Narumi, a hardworking but plain office worker, hides a secret from her colleagues: her traumatic dating history, which has led her to take on her alter ego, the popular live streamer Minarin. Her charming coworker, Shinonome, seems like her opposite — handsome, charismatic, and admired by all - but struggles with his own insecurities. When an unexpected taxi ride forces their secrets into the open, they make a deal... to help "train” each other to overcome their touch aversion and fear of intimacy!

As Narumi begins to see Shinonome as a path toward healing, they must confront their pasts together. Can this mismatched pair help each other find solace in shared vulnerability?

On-the-Job Training has a story by and art by Isako. English translation is done by Carissa Tenorio and lettering by Vibrant Publishing Studio. Published by Tokyopop (March 3, 2026). Rated M.

Lucas DeRuyter
Rating:

I am so split on the first volume of Isako's On-the-Job Training manga! This is the exact kind of informed and honest depiction of sex and people's relationship to it that I wish was more present in media broadly. However, the relationship these characters have to their own sexuality is so far removed from my relationship with mine, that reading On-the-Job Training was a slog for me personally. That being said, I could see people who relate to the leads better than I do getting much more out of this title than I did.

Protagonist, Narumi is a thirty-year-old accountant who's deeply sexually frustrated and stifled after a series of bad relationships. Her coworker, Shinonome, is a twenty-eight-year-old rising star at their company, who's a secret gynophobe and too anxious around women to ever be in a relationship with one. When these parts of their identity are revealed to each other, as well as Narumi's secret side-hustle as a spicy livestreamer, the two enter into a relationship to help them both overcome their various sexual hangups.

With this set up, the execution is equal parts sexy, sweet, and comical. I really appreciate how readily this work jumps between the fantasy and titillation of sexual relationships and how awkward and embarrassing intimate moments have the capacity to be. In this way, On-the-Job Training shows much of the spectrum of personal and interpersonal sexuality, and I really think this work could be a catalyst for a sexually unexamined person to start exploring that part of their identity.

Unfortunately, I'm nearly too comfortable with my own sexuality, so I found the journey these characters go on to be a bit of a slog and largely unrelatable. For as much as I think these kinds of stories should be more common and characters with believable sexual hangups more visible, it wasn't exactly thrilling for me to follow characters my age learn about the kinds of sexual communication and sexual self-awareness that I've had down pat since I was, like, twenty-two. Between my own relationship with this subject matter and the opening couple of chapters having a slower pace, I find myself liking the idea of On-the-Job Training more than what's actually on the page.

This manga also glosses over some plot points and character elements that really should have been explored immediately if they were going to be introduced at all. This manga casually establishes that Narumi previously had an abusive partner, and then moves on from that information without providing any further details. While I do appreciate On-the-Job Training's casual depiction of the abuse Narumi suffered through, as that kind of trauma is far more commonplace than it should be, I feel like something that heavy deserves more time and attention in the narrative. Hopefully, future volumes will build on this element of her character, but if I'm being honest, a lot of this story is going to have to be refined and tightened up in future volumes for me to recommend this series.

All the pieces are there in Isako's On-the-Job Training to be something that's both affecting and perhaps even important amidst a resurgence of regressive social politics around sex and sexuality, but as it stands, those pieces don't fit together into a greater whole.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Creator Isako, in her afterword, says that in On-the-Job Training she was trying to write an erotic story with no sex. It's an interesting challenge, and while I'm not entirely certain that she succeeded, it does open the door to creating characters who have different relationships with sex and their own sexuality. Rin is sex averse after a string of abusive relationships, while Chiaki is sex avoidant because of performance pressure. Both of them would like to be more comfortable in the sexual realm, but neither is sure how to get there. So when Chiaki uncovers Rin's secret identity as a saucy livestreamer he's a fan of, the two decide that maybe they can make something work together.

Well, it's more like Rin decides. Of the two, she's the more comfortable one, and while she'd probably be quick to say that's because she's two years older than Chiaki, the truth is more likely to be that she's been actively taking steps towards reclaiming her pleasure and her own body for a few years. Her livestreaming persona is all about that – she takes comfort in the fact that she can display her body on her terms and that it's always her choice whether or not to comply with a viewer request. She's exerting power over her own body, whether she fully realizes that or not. Chiaki, on the other hand, seems to have been just generally avoiding contact with women outside of work. He does want to change, but he seems unsure of how to do so. Whereas Rin seems aware that other people's actions are to blame for her issues, Chiaki places the blame squarely on himself.

This all sounds much more fraught than the book actually is. Isako does a good job of keeping things fairly light; the bad things happened and are still looming over Rin and Chiaki, but what's important is where they go from here. There's plenty of humor sprinkled throughout the book (my favorite scene being when they accidentally find the company's make-out spot), and if the art can be stiff at times, it's still mostly pleasant to look at. (I think there are a few too many lines on torsos and pelvises, though…) On-the-Job Training looks like a series that uses its dark past to bring about a better future for its characters, and I think that'll be worth reading.

Bolts
Rating:

So this was actually really funny and cute, but in a sexy way. Let me explain, as office romances are starting to become a lot more common lately. The idea of people needing to present one way in a more traditional workspace, only to let off steam outside of work, feels like a pretty relatable idea. This story seems to be going with that idea to two very opposite extremes, with the male lead Shinonome being deathly terrified of women to the point where he can barely even touch them, while the other lead, Narumi, desperately wants to be touched after having a bunch of bad experiences with men. After some encounters, the two agreed to help each other get over their prospective dispositions, which means you guys are in for a very, VERY slow burn if you want to read this. Forget sex, the emotional climax of this book is a hug, and you'd better appreciate that.

And I do. This story feels very self-aware in both how ridiculous and wholesome it is. The characters even compare some of the scenes to what you would find in a more typical erotic manga. I like how Narumi is very open about the fact that she wants to feel sexual pleasure, especially with all of the work she does. I appreciate the distinction that just because she developed a sex aversion, that doesn't mean that she does not want to enjoy sex. On the opposite side of things, Shinonome is pretty innocent, but he has a lot of potential to engage in those sexual acts as he tries to get over that fear. I like the chemistry they have, and I'm glad that there is enough to carry the story for the volume, because despite the leads clearly being mature, this is not a book that you read to be titillated.

This is one of the more wholesome adult titles in this guide, but it shows that sometimes appreciating the little touches can feel just as satisfying as the balls-to-the-wall sex scenes. The art does a good job of capturing the infatuation and passion with even the simplest of touches. I believe the intimacy here, and nothing ever feels childish, despite the innocence both of them sometimes display. I want to see this relationship develop more, even if it'll take years before they take off each other's shirts.