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Far From Romance
One man learns that the girl he had a crush on in high school is his new co-worker--and was never a girl to begin with! A Boys' Love romance about mistaken identities and unexpected reunions."You really don't remember me, do you...?"
That's the last thing Tono Arata expects to hear from the blue-eyed British newcomer at his tiny seaside IT firm. But from the moment Lewis walks through the door--charming, blunt, and far too comfortable invading Arata's personal space--it's clear there's more to him than meets the eye.
Arata's peaceful routine is upended as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic expat whose gaze lingers a little too long and whose presence feels oddly familiar. There's a shared past hiding just beneath the surface...one that Lewis remembers, and Arata has yet to uncover.
That's the last thing Tono Arata expects to hear from the blue-eyed British newcomer at his tiny seaside IT firm. But from the moment Lewis walks through the door--charming, blunt, and far too comfortable invading Arata's personal space--it's clear there's more to him than meets the eye.
Arata's peaceful routine is upended as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic expat whose gaze lingers a little too long and whose presence feels oddly familiar. There's a shared past hiding just beneath the surface...one that Lewis remembers, and Arata has yet to uncover.
180 pages, Paperback
Published December 2, 2025
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57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 3, 2025
This was so lovely.
Look, it's a little bit silly that Arata spent an entire day showing an attractive British tourist around his coastal town without ever (a) asking their name or (b) realizing that they were not a girl. They weren't that young...the dialogue (if translated correctly) says Arata was in college at the time, although it'd make a bit more sense for them to be high school students, maybe. (And even then it's a bit hard to mix up genders.) But I kind of don't care.
Since his little town was the setting of a popular anime, they got flooded with tourists that year who wanted to do a "pilgrimage" to visit all the scenes that had been faithfully animated. Hardworking, serious Arata is annoyed by all the requests for directions...until an extremely pretty foreigner with long hair and stunningly blue eyes taps him on the back and silently asks him to unwrap an onigiri. Arata takes the selfish route and offers to give the pretty "girl" a tour...which results in a long, memorable day with a lot of smiles and laughter and very little conversation, since their language barrier is pretty large at this point.
But then, at the end of it, the surprisingly low-voiced "girl" kisses Arata and promises to come back for him some day.
His first kiss and his first love.
Who shows up, years later, as a tall, handsome, charmingly extroverted English coworker whom Arata doesn't recognize at all, although he still finds Lewis's blue eyes extremely pretty.
The pacing was excellent for a one-shot. There's enough time to show how appealing Lewis is even without their history - he's an excellent coworker, generous and friendly and kind with everyone, devoted to Japanese culture, and just foreign enough to be surprising and intriguing. He leaves drinking parties early, clocks out and goes home without agonizing about overtime, openly discusses his likes and dislikes, and even tells their entire office that he's gay.
He's everything Arata isn't, and that makes him absolutely fascinating. I loved their early conversation about trying new things before deciding you don't like them; it's not that you have to like everything, but if you don't actually give it a chance, how do you know you won't appreciate it? Lewis is talking about food, but this becomes relevant later on, once Arata finally discovers that his "first love" was his current coworker, who of course had known it was him all along.
Their chemistry builds very naturally; it's more a factor of Arata accepting that he's been attracted in the same way all along, and is okay with that being the case now that the incredibly pretty person is a man. Lewis is very open about his interest but isn't pushy - it's a good balance that provides just enough momentum for Arata to finally make the decision on his own.
I loved the little glimpse of Arata's family, with Lewis shouting his praises to Arata's fisherman dad, who has a strained relationship with him because Arata didn't continue in the family business. While this was an excellent one-shot, I would've loved to see more of Lewis fitting into his family and the overall town culture. I'm curious about Lewis's family and if he'll really be okay fully transplanting to such a small town in Japan. But he gets along with everyone he meets, so he's the kind of guy who can really build a home for himself anywhere.
This was just a shockingly sweet, thoughtful story about love forming over a pretty big culture gap. makes me realize I would love to read more in that specific kind of genre.
Look, it's a little bit silly that Arata spent an entire day showing an attractive British tourist around his coastal town without ever (a) asking their name or (b) realizing that they were not a girl. They weren't that young...the dialogue (if translated correctly) says Arata was in college at the time, although it'd make a bit more sense for them to be high school students, maybe. (And even then it's a bit hard to mix up genders.) But I kind of don't care.
Since his little town was the setting of a popular anime, they got flooded with tourists that year who wanted to do a "pilgrimage" to visit all the scenes that had been faithfully animated. Hardworking, serious Arata is annoyed by all the requests for directions...until an extremely pretty foreigner with long hair and stunningly blue eyes taps him on the back and silently asks him to unwrap an onigiri. Arata takes the selfish route and offers to give the pretty "girl" a tour...which results in a long, memorable day with a lot of smiles and laughter and very little conversation, since their language barrier is pretty large at this point.
But then, at the end of it, the surprisingly low-voiced "girl" kisses Arata and promises to come back for him some day.
His first kiss and his first love.
Who shows up, years later, as a tall, handsome, charmingly extroverted English coworker whom Arata doesn't recognize at all, although he still finds Lewis's blue eyes extremely pretty.
The pacing was excellent for a one-shot. There's enough time to show how appealing Lewis is even without their history - he's an excellent coworker, generous and friendly and kind with everyone, devoted to Japanese culture, and just foreign enough to be surprising and intriguing. He leaves drinking parties early, clocks out and goes home without agonizing about overtime, openly discusses his likes and dislikes, and even tells their entire office that he's gay.
He's everything Arata isn't, and that makes him absolutely fascinating. I loved their early conversation about trying new things before deciding you don't like them; it's not that you have to like everything, but if you don't actually give it a chance, how do you know you won't appreciate it? Lewis is talking about food, but this becomes relevant later on, once Arata finally discovers that his "first love" was his current coworker, who of course had known it was him all along.
Their chemistry builds very naturally; it's more a factor of Arata accepting that he's been attracted in the same way all along, and is okay with that being the case now that the incredibly pretty person is a man. Lewis is very open about his interest but isn't pushy - it's a good balance that provides just enough momentum for Arata to finally make the decision on his own.
I loved the little glimpse of Arata's family, with Lewis shouting his praises to Arata's fisherman dad, who has a strained relationship with him because Arata didn't continue in the family business. While this was an excellent one-shot, I would've loved to see more of Lewis fitting into his family and the overall town culture. I'm curious about Lewis's family and if he'll really be okay fully transplanting to such a small town in Japan. But he gets along with everyone he meets, so he's the kind of guy who can really build a home for himself anywhere.
This was just a shockingly sweet, thoughtful story about love forming over a pretty big culture gap. makes me realize I would love to read more in that specific kind of genre.
January 24, 2026
Gorgeous, 10/10.
June 25, 2025
short cute and vey sweet story !! the art style is amazing so i’ll just have to keep reading all of the authors stories haha
Read
September 27, 2025British otaku x normie salaryman small town office romance BL sdkfjsfsldf the concept is a mouthful but the art style is very beautiful and the story is very soft, fluffy, and subdued!
December 10, 2025
While Lewis' interest in Arata is made clear early on, Arata is more than a little confused and needs some help putting the pieces together. Even with the language barrier, it's rather odd that he would spend the entire day taking Lewis around when they were younger and never once asked his name, which would have very quickly corrected his misconception that Lewis was a girl. Still, it has a sweet undertone, and Lewis if very understanding even as he wants to be closer to Arata and awaits his answer. Arata even watches the anime that brought them together, even if it is under the guise of their work project. The anime sounds familiar as well, though I can't place it at the moment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2025
No sé como encuentro estos mangas, pero me los leo de una sentada.
La historia en general es bastante sencilla: Arata y Lewis se reencuentran después de 10 años, pero no por cosas del destino, sino porque Lewis quiso volver a Japón con el único objetivo de encontrar al hombre que ama.
Este manga me pareció dulce, tierno, cute y divertido. No tenemos dramas, el romance se va dando de a poco, solo conocemos a los protagonistas y en realidad no hay mucho trasfondo a parte del pasado que comparten, pero para mi gusto es justo lo que uno espera de estas historias: una lectura rápida y dulce con la que pasar un buen rato.
La historia en general es bastante sencilla: Arata y Lewis se reencuentran después de 10 años, pero no por cosas del destino, sino porque Lewis quiso volver a Japón con el único objetivo de encontrar al hombre que ama.
Este manga me pareció dulce, tierno, cute y divertido. No tenemos dramas, el romance se va dando de a poco, solo conocemos a los protagonistas y en realidad no hay mucho trasfondo a parte del pasado que comparten, pero para mi gusto es justo lo que uno espera de estas historias: una lectura rápida y dulce con la que pasar un buen rato.
December 29, 2025
I really loved this one. It was slow on the romance part, but also fast. Basically, for me, the pacing was perfect. All the little moments between the two. The meeting each other in the middle. Also really loved the little bonus story, it was so cute (*T^T)
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I want to say I'm slightly biased since my partner has the same name, also British and blue-eyed. Which might've made it a little sweeter for me, but didn't effect my overall review of the manga.
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I want to say I'm slightly biased since my partner has the same name, also British and blue-eyed. Which might've made it a little sweeter for me, but didn't effect my overall review of the manga.
December 4, 2025
More of a 3.5 star rating;
I really like how natural the romance between Arata and Lewis felt, and the unique backstory their romance had. Their dynamic was cute but I especially liked Lewis’s dynamic was with his colleagues, since there wasn’t any issues in the workplace despite how eccentric Lewis could be at times.
I really like how natural the romance between Arata and Lewis felt, and the unique backstory their romance had. Their dynamic was cute but I especially liked Lewis’s dynamic was with his colleagues, since there wasn’t any issues in the workplace despite how eccentric Lewis could be at times.
December 9, 2025
This was a nice little realistic fiction boys love manga, with a fun cast and a cute dynamic. The art was generally nice, though near the end it was sometimes hard to figure out what was going on during the smut scene, but that was partially due to the panels being small and bubbles covering things. Generally, it was a good manga.
December 14, 2025
This was cute. Arata spent the entire day showing an attractive British Tourist around his coastal town without asking their name or not knowing it was not a girl. LOL. This story was about love forming with a different culture. British otaku x normie salaryman small town office romance BL. Including their language barrier. I am giving this a 4 star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
December 10, 2025
Absolutely loved their relationship
December 11, 2025
Muy lindo, directo al grano, sin mayores dramas y con personajes bellos
December 22, 2025
Super cute, ex-pat finding his childhood love in adulthood. I loved the cultural discussions, and the art had a beautiful flow.
December 28, 2025
Now, this was such a cute, fluffy, low stakes read. Amamiya wanted readers to feel warm and fuzzy reading it, and, boy, did they deliver. This is a pure slice-of-life romance, plain and simple.
January 11, 2026
lewis shouldn't have kissed him while sleeping 💔
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I was giggling and kicking my feet the entire time
I was giggling and kicking my feet the entire time
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews