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Sweat and Soap #8
あせとせっけん 8 [Ase to sekken 8]
In an office romance, there’s a fine line between sexy and awkward… and that line is where Asako — a woman who sweats copiusly — met Koutarou — a perfume developer who can’t get enough of Asako’s, er, scent. Don’t miss a romcom manga like no other!
Asako’s living her dream, working at the toiletry maker Lilia Drop. Little do her coworkers know, the reason she loves the company so much is that she’s ashamed of her body odor, and their soap is the only thing that does the trick. So when the company’s lead product developer, a perfuming genius, approaches her in the lobby and wonders what “that smell” is, she’s terrified… but could it be… that he likes it? And, even more surprising to Asako… does she like him?
The hilarious ups and downs of an office romance at a personal care products company are the subject of this sexy, strange romp. Sweat and Soap combines the odd-couple chemistry of Wotakoi, the “too real!” workplace comedy of Aggretsuko, and a heavy dollop of office steaminess!
Asako’s living her dream, working at the toiletry maker Lilia Drop. Little do her coworkers know, the reason she loves the company so much is that she’s ashamed of her body odor, and their soap is the only thing that does the trick. So when the company’s lead product developer, a perfuming genius, approaches her in the lobby and wonders what “that smell” is, she’s terrified… but could it be… that he likes it? And, even more surprising to Asako… does she like him?
The hilarious ups and downs of an office romance at a personal care products company are the subject of this sexy, strange romp. Sweat and Soap combines the odd-couple chemistry of Wotakoi, the “too real!” workplace comedy of Aggretsuko, and a heavy dollop of office steaminess!
192 pages, Paperback
First published July 20, 2020
58 people are currently reading
642 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews
November 13, 2021
Asako and Koutarou invented love actually
September 21, 2023
These two are love incarnate. I just don’t know how we could get anything more pure. And it’s realistic! They’re not perfect and they have to talk their way through a lot of things but the passion for one another, the care, the romance, it’s all so undeniable. I’m so sad that I’m getting closer to the end.
November 12, 2021
Still good, but I didn't love the beach or diet chapters.
January 4, 2022
This is probably going to be my lowest rated volume of this series. The character growth was still awesome and the mention of the next step this couple is hoping to take was great (there’s a particular scene that had me going “aw!”).
The reason why I’m lowering the rating for this volume is because of the chapter about her going on a quick diet because they’re heading to the beach. I get that some people strive to be healthy and I think it’s great to be mindful of your health. What I don’t think is okay is the fact that this woman, because she’s been enjoying food with her boyfriend and his family, thinks she’s unhealthy because she’s unable to zip her skirt up. Bodies change and if you’re uncomfortable with it, that’s fine, you can definitely move to change that, but like…just the way it was presented didn’t sit well with me.
I get that the beauty standards are different, and I appreciate that even on the websites she looked up there was mention of not starving yourself. Her partner tells her that she’s not even overweight and that also didn’t fully sit well with me, either. I get that this could be one of those “we change when we live with someone we love”things, but it was so random and kind of out of character for her? I just didn’t like it at all and it kind of disillusioned me a bit about this series.
Will I keep reading? Of course! I love these characters and how much they’ve grown, but I just really, really hated that. Especially as someone who’s had a complicated relationship with my body throughout my whole life. It wasn’t mentioned again after that chapter and she doesn’t comment on her brief diet. It just felt so toxic.
Anyway, that’s my rant.
Happy reading!
The reason why I’m lowering the rating for this volume is because of the chapter about her going on a quick diet because they’re heading to the beach. I get that some people strive to be healthy and I think it’s great to be mindful of your health. What I don’t think is okay is the fact that this woman, because she’s been enjoying food with her boyfriend and his family, thinks she’s unhealthy because she’s unable to zip her skirt up. Bodies change and if you’re uncomfortable with it, that’s fine, you can definitely move to change that, but like…just the way it was presented didn’t sit well with me.
I get that the beauty standards are different, and I appreciate that even on the websites she looked up there was mention of not starving yourself. Her partner tells her that she’s not even overweight and that also didn’t fully sit well with me, either. I get that this could be one of those “we change when we live with someone we love”things, but it was so random and kind of out of character for her? I just didn’t like it at all and it kind of disillusioned me a bit about this series.
Will I keep reading? Of course! I love these characters and how much they’ve grown, but I just really, really hated that. Especially as someone who’s had a complicated relationship with my body throughout my whole life. It wasn’t mentioned again after that chapter and she doesn’t comment on her brief diet. It just felt so toxic.
Anyway, that’s my rant.
Happy reading!
March 1, 2022
Could’ve done without the weight loss storyline but the vacation was cute.
January 20, 2022
Volume 1 ★★★★★
Volume 2 ★★★★★
Volume 3 ★★★★★
Volume 4 ★★★★★
Volume 5 ★★★★★
Volume 6 ★★★★★
Volume 7 ★★★★★
Volume 8 ★★★★★
Volume 9 ★★★★★
Volume 10 ★★★★★
Volume 11 ★★★★★
I could've done without the weight loss storyline, but I did like how it segued into Asako's confidence being boosted — but more importantly, the baby fever at the end was so precious, I can't 🥺
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February 2, 2023
Although I can see what the author was trying to say, I didn't appreciate how asako was depicted. Nevertheless, I still consider this series to be one of my favourites.
December 3, 2022
The relationship continues apace as the couple gets used to living together and becomes more comfortable announcing their relationship to coworkers. A company sponsored vacation trip to Okinawa gives an excuse for business colleagues to play beach volleyball and show off their swimsuits. And of course, all that heat and exertion is going to bring on the sweat . . .
I always wonder if the kink to which the creator is pandering is the sweat itself or the main character's squirming embarrassment about her sweat? Or, since people come in all types, I suppose he's hitting both in some sort of Venn diagram overlap.
I always wonder if the kink to which the creator is pandering is the sweat itself or the main character's squirming embarrassment about her sweat? Or, since people come in all types, I suppose he's hitting both in some sort of Venn diagram overlap.
August 10, 2022
Love these weirdos 🥹
April 13, 2023
Omg the ending sooo cute!! I love this relationship and it made me equally as happy for them to visualize a future with a family!
April 26, 2023
3.5 weight loss chapter felt a little not good and the obligatory sports chapter was just about as exciting as every other obligatory sports chapter
March 2, 2023
02/03/2023
4 ⭐️
Absolutely could’ve done without everyone talking about her boobs and the diet chapter, but otherwise this was a great volume!
01/12/2021
4 ⭐
One of my favourite volumes, I love these two so much!
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4 ⭐️
Absolutely could’ve done without everyone talking about her boobs and the diet chapter, but otherwise this was a great volume!
01/12/2021
4 ⭐
One of my favourite volumes, I love these two so much!
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August 31, 2021not to make an educated guess, but pretty sure you can stamp this as the point where yamada went ‘yeah, i have to make a doujin of my own stuff’ and that’s how we got the r-18 baby making book. anyway as always, 🥺
September 21, 2021
Another excellent volume getting to chill out on the beach on a vacation with coworkers. Some really cute moments like our main leads thinking about kids. And a build up towards...maybe marriage? Yes please.
September 3, 2021
Life’s a beach, or it is this time around anyway. Once their anniversary is out of the way, the company retreat brings Asako and Kotaro together under the gaze of their coworkers. And as things move forward, the old parental urge is starting to bubble up.
Ah, reading a volume of this book is just the nicest feeling and we dial back on the drama for some good old fun, both sexy and not as much. It intermingles with some excellent growth and makes for a (mostly) great read. It can’t be overemphasized how consistently good this manga has been.
Asako is the star here, unquestionably, as she really shows how far she’s come with her confidence and the ways in which she has benefited from Kotaro’s support. She shoots down somebody hitting on her by herself this time out and it’s a real moment for her.
First she has to make it through a mountain she makes out of a molehill, of course, but naturally it is a way smaller deal to Kotaro and leads to a very cute and natural moment later - these two are perfectly believable as a couple and it’s part of this series’ strength.
And the sex comes back! Repeatedly! After a couple dryer volumes we get a reminder of how thirsty our leads are for each other. I have always appreciated the way Sweat & Soap mixes acceptance, light fetishism, and mutual respect into its steamier bits and that hasn’t changed here.
Before the beach, however, which brings back a ton of fun side characters (and also proves my guiding manga maxim that every mangaka can devise a way to put a book’s cast in swimsuits at any time in any genre if they choose), we have to deal with an ‘oh no I have gained weight’ storyline.
I have complicated feelings about this as somebody who thinks people need to be happy in their bodies and is also a long-distance runner, but also doesn’t like undue pressure people put on themselves to conform to an ideal.
Still, I think the story handles it very well - Asako does her research, doesn’t just cut food out, lets Kotaro know what she’s doing so she doesn’t drive him nuts, and enlists his support, which he is all too willing to give. The running section in particular gives another look at how Asako has changed and it’s a real earned moment.
Honestly I am way more critical of the last sections where they start lightly daydreaming about what a family might look like. I have a lot of complicated thoughts on this, but let me just say that I don’t love going in on the ‘having kids is the traditional endpoint for a relationship’. This is definitely neither the first nor last book to do this, but it certainly rankled me a bit because everything else it does is so, so well done.
4.5 stars - not quite as intense as previous volumes and for as much as I love how strong Asako is getting, there are a couple of parts here that don’t fully work for me. Adjust rating based on your own tastes, but, yes, these two are still the best manga couple ever.
Ah, reading a volume of this book is just the nicest feeling and we dial back on the drama for some good old fun, both sexy and not as much. It intermingles with some excellent growth and makes for a (mostly) great read. It can’t be overemphasized how consistently good this manga has been.
Asako is the star here, unquestionably, as she really shows how far she’s come with her confidence and the ways in which she has benefited from Kotaro’s support. She shoots down somebody hitting on her by herself this time out and it’s a real moment for her.
First she has to make it through a mountain she makes out of a molehill, of course, but naturally it is a way smaller deal to Kotaro and leads to a very cute and natural moment later - these two are perfectly believable as a couple and it’s part of this series’ strength.
And the sex comes back! Repeatedly! After a couple dryer volumes we get a reminder of how thirsty our leads are for each other. I have always appreciated the way Sweat & Soap mixes acceptance, light fetishism, and mutual respect into its steamier bits and that hasn’t changed here.
Before the beach, however, which brings back a ton of fun side characters (and also proves my guiding manga maxim that every mangaka can devise a way to put a book’s cast in swimsuits at any time in any genre if they choose), we have to deal with an ‘oh no I have gained weight’ storyline.
I have complicated feelings about this as somebody who thinks people need to be happy in their bodies and is also a long-distance runner, but also doesn’t like undue pressure people put on themselves to conform to an ideal.
Still, I think the story handles it very well - Asako does her research, doesn’t just cut food out, lets Kotaro know what she’s doing so she doesn’t drive him nuts, and enlists his support, which he is all too willing to give. The running section in particular gives another look at how Asako has changed and it’s a real earned moment.
Honestly I am way more critical of the last sections where they start lightly daydreaming about what a family might look like. I have a lot of complicated thoughts on this, but let me just say that I don’t love going in on the ‘having kids is the traditional endpoint for a relationship’. This is definitely neither the first nor last book to do this, but it certainly rankled me a bit because everything else it does is so, so well done.
4.5 stars - not quite as intense as previous volumes and for as much as I love how strong Asako is getting, there are a couple of parts here that don’t fully work for me. Adjust rating based on your own tastes, but, yes, these two are still the best manga couple ever.
April 26, 2023
3.5
Hated the weight loss chapter! And sports is boring. Ew icky sport sport ew
Hated the weight loss chapter! And sports is boring. Ew icky sport sport ew
February 6, 2022
The one-year anniversary date, an office beach trip, and is Asako developing a new smell? So many great moments! Asako starts an exercise regime and insists Kotaro doesn't smell her for one week---his face! I died! As always, I enjoyed this installment. I'm not sure I'm capable of reading this critically. I just love these two so much!
December 30, 2023
Fatal tota la trama de la dieta, completament innecessària, i força problemàtic que encara es mig amaguin coses malgrat viure junts. La relació continua avançant sent farragosos com ells sols i poc honestos l'un amb l'altre, cosa que em mosqueja moltíssim.
July 20, 2024
Another great volume in this series! Kotaro and Asako are lovely 💖
I’m happy to see both Kotaro and Asako further contemplate and imagine their future together 🥺 I gotta say I’m a total sucker for their imagined visions of each other as parents! Absolutely melted my heart. So sweet!
I’m also glad we finally got to see Asako’s reaction to the soap Kotaro made just for her 💖 That was another sweet moment.
If I’m honest, the main reason this didn’t get a higher rating was because Asako did get a little bit on my nerves. There was this little interaction where she thinks to herself, “Will it be weird if I sleep without a bra?” And I’m like GIRL. You are LIVING with this man, and his hands have been all over those titties. He won’t give a shit 😂 And it does annoy me a little the part where she needs to work out to lose a couple pounds, and she’s all like, “You can’t smell me for this whole week!” And I’m like girl 😭 we’ve established that Kotaro has never ONCE thought you stink. Just let him sniff you 😭
Anyway. At the end of the day, they’re both cute and I love their dynamic. I’m just a nitpicky bitch 😅
I’m happy to see both Kotaro and Asako further contemplate and imagine their future together 🥺 I gotta say I’m a total sucker for their imagined visions of each other as parents! Absolutely melted my heart. So sweet!
I’m also glad we finally got to see Asako’s reaction to the soap Kotaro made just for her 💖 That was another sweet moment.
If I’m honest, the main reason this didn’t get a higher rating was because Asako did get a little bit on my nerves. There was this little interaction where she thinks to herself, “Will it be weird if I sleep without a bra?” And I’m like GIRL. You are LIVING with this man, and his hands have been all over those titties. He won’t give a shit 😂 And it does annoy me a little the part where she needs to work out to lose a couple pounds, and she’s all like, “You can’t smell me for this whole week!” And I’m like girl 😭 we’ve established that Kotaro has never ONCE thought you stink. Just let him sniff you 😭
Anyway. At the end of the day, they’re both cute and I love their dynamic. I’m just a nitpicky bitch 😅
February 1, 2022
Seit Band 1 ist mittlerweile ein ganzes Jahr vergangen und Ereignisse beginnen sich zu wiederholen, so z.B. der Firmenausflug. Asako und Kotaro sind im Laufe dieses Jahres näher zusammengewachsen, haben sich aber auch jeder für sich weiterentwickelt. Die Beziehung der beiden ist so liebevoll erzählt. Ich genieße es sehr, diese Geschichte zu lesen!
Nur noch drei Bände bis zum Ende der Reihe. Einerseits ist das schade, andererseits passt es zum Erzähltempo und ich finde es gut, dass die Story nicht unnötig ausgereizt wird.
Nur noch drei Bände bis zum Ende der Reihe. Einerseits ist das schade, andererseits passt es zum Erzähltempo und ich finde es gut, dass die Story nicht unnötig ausgereizt wird.
April 24, 2023
4.5 stars
This was so cute and I loved the work trip humor. The dynamics of the friend groups coming together for the beach volleyball was superb. I loved how we came back full circle a year after the last work trip. Seeing how much Natori and Asako have grown was so precious. This was just so much fun!
This was so cute and I loved the work trip humor. The dynamics of the friend groups coming together for the beach volleyball was superb. I loved how we came back full circle a year after the last work trip. Seeing how much Natori and Asako have grown was so precious. This was just so much fun!
August 15, 2024
A fluffy summer volume, where Asako and Natori go to Okinawa with their company and their colleagues start to find out about the relationship one by one.
Also,they celebrate their one year anniversary since they started dating and they start having discussions about a future that involves children.
Also,they celebrate their one year anniversary since they started dating and they start having discussions about a future that involves children.
March 23, 2025
Асако і Котаро разом вже рік і нарешті спромоглися розповісти про свої стосунки колегам. В цій частині вони їдуть на пляжний корпоратив і мені як не-японській читачці було дуже цікаво спостерігати за динамікою особистих та робочих стосунків в формальному та неформальному контексті. Ця манґа розкриває для мене особливості японської культури, про які я не знала і не задумувалася раніше.
November 1, 2021
It’s been a joy to watch this couple’s relationship blossom. They’re patient, ‘give and take’, and are coming into a place of comfort with one another, mimicking all the usual uncertainties a real couple faces. Such a great read, I can’t stop devouring this series!
June 7, 2022
Continues to be cute and sweet. There's another summer company trip and Asako is growing in confidence in this one. There's also the big children question at the end.
I love this series so much, it has such a great cast and the relationships are all done so well!
I love this series so much, it has such a great cast and the relationships are all done so well!
August 31, 2021
I love this manga. It's so cute and fun. One of the best romance manga I have ever read.
September 1, 2021
I’d die for these two😭💖💖💖
October 6, 2021
3.75 stars
May 30, 2022
I seriously need them to make this series into an anime. It’s so good
Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews