I have... questions lol Why is Honda-san a skeleton? Why is no one surprised that Honda-san is a skeleton? Why do all the employees wear masks? Is this normal in this world? I need answers, Author-san! T_T)/

Now, this book starts strong with a foreign "hunk" that is travelling the country trying to find one manga for his daughter. What is this manga? Well, let's just say it involves tentacles and is not safe for work lmao

In the words of Handa-san herself, "Ohhh boy! Tentacles!"

For the record, words appearing like <this> are meant to be English and (this) are thoughts.

"<It... it's special yaoi book.>" "<What's a yaoi book!?>" (I dug my own grave...)

Oh, to be a fly on the wall during that conversation. I would literally keel over with laughter oh my god. How do you explain to a normie parent what yaoi is? Especially hardcore tentacle yaoi? Like, girl, what the fuck is happening right now.

(They cross rivers and mountains. They leap through space-time. Walls like national borders and language aren't about to stop them.)

I wonder if this carries any weight, though. When I was younger, I was part of this BL forum called Aarinfantasy and things got pretty wild there sometimes. I've seen tumblr conversations between yaoi fans, they can get nasty. And not in the NSFW way, just vicious and cruel. They are insanely protective over their ships...

But, do manga stores actually get crazy yaoi fans coming from all over the world? 🤔 It's interesting to think about. I'm kind of glad I grew out of my yaoi phase. I mean, I still enjoy the occasional BL if the story is good and the characters are cute, but I'm not hardcore, thank Satan.

"Please remove the shrink-wrap."

This also raises questions. Is all manga in Japan shrink-wrapped? I remember back when I was ordering BL manga online, it always came that way but that makes sense, doesn't it? You don't want a young kid accidentally opening it and seeing, uh... bad things. Does Japan do this for all their manga, though? It's not like that here in America, though I wish it was.

"Got any manga recommendations!?" (There it is! That's the one!)

Girl, you work in a bookstore that focuses on manga, what do you mean?? 😂 Just recommend whatever is popular at the time.

(What's "lost in manga"? This refers to the people who want to read some manga, but without a specific title in mind... they head into a bookstore, and once they're in there... they end up even more lost about what to read.)

I feel... very called out right now lmao There's too many to choose from, Honda-san! And it's a big decision! It's not my fault that it took me 3 fucking hours to choose one manga, okay... OTL

(Why did they make an A5-sized bonus for B6-sized books!?)

RIGHT? I will never understand this! Why would you make an insert bigger than the damn book. Are you trying to make us angry? Because it's working.

Also, is it common for Japanese manga shops to add inserts? Because if so, what the fuck America? Why are you not giving us extra goodies?? Imagine if manga came with character cards like kpop albums do! I would be buying so many just to get my favorite characters haha I would happily sell my soul for the money to do so.

I think Plague Mask-san might just be my favorite character. There's just something... interesting? Funny? About a character who can go from Satan's right hand to innocent angel within .2 seconds lmao Plus, the plague mask is fucking cool as shit. 

~Books: Love them! People: Terrible with them.~

See, I would love to work in a bookstore, especially if I got to work in the back like unpacking boxes or something. Just being around all those new books, inhaling their calming scent, sounds so cool. And then you add all the customers, many of whom are fucking insane... I would die. Honda-san, I respect you so much.

"Remember, it's a muscle!!"

HONDA-SAN IS A FUCKING SKELETON, SHE HAS NO MUSCLES YOU DONUT WHAT DO YOU MEAN 😂😂

(Are smiles supposed to be... this agonizing...?)

Girl, same. I don't smile often, especially around other people and yes, it is very agonizing. Feels strange and uncomfortable.

"<So I noticed... almost all Japanese manga has only two colors... Black... and white. Why? Are you familiar with European and American comics!? They're all colorful!! I've always wondered why Japanese comics are black and white.>"

The Brazilian guy out here asking the questions we're all wondering, damn. I always assumed it was just because it's cheaper? Like, these companies make a shit ton of money, sure, but they also make a shit ton of books and colored ink ain't cheap.

I would kill to have colorful manga, to see my favorite characters and scenes in all its colorful glory, but I get it. I feel like... the quality of the manga would go down if they started coloring it. I wonder if there's another reason, though, and if it really is money or not.

"Why do you think so negatively!?" "Because! If you always think 'this customer could be scary' in the back of your mind, you'll be more careful. And when they turn out not to be scary, then you get to think, 'Seriously, thank you!!'"

This has always been my motto lol My mom says I'm negative and pessimistic, but life is easier that way. If you expect the bare minimum, you won't be disappointed as you would be if you had high hopes. And if things are higher than your expectations, then you feel good! Plus, like Honda-san said, you approach situations more carefully which can save you a whole lotta trouble.

I've wanted to read this for a while and something told me I would love it. I mean, it's a fucking skeleton selling manga, what's not to love?? The characters are all unique and interesting, the customers are fucking psycho paths that put the workers through hell and create funny scenarios, and the plot is the perfect slice of life read.

Plus, it's funny as fuck. I did not expect this book to be as funny as it was and I ended up laughing harder than I should have, especially since I was sitting outside. People probably thought I was crazy T_T)

This book is *chef's kiss*👨🏻‍🍳🫴🏻 Perfection.