Have you ever heard the expression “don’t sweat the small stuff”? Well, for Asako Yaeshima, she doesn’t have a choice. Since she was a little girl, Asako has had a problem with excessive perspiration, sweating far more than the average person, which naturally causes body odor. Sadly, this caused her to be teased relentlessly in school, leading to a complex that has followed her into adulthood and into her current job in the financing department of Liliadrop, a company that produces fragrant soaps and deodorants, which she loves and adores. Asako is so self-conscious about her sweaty situation that she often takes breaks to wipe down and reapply deodorants to keep the moisture and odor at bay.

While admiring the new soap offerings, Kotaro Natori, the popular lead product developer for the company, catches a whiff of Asako and decides to violate SO MANY HR POLICIES and hauls her away to snuffle her seductive scent. Kotaro has the nose (and personality) of a Golden Retriever and can identify all the fragrance-free deodorants and wipes she uses. However, even with his blessed nose and seemingly endless creativity, he is having trouble creating a fragrance for their new product line and wants to smell Asako’s natural aroma for a week to gain inspiration. While Asako is understandably perturbed at first by the idea of some random guy smelling her, she allows this for the good of the company, and the two begin their olfactory arrangement. As the week progresses, their attraction to each other intensifies until, ultimately, after a night of sweaty passion, they decide to make things official and become a couple, keeping their relationship a secret to avoid any awkwardness at the office. And so, the story goes, with Kotaro’s puppy dog nose and nature slowly but steadily bringing the sheepishly shy Asako out of her shell. Cue the Shenanigans!

And here I thought Mysterious Girlfriend X had a weird premise…well, I mean, it DOES have a weird premise, but I digress. This is like MGX for grown-ups…with less saliva swapping…sorta. While I do enjoy stories like Horimiya, Insomniacs After School, Yamada-Kun and the Seven Witches, and especially The Dangers in My Heart, I have come to appreciate stories that center around more adult couples, especially now that I am officially middle-aged. Sometimes, dealing with all the angst and hormones of the teenage years can get exhausting. Like, do we REALLY need to have an entire volume devoted to a misunderstanding that could be resolved with a simple conversation? We don’t need several chapters with our male protagonist wondering what he did to warrant the female protagonist to be so mad at him when he was JUST talking to his bubbly female underclassman (Who TOTALLY has a crush on him). Sweat and Soap thankfully does not strictly rely on those tropes, and when it does, our characters handle things with a mature approach while still being two goofy dorks in love. Asako and Kotaro have one of those relationships that everyone should aspire to—an open, caring union where communication reigns supreme, boundaries and rules are respected, and if someone is hurting, they comfort each other while giving them the appropriate space to work things out. 

Oh, and they have a very active and healthy sex life. That’s a different kind of comfort with not much space.

While it doesn’t get explicit (the manga is rated for 16+), there is not much left to the imagination as to what goes on between the sheets with these two. I’m not sure what the Japanese equivalent of Barry White or Marvin Gaye is, but it’s no doubt on one of their Playlists. But thankfully, this is an example of a healthy intimate relationship. They’re not going at it every single page, and it’s not the only thing that defines their relationship. You get the idea that these two fully support each other. Yes, the sex is fantastic, but the connection Asako and Kotaro have is much deeper. That connection is thoroughly tested in Chapters 9 and 10, when our pair confronts some of the old demons from Asako’s past.

Outside of the typical romcom aspects, Sweat and Soap touches on the subject of bullying and how the scars of that can still linger well into adulthood. After an encounter with a former classmate who relentlessly teased her in school over her sweaty situation and even used her old horrible nickname “A-stinko”, Asako spirals into a state of darkness and withdraws from everyone, including Kotaro, not wanting to bother anyone with her problem. Only when he confronts her directly does she finally admit what’s going on and how she feels. Of course, being the eternal optimist he is, Kotaro reassures her that, regardless of her condition, he still loves her and it’s okay to lean on others if she’s hurting or in trouble. 

Having been bullied in school for many years, I can personally attest that sometimes those wounds don’t heal all the way, or heal the way they should. Even though some people will come back and say “Oh, well that was WAY in school! You’re grown now! You should’ve outgrown that”, try being on the other end of it. Try being harassed and heckled for having no sports prowess, having a rolling backpack, having a slightly higher voice than most boys, watching anime, hanging out at the library, or having the nerve, gall, and audacity to speak proper English. It can absolutely destroy you self-confidence, and some of those things don’t just go away with time, I’m here to tell you, and we all, in those situations, could use someone to be there for us, to stand in the gap, as it were, when the issues of the outside world come crashing around us. Even as adults, bullying can still be a big problem and can cause people to enter into really dark places. Lord knows I’ve been there, and trust me, having someone standing in the gap for you is worth more than gold. Seeing Asako spiral back into despair as she questions everything, including her relationship with Kotaro, was painful, but watching how Kotaro comes in, listens to her, and reaffirms the safe space with her is so profoundly comforting. 

If I were to find any faults with Sweat and Soap, it’s that the ending, while well done, feels a little rushed. Click the link below to reveal the rest, but be warned that there are spoilers!

But all that said, the ending we did get was sweet, and the epilogue acts as a very nice point to leave this lovely little couple. As with any good slice-of-life story, the ending reflects the idea that our characters are continuing with their lives outside of our view, and that’s what goes on here. It’s a testament to the quality of this series that the only complaint I have is that I wish there were more of it. 

So, where does that leave us with Sweat and Soap? If you’re getting tired of the same old teenage romance stories that are a dime a dozen these days, and looking for a more mature yet sweet tale, then you owe it to yourself to check this manga out. While the story is a little unusual, the relatable characters, excellent illustrations, and prodigiously satisfying (if not slightly rushed) ending make this a must-have addition to any manga shelf. Sweat and Soap is a mature yet light-hearted look at love in the workplace under the most unusual of circumstances, and proves that sometimes, to make a relationship work, it takes blood, sweat, and tears…pun totally intended.

(Sweat and Soap is created by Kintetsu Yamada and is available for digital purchase on Kodansha.)