About:
Warning:
This review will contain spoilers for the manga and anime series My Pudgy Co-worker Is a Snack. While the manga may vary slightly from all other forms of media, it may have similar story elements and could be considered spoilers.
Trigger Warning: There may be references to peer pressure, self-deprecation, and mentions of body size, as it appears in the manga.
Synopsis:
Fukuyama is an office worker. He's well-integrated into his office and well-liked by pretty much everyone. However, one coworker that Fukuyama doesn't necessarily perfectly work with is Takahashi. Takahashi is a bit of an enigma, aloof and standoffish, entirely counter to the kind of person Fukuyama is. After hearing Takahashi harshly correct a subordinate, Fukuyama inadvertently speaks his mind, sharing his recommendations on how Takahashi could be a better superior. Expecting his opinions to be taken poorly, Fukuyama is shocked when Takahashi takes it in stride – surprised but not upset.
Fukuyama never expected this side of Takahashi, and he finds it very cute, but now he wants nothing more than to see more sides of the reserved Takahashi. He finally gets his chance while drinking with him and another coworker. As it turns out, Takahashi is a lightweight, and by the time they're ready to leave, it's too late to catch a train. So the two head to a love hotel. Fukuyama has every intention of just going to sleep, but then Takahashi makes a demand:
Make love to me.
Review:
The art in this is pretty adorable. It's not perfect. I find the ears, in particular, odd in how far they come off the characters' heads, but it's otherwise very cute. This is a very soft and fluffy story, and the art fits that content perfectly. It's soft, fluffy, and just precious. There is smut here, and because of the soft art style, it comes off equally as sweet. It's all just a big fluff-fest, and I love that. It's a really nice change of pace from the darker series I've been reading recently.
Beyond the art, one of the best parts about this is that our top Fukuyama is fat. But not only is he fat, he's fat and popular. I find that even if we do get fat guy representation, the focus is often on him not fitting in or being bullied for his size, but that is not the case here, and that is a breath of fresh air. Fat is not a bad word, and I love that Fukuyama really owns his size and that our bottom Takahashi loves him for it. That's not to say there aren't comments about him being bigger, referencing that he is popular despite his size, that he doesn't have a girlfriend, possibly due to his size, and that he might be insecure about his size sometimes. Still, it's a very lighthearted view compared to the often crueler and dark depictions.
There is a section where he begins to lose weight, though the intention is that he assumes that is what he needs to do to impress Takahashi. Thankfully, Takahashi makes it clear that he likes Fukuyama no matter his size, and Fukuyama decides he won't actively try to lose weight anymore. I like that Takahashi neither encourages him to lose weight nor gain it back, though we do get insight into his thoughts where he thinks about how much he loves fat Fukuyama. I did worry how heavily it would lean into Takahashi being exclusively attracted to Fukuyama being fat, rather than actually being attracted to Fukuyama himself, but there are many times where Takahashi comments on how cool and nice Fukuyama is, clearly indicating he loves Fukuyama for who he is and him being fat is just a plus, which was a huge relief. He truly is a snack and a green flag on top of that. I wish this had been longer because I could watch Fukuyama seduce Takahashi forever.
When a review is overall positive, I try to share something negative to balance it out. Similarly, I try to give something positive if it's overall negative. This is definitely a positive review, so I'm trying to come up with something particularly negative, but it's challenging because I enjoyed it so much. If I had to say anything, I guess the length would be it. This is about the size of a single-volume manga, so it's very short. However, even considering that, the story is very well-contained and has decent pacing. It isn't the deepest story in the world, of course, but it sets out to show a fluffy romance and does just that without too much fuss, and it's in that simplicity that this is so successful. I couldn't ask for more (but I will because I'm greedy, haha).
Results:
I adore this title. I love that we get some fat top representation here, and it's not because he's fat that he makes a great top. He's kind and considerate, charismatic in general, and a handsome guy. But he's also a sexual beast, dominating the bedroom. Takahashi loves him, I love him, and I love them together. I highly recommend this fluffy, smutty title.
Have you read My Pudgy Co-worker Is a Snack? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!