that, and women spaces, and women's desires with a lot of complexity.

As a lesbian, I always wondered what did women find beautiful or sexy in a man, and this manga spends really a lot of time emphasizing the sexual desire that the heroine has for a man, with his hands, his shoulder blades, and all, even if it's clear that the author has a preference for men that cannot stand straight.

This work has a lot of respect for working women in general, and depicts well the struggles of romantic relationship, with the power imbalance. I particularly appreciated that the female lead gets to stay single at the end, and to rely on herself for the money and all. She gets a promotion, keeps the work that make her happy, and doesn't settle for any of the shitty man.

Needless to say, I didn't like any of the man in this series. Both of the romantic interest are somewhat predatory to the female protagonist, kissing her without consent or when she is drunk. The doctor is clearly older, and he has a fear of the future due to that. The heroine still stays true to her desire, and I like that she sees the relation as an experiment to try, that will probably fail. I like that the manga takes seriously her sexual desire as a women, even when the doctors infantilize her for being a virgin and young. All the men are particularly immature, and the manga is very aware that men stay emotionally very immature, and that the emotional work to make them grow is often done by the women in their life.

One thing that was lacking was the portrayal of sorority. The women in the heroine's life are often bitter and disillusioned and talk to her about how she needs to sell well her youth and body for a marriage that can financially protect her. But it is clear that these women are also complex character that have trouble finding a stable place in life due to their condition as women.

Overall, a very solid depiction of a women life in a workplace, trying her best to see a future somewhere for herself.
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