By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

While at AX I received a number of samplers for upcoming releases of various titles. Particularly previews for new distributors Orange Inc.’s Emaqi brand that is launching soon (if not already by the time this is posted). One of the titles I from their list of upcoming works that I liked the most is the Tokyo Camouflage Hour by Chiaki Matsumoto. This title, from what I have been able to find online, is a slice of life collection of comedic stories of various adults living in Tokyo who are torn between daily rationality and routine and their desires for something more or fantastical. How true that will be once more chapters are present is yet to be known though.

Still, the first chapter(s) give a 20 page preview of this title does seem to confirm the idea. In it, we see a relationship between two characters as they wake up to a pretty mundane morning of the boyfriend lazing about on the weekend, and his girlfriend wanting to go do something. The second story shows two friends out to lunching having a pretty down-to-earth conversation about relationships and what someone wants when they aren’t really ready for it, reminiscent of a few conversations I’ve had with my own friends too.

The series is, in all, appearing to be very self aware and as a new-to-30 adult, I truly appreciated seeing both of these shorts in the series. They are snippets of true to life situations and I like seeing both sides of the conversation. The side of the boyfriend who wants to lazy and isn’t thinking of doing anything, the side of the girlfriend who wants to go out and have fun but isn’t saying anything, the side of the friend calling out the other on their BS, and the side of the friend accepting that what their friend said is true and that they should probably take the advice and grow a bit before doing something like ask a girl out when they’re not really interested in putting in the work for that relationship yet.

I think that this title is probably a slice of life josei, and will likely be a huge hit for young adults. It certainly feels more relatable than the string of high school romances I saw previewed this session and it’s a short read without a lot of necessary build up or context that some other series are likely to need/have.

So, if you like romance and are ready for some slice-of-adult-life readings, I highly recommend this title!