Sometimes the boss is truly in charge.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Onaka Emi
What They Say:
The truth I was never able to tell you.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Originally serialized in Comic Kairakuten from the May 2020 installment, Talkative Slow March is a twenty-page story from creator Onaka Emi, who has six or so other works on the service. With it being my first experience with them, I was surprised that half the issue was focused on story and character material and that it did it as effectively as it did so that you got a good feel for the relationship. Onaka’s artwork is pretty solid throughout with a lot of good backgrounds in the early part to make it feel lived in and natural but they also have a really good sense of style with the character designs for both leads, making them appealing in their own unique ways. Everything had a good and natural feeling to it that accentuated it all and that was a huge plus as well.
The story focuses on Machiko, a young woman who runs a very popular web channel on cosmetics and the like with something like a million followers. She’s good at what she does and keeps a good looking space for it. But she’s also hired out someone to take care of the rest of the place with Rintarou, a young man that has really been a big fan of hers for some time and is definitely in love with her. But the dynamic between the two feels like very good friends as he gives her grief over how she keeps the rest of her apartment and other bits. He’s also very protective of her and worried for her safety when he realizes that her growing popularity means more stalkers on the web with some really nasty comments that she just brushes off as part of doing business. It’s not unexpected but it does leave you understanding where both are coming from.
What changes is that upon coming back to her place with her, Machiko is accosted by a fan who’s all positive only to turn nasty, which has Rintarou going all protective and escorting her back to her place so the fan stays away. All of this just gets Machiko going and she ends up dominating Rintarou for it, taking what she wants and making it clear that she knows it’s exactly what he wants. Within the ten or so pages we get of this, he’s unable to resist because everything she says is true and he’s getting what he wanted, just not in the way he thought it would happen because he wanted to be the dominant one. But she takes such delight in it and he accepts it so well that there’s a really good connection formed here that makes the whole thing really exciting to watch unfold. With the two of them having the established bond and taking it further here, the scene plays familiar in most ways but the dominant aspect really drives it in some good directions you don’t often see.
In Summary
There are a few moments in the setup half of the chapter where I don’t think Onaka was able to handle it as smoothly or clearly as they could have but the overall result is a strong one. The relationship between the two leads shifts from one of business to pleasure but there’s a hierarchy to it that both enjoy that’s being brought into it as well. The setup has some darker moments that could have gone a few different ways but it lead to where it should have and the encounter the two have sets up a very different life for both of them going forward. It really does beg for another chapter or two to see how they adjust the changes that are put into place and to see how much more dominant that Machiko could become in order to really bond the relationship.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 18+
Released By: FAKKU
Release Date: May 2020
MSRP: FAKKU Subscription
