A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace

Episode 6

You can't get more obvious yuri undertones than literally having a workplace situation be compared to having an affair. That was probably one of my favorite running jokes throughout the episode because you can read it as how important the bond between Nana and Kaede is to each other. However, Kaede's reaction at the end of the episode also leaves room for you to interpret it romantically, even if it is played up for comedy. I'm neither here nor there about the situation because I like seeing these characters bounce off each other as these episodes still continue to give insight into the anxiety and overthinking thought process of a creator.

It's fairly common for writers or creators to be sought out by other publishers, and it's also not uncommon for those publishers to sometimes be very aggressive in their pursuits. As long as they don't get a flat-out no, they think they have room to intervene, which is why it was a very interesting hurdle for Nana to confront, considering how much of a pushover she can be at times. I like that this episode is a little bit of a bait and switch, setting up a scenario with Nana and another editor, only to arguably be more about Kaede, as this new editor has a lot of history with her. I can't relate to this specific scenario, but I know a lot of people who could. There are a lot of friends and coworkers out there who will very much try to mirror your success by copying almost everything you do, and I feel Kaede's frustration when realizing that this just seems to be another one of those situations. It's also nice to get more emotion from Kaede since before this point, she has mostly been stoic, even during some of the emotional moments.

I'm a little mixed on the message of this episode because the show seems to be pushing that it was a good idea for Kaede to let her personal feelings get in the way and declare that she doesn't want Nana to work with anybody else but her. I understand where she's coming from. These two do work best together, especially when it's established that Nana wouldn't have been able to get her series off the ground in the first place if Kaede didn't have faith in her. However, professionally, it feels a bit weird to say you shouldn't work with other people. The episode did clarify that it was never really going to be an option, especially when Nana can barely keep one series going, and maybe the point is that Kaede is acting unprofessional by letting her feelings take over. But this was something that she was encouraged to do, so it feels like the show encouraged it as the right thing.

Maybe if the episode made it more about merging those complicated feelings with the other extenuating circumstances, or if those personal feelings came out after Nana already made it known that she was not going to work with another magazine, then that could've been better. But considering that was the first thing brought up during the serious talk at the end of the episode, it leaves me feeling a little bit put off because that just felt very unrealistic. This isn't the strongest episode so far thematically, but it's still filled with some funny moments and solid character interactions.

PS, I love how Arisa is just here and barely contributing anything outside of giving occasional drunk rant in the middle of the afternoon. This woman is my favorite type of train wreck.

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A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.