On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance Volume 2
Ian Wolf •
While once again this is a short volume compared to most manga, On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance continues to be entertaining.
We return to follow the relationship between Sotaro Amata and Akira Hanku, colleagues in the same office who are unaware that, in private, they both have a big taste for fashion, with Sotaro into Lolita and Akira into punk. In fact, when they are dressed in their styles, they can’t even tell which gender the other is, let alone recognise each other from work.
The last volume saw them run into another punk friend of Akira’s, Tamotsu Roku, whom Akira describes as: “a bit much”. Like the others, he too tones down his choice of clothes when working; in his case, he is an elementary school teacher. However, nothing bad happens from the encounter, and once again Sotaro and Akira continue to go out and become closer. They end up discovering that they don’t live far from each other, and that Akira has a fondness for the local cats that wander around the area. She even gives one of them a special name, Little Mitsu. However, when they are dressed in their unique fashion choices, they encounter the cat again, and when Akira refers to ‘Little Mitsu’ in her punk clothes, Sotaro discovers the truth around Akira’s identity.
A lot is packed into this short book, showing how the relationship between the two main characters unfolds in such a quick space of time. When you compare it to other works of the same genre, it kind-of demonstrates that many other romcoms appear to have a fair amount of padding in them in terms of a “will they, won’t they” storyline, whereas the main element in On and Off has been revealed by the end of these two editions. This is made even more clear by the fact this volume contains a bonus chapter about half-way through detailing how Tamotsu got into punk fashion and his early friendship with Akira.
As in Volume 1, the issue of gender non-conformity is a key element. For much of the story so far, neither Sotaro nor Akira have known each other’s gender when dressed in their fashionable clothes. At one point, Akira goes to a public toilet, and Sotaro decides not to go with her for fear of causing problems.
Once again, Square Enix Manga have put this volume together well. Katie Lee G has maintained the cover design well again, and the translation from Jenny McKeon, lettering from Rebecca Sze and editing from Edward Hong all work together brilliantly, with no issues to be seen. We also have a preview for Volume 3 (due out in March 2026) which nicely adds to the tension of the relationship between Sotaro and Akira, and the uses of better-than-normal quality paper makes for a great overall product.
When it comes to On and Off, it does seem that great things come in small packages, and the storytelling, characters and art all mean that despite the short length of the volumes, it is a tale worth reading.
Read a free preview on the publisher’s website here.
Our review copy from Square Enix Manga was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).
