Romance series can be notorious for their sluggish pacing, and taking forever to get the main couple together. But often, a slow-burn romance arc isn't a cynical way to squeeze money out of the franchise, but necessary to develop a relationship organically. Mr Right Turned Out To Be A Younger Woman (aka The Marriage Partner of My Dreams Turned Out To Be… My Female Junior at Work?!) does many things well, but pacing isn't one of them.
The story is about Haruki Shiina waking up with a hangover after someone took her home. That "someone" is not her male coworker Okada, but Risa Takagai, a younger female coworker Haruki thought didn't like her. Despite her desperation to get married, Haruki starts falling for Risa.
Haruki is probably the best character, which admittedly isn't saying much. At 33, she's older than most leads in Office Romance stories, and has all the age-related angst that comes with it. Her insecurity is relatable, as younger women get married and Risa seems to be surpassing her at her job. She makes some bad decisions due to her inner turmoil, but they're believable.
Risa is decent. She shows that she's always respected and cared for Haruki despite not being afraid to criticize her, and has good chemistry with her. It's revealed that Risa had a girlfriend in the past, but the plot hardly goes anywhere. This, combined with the fact that we don't know much about Risa's past, shows she wasn't used to her full potential.
Most of the other characters have limited importance to the plot, only appearing in a scene or two. This isn't a bad thing, as it keeps the focus on the leads, but it might have been nice to see more of some of the characters connected to the leads (again, Risa's ex).
The main problem with the plot is the pacing, since there's only six 27-page chapters in the series. While this cuts down on the amount of time the leads spend angsting or engaging in Will They or Won't They?, it also precludes the benefits of a slow-burn romance or a gradual transition from coworkers to friends to a couple. Considering that Risa has a Sugar-and-Ice Personality and Haruki's hesitant to get into a relationship with a woman, it might have made more sense to have a more gradual romance arc.
It doesn't help that like in many romance stories, the story concludes after the main conflict is resolved and Risa and Haruki become a couple, meaning that it's all about the couple getting together and not at all about them being together. (This isn't much of a spoiler, since under the nature of the story, them breaking up could only be a contrived Cruel Twist Ending) That said, the ending does include a nice bit of realism about Japan's attitude toward same-sex marriage, so in the end, I have mixed feelings about it.
In the end, the series does some things differently from other romance manga, and often very well, but is held back by its short length and quick pacing, so I'd recommend renting it, rather than buying it.
Manga Rent, don't buy
Romance series can be notorious for their sluggish pacing, and taking forever to get the main couple together. But often, a slow-burn romance arc isn't a cynical way to squeeze money out of the franchise, but necessary to develop a relationship organically. Mr Right Turned Out To Be A Younger Woman (aka The Marriage Partner of My Dreams Turned Out To Be… My Female Junior at Work?!) does many things well, but pacing isn't one of them.
The story is about Haruki Shiina waking up with a hangover after someone took her home. That "someone" is not her male coworker Okada, but Risa Takagai, a younger female coworker Haruki thought didn't like her. Despite her desperation to get married, Haruki starts falling for Risa.
Haruki is probably the best character, which admittedly isn't saying much. At 33, she's older than most leads in Office Romance stories, and has all the age-related angst that comes with it. Her insecurity is relatable, as younger women get married and Risa seems to be surpassing her at her job. She makes some bad decisions due to her inner turmoil, but they're believable.
Risa is decent. She shows that she's always respected and cared for Haruki despite not being afraid to criticize her, and has good chemistry with her. It's revealed that Risa had a girlfriend in the past, but the plot hardly goes anywhere. This, combined with the fact that we don't know much about Risa's past, shows she wasn't used to her full potential.
Most of the other characters have limited importance to the plot, only appearing in a scene or two. This isn't a bad thing, as it keeps the focus on the leads, but it might have been nice to see more of some of the characters connected to the leads (again, Risa's ex).
The main problem with the plot is the pacing, since there's only six 27-page chapters in the series. While this cuts down on the amount of time the leads spend angsting or engaging in Will They or Won't They?, it also precludes the benefits of a slow-burn romance or a gradual transition from coworkers to friends to a couple. Considering that Risa has a Sugar-and-Ice Personality and Haruki's hesitant to get into a relationship with a woman, it might have made more sense to have a more gradual romance arc.
It doesn't help that like in many romance stories, the story concludes after the main conflict is resolved and Risa and Haruki become a couple, meaning that it's all about the couple getting together and not at all about them being together. (This isn't much of a spoiler, since under the nature of the story, them breaking up could only be a contrived Cruel Twist Ending) That said, the ending does include a nice bit of realism about Japan's attitude toward same-sex marriage, so in the end, I have mixed feelings about it.
In the end, the series does some things differently from other romance manga, and often very well, but is held back by its short length and quick pacing, so I'd recommend renting it, rather than buying it.