About:
Warning:
This review will contain spoilers for the manga and anime series Reward Me with Your Body, Sir. 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 unwanted sexual advances, sex workers, sex work, relationships between boss and subordinate, and overwork, as it appears in the manga.
Synopsis:
Ookami is doing his best to please his clients, but his secretaries are making it difficult. They are often incompetent at best and unreliable at worst, making Ookami's working life impossible. He is desperate for a solution and willing to hire anyone just so long as they don't get in his way. As a result, Ookami looks to… an unconventional source. He checks out an app to rent a boyfriend.
There is a seemingly neverending supply of potential boyfriends, which means an unending supply of potential secretaries. At a cursory glance, Ookami lands on Mao. He's beautiful, and, for no reason in particular, he is Ookami's first choice. When they meet in person, it starts out more awkward than he would like. Mao immediately tries to jump Ookami's bones, which almost puts Ookami off this plan altogether. But once Ookami sees Mao all cleaned up and in action, he knows he made the right choice.
That is until Mao asks for a reward afterward.
Review:
The art on the cover is stunning. It's so smooth and open. Each character is very distinct, with unique characteristics that go beyond hair and eye color. That initially drew me to this (though the title helps). However, it's less smooth, consistent, and distinct within the series. Our two main characters look very similar, and the style is very old-fashioned. It feels much older than 2021 when this was first published. It's a bit of a disappointment, especially when compared to the characters on the cover. They just don't reflect what is within the manga itself.
Something that bothers me more than the art is the inconsistency in spelling. I will assume our main man's name is Ookami, just based on the description of the series on Renta!, but within the work, it flips between Oogami and Ookami (at least in Renta!‘s version). One time would be fine, but it happens multiple times throughout the story, which is unfortunate. It just brings down the quality of the series, making it hard to write a review because I'm constantly questioning if I'm getting the names right, which is a problem specific to me, but here we are.
The story, though, is pretty fun. I like the idea of a guy being so desperate for a secretary that he rents a boyfriend, and then the rented boyfriend tries everything he can to seduce his new employer. It's an interesting angle on the sex worker and his customer plotline. Seeing Mao slowly but surely break down Ookami's professional exterior to get to the softer, more vulnerable person underneath is fun. However, the story is so short that it's hard to really see who Ookami is beyond his professional persona. We get hints of it throughout, such as seeing how he had been sexually harassed in the past and how that made him uncomfortable with interpersonal relationships, but it's all very brief. I am totally cool with smut over substance, but when substance is attempted that falls a bit short, paired alongside sparse smut, it all just feels a bit lacking.
Something that really bothered me, though, is one of the clients. A woman comes in and spends hours upon hours going back and forth with Ookami about how to proceed with a vague project or contract. Desperate for a resolution, she invites Mao to take a look and give his opinion on the issue. She ends up liking his suggestion and wants to proceed with it. Cool, all good. Well, then she comes back and Mao has left the company. She ends up demanding they start over completely because she doesn't want to go through with the project without Mao, even though Mao would have nothing to do with the project beyond being a secretary. It's so over the top and dramatic that I honestly laughed when it happened. No one will start over on a project because a secretary left the company. I know the intent is to show just how much Ookami needs Mao in his professional and personal life, but there must be a more realistic way to show that. It made an already hollow and superficial story all the more unbelievable.
Results:
This is very mid. The art isn't the best and feels a bit antiquated; the localization quality isn't that great, and add onto all of that a lacking story with lacking smut, it just isn't worth the coin. It has potential with the unique sex worker setup, but it just doesn't pay off in the end. There are much better Renta! titles to give a go. I'd say this is a miss.
Have you read Reward Me with Your Body, Sir? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!