Kara Dennison
October 23, 2024 
Life was very different a few years ago. Adjusting to lockdown wasn’t just about working from home, masking, and washing your hands as often as possible. It also changed how we interact with each other and what we need on a personal level. And Home Office Romance, a single-volume romance manga, explores that change.
The short series hails from Sweat and Soap creator Kintetsu Yamada, and is based on a one-shot exploring the “new normal” of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lifting of restrictions gave Yamada a chance to explore what’s next for these lovebird neighbors. So, how does the manga stack up? Read on to find out!
The Story
Nokoru is a logically-minded computer programmer acclimating to working from home during the pandemic. Organizing his home office reminds him of favorite hobbies, like his love of a certain fantasy manga. It also gives him occasion to meet Natsu, his next-door neighbor. The two initially only talk on their balconies, but soon Nokoru develops something of a friendship with the archaeology grad student.
As they trade books and share snacks, a sort of relationship begins to grow between the two. But the world is unpredictable. Travel (when available) is sketchy at best, and someone going silent for prolonged periods is scary when there’s a virus spreading across the world. Together throughout Home Office Romance, Nokoru and Natsu navigate work-from-home life, love, and their (for now) “new normal.”
The Romance
Home Office Romance follows an “odd-couple” relationship. Nokoru is logically minded and introverted, while Natsu is adventurous and outgoing. She has no trouble telling Nokoru she finds him handsome, for example. But those comments send him running for answers. Is that how women normally talk to men? Does “handsome” mean “cute”? Does she like him like him, or just normal like him?
Of course, the two have plenty in common. Natsu develops an appreciation for video games, and Nokoru learns to embrace her love of travel and archaeology. By the time the manga ends, he finally understands what these strange feelings are. But there’s more to the story than that.
The “New Normal”
Understandably, we’ve had a bumper crop of “COVID stories” in the last few years. Whether they take the form of zombie plagues, post-apocalyptic narratives, or political intrigue, they do start to get a bit samey. Home Office Romance is much more personal. Rather than trying to address the muchness of the pandemic, it zooms in on the human condition. How does one adapt to this life? What needs and desires float to the surface when isolation is the way of things? And how do we find joy for ourselves amidst the uncertainty?
Despite its setting during the pandemic—perhaps because of that setting—this is a sweet and hopeful story. Many of us felt our priorities shift during lockdown because it was so inescapable. We were forced to contemplate who and what really mattered to us, and what we would do about those priorities once we could all see each other again. Home Office Romance initially seems like nothing more than a quirky rom-com, but it really captures the hopes and fears of that time in a way that very few other stories yet have.
