When I started reading Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto desu!, I didn't have high hopes because the premise felt like the typical protagonist with a fake facade. But after a few chapters, I realized I was wrong.
The Café Liebe is actually super interesting because it sets the stage for all these different relationships, like the "sister" roles the characters take on. Even though these relationships aren't real, they hold a lot of weight. It's basically a café where they have to act, but it’s fascinating to see how they behave outside of those roles.
Then there’s Hime, who’s honestly the best character in the manga. She’s all about putting on an act and doesn’t want to work—she just wants to marry someone rich (and has never been in love). But she ends up working at Café Liebe, where she meets someone connected to a trauma from her past. Hime goes through some amazing character growth as the story progresses.
Yano is the coworker from Hime’s past, and I think she’s just as deep as Hime. Her character is well-developed, especially once you understand her feelings and her own past. The relationship between Yano and Hime is really well done, and both characters grow because of each other.
Then there's Kanoko, Hime's best friend, who’s secretly in love with her. Knowing that Hime can't love anyone back, Kanoko sticks around as her best friend anyway. But as she sees Hime changing because of Yano, she really starts to struggle with her feelings. Kanoko is a super complex character, and her thoughts and actions make her really stand out.
Sumika, who also works at the café, has a cool character arc where she goes from hating romance to loving it, which is fun to watch.
One of my main issues with the manga is that there are certain arcs where it focuses so much on specific characters that it kind of forgets about others for like 30 chapters or more. Even with that, the manga is still great.
It’s a yuri story that focuses on drama but has some really beautiful moments too. The characters are so well-written, and they feel real.