Danica Davidson
February 19, 2023 
Gap Papa: Daddy at Work and at Home is a sweet-natured, idealistic, slice-of-life manga about a father, mother and young daughter. Their names aren’t given. The father goes into work each day where he is serious—so serious, in fact, that the people there think he never smiles. One person even comments that they don’t think he has a friendly bone in his body.
But they couldn’t be more wrong. Each night he goes home and spends time with his wife and their daughter, who seems to be about four. There is no real plot here; it’s just little vignettes of family life. A vignette might show the father and daughter playing a game like hide and seek, or the daughter falling asleep on the father, or the father going on about how cute he thinks his wife is. It’s nice to watch him dote on his family. Interspersed with the family scenes are a few more scenes with him at work and people not being able to wrap their heads around his personality. It’s this gap between who they think he is at work and who he actually is at home that gives us the title.
The nameless father, mother and daughter are like one of those perfect families on TV, where no one has a bad day or loses patience. It might not be totally realistic, but that’s the point. It’s supposed to be idealistic, like you’re invited to join in on a family that is kind and welcoming. In that sense, the manga is very relaxing to read. It’s also in full-color, something unusual in manga, but the color gives it an added charm. Keeping with the relaxing atmosphere of the book, the colors mostly stick to soft pastels.
The series started out as a webcomic and got a following. It’s not your typical slash and dash exciting manga fare, but that’s all right. If you’re in the mood for a laid-back, charming, decompressing manga about a really sweet family, then this is definitely it. Two more volumes are scheduled to come out later this year.
Story & Art: Utakata
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Translator: Alan Cheng and Rowena Chen
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
