Ase to Sekken
Sweat and Soap

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This manga is one huge journey, one that shouldn't be brushed off due to its weird first few chapters.

What we get throughout this manga is a somewhat slow yet steady development between our main leads. They start going out rather early and hit the "relationship goals" once in a while, in a very satisfactory manner.

On top of that, both characters really do feel like proper adults.
They communicate their feelings and their problems. They also sometimes can get annoyed with each other or even fight, but I love it that they will always seek to fix it by talking things out, saying everything out, and ... then reconciling.
Although overall I didn't find that this manga had too much drama, so even that thing is pretty rare.

It's mostly adults fluff. Their small talks, how much they love each other and cherish each other, the sweet words they say to each other... That's what makes me love this manga so much.

While reading this manga it really does feel like I'm getting into their life and slowly see them grow. There are a lot of exciting moments in here, but I also get to see them just... living their own honest lives.
Going to work, talking with co-workers, going out for a drink, coming back home to have their own time for themselves (together or alone), it feels very... "normal", and soothing.

I'd say that it's not all interesting, I did feel like towards the end we had quite a bit of stretching, but it wasn't that bad.

We also get to expand on side characters who are related to our main couple, and really build a small "world" around them - which is their families. Each with their own story.

The romance is good. It's not exactly "flashy" but it's very steady and comforting. Definitely the more "down to earth" type. But I still love every bit of romantic moment they shared.

Another thing that adds to the feeling of softness and warmness is definitely the art style which I really liked, it's really soft, and makes both of our leads look super cute.

I loved seeing also how each of them developed individually (and obviously as a couple), they had problems they had to overcome, each with their own insecurities and problems, but together they really could overcome every hurdle.

One last thing I want to commend to this manga will go in the spoiler section:

[Spoiler Section]
One of the things that stood out to me BY FAR compared to all the other romance manga I read, is how we actually go through ALL the stages in a relationship, and don't really skip just to the key events.
For example, from getting together to living together will show us the two hunting for a place to live in, and slowly moving their stuff to their new home.
And the wedding? A full volume with preparations... I'll admit, it really diminishes from the "impact" of a wedding, but it's a weirdly nice change of pace to see all that.
Finally, when proceeding to the "kids" point, we actually see Asako going over pregnancy stages, with the various things that define pregnancy (sicknesses, weird feelings, etc.)
There's also an official side H manga from the author that's about kid-making, yea... Do check it out!
[Spoiler Section End]

I've heavily enjoyed this manga, and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a romance manga that is completed, and features a competent adult couple. 10/10

This is meant to be a gentle, heartwarming romance between a shy girl with excessive perspiration and a brilliant coworker with a smelling fetish.
They meet, get involved with each other and gradually their relationship deepens. So, where's the problem?
Well, maybe it's a good read for girls, I wouldn't know, but from a guys point of view there are several issues.
Their relationship is too perfect. Come on, it's an eternal honeymoon, not even one tiny slice of selfishness anywhere!
He is really too kind and sweet and caring; every single waking moment he is only thinking of her, how to make her happy, how to surprise her. ... I can understand people might dream of a robot lover who is absolutely selfless, but this is really ridiculous.
The MC is the worst element in the story: she is this bland girl who simply can't grow up. She catches a very desirable bachelor, but her insecurity gets in the way all the time. It may be cute at the beginning, but after several months she still blushes for EVERYTHING, is incapable of expressing her feelings and behaves like a 13yo for what concerns physical love. She is lucky enough to have a sexy partner that desires her and only her, but her only concern is to avoid essentially anything but the blandest contact, to the point of being afraid of taking a bath together, let alone DOING something in the tub instead of the bed. Seriously, at one point she even blushes and frowns, as if he's a pervert just because he wants to see her in a swimsuit she has bought for a trip! Seriously??? Moreover, considering she is well aware of his scent fetish, does she learn to use it to seduce and tease him, for mutual satisfaction? Of course not: she just keeps requesting him to suppress or limit it, because it's so embarrassing - and of course, he obliges.
I don't think there's a man anywhere that would put up with such an insecure prude, except maybe some mama's boy who's just fine with holding hands. While some insecurity may be ok in a shy girl, even she should learn to move on her own two feet, eventually. Facing an eternal child will inevitably kill love in the end, so the impossible attraction this nice young man feels for this boring and childish woman is well beyond any suspension of disbelief I can muster.

I went in with high hopes after seeing the glowing reviews but dropped it in just 6 chapters though I would’ve dropped sooner…I wanted to stick it through for a bit first.

It was a weird read. Hear me out, I love josei romances set after high school (though fem MC acts & looks like a high school girl IMO). I’m down for steamy scenes. But it was just too weird and the pacing was not great.

STORY
When I read the premise & saw the cover I thought it was going to be some fetishy smutty stuff (and from what I read it was) but ... I gave it a try, especially seeing how it was adapted into a drama, so I figured it couldn’t be that bad.

Kind of a spoiler but not really because you learn this within the first 3 chapters. The romance is QUICK and I mean quick. They sleep together and say “I love you” in the shortest time I’ve ever seen or read from manga or anime. I love a straight forward read but this was too laid out for me. I don’t think any real life couple should take things that quickly…even reading it put a weird taste in my mouth. It just didn’t feel genuine. Nor was it interesting. Theres no buildup, tension or chemistry. How can you love someone you just met just because he showed an interest on how your sweaty stinky body smells?

Female MC of course is inexperienced with love so it would explain her quickness to cling to male MC. He seems like a decent enough person but with a weird fetish.

CHARACTERS
I’ve learned nothing about them from what I’ve read just that female MC stinks and was bullied in the past because of it. I know it’s a real condition, so I didn’t really mind the implementation of it. Again, she’s very “high schooly” blushes at everything, can’t seem to express herself well, very meek etc. not typically a MC you’d see in a josei.

ART
Art is nothing special. I wasn’t crazy about the character designs and the “tiny eye” design on male MC.

Overall
Obviously I didn’t read much but I don’t think I can continue this one. I really wanted to, but I don’t see it going anywhere. From the other reviews it seems like something I’d enjoy but it didn’t even feel like it was written for the female gaze with the lack of chemistry, development (at least at the start) etc. Just a lot of nudity and smutty faces from female MC with giant boobs /shrug. Clearly this is an unpopular opinion though, so maybe it’s a worthwhile read.