Minami Fujii works in the planning department of an advertising agency. At twenty-eight, she’s still trying to make a name for herself and is known for pulling all-nighters and juggling multiple projects. Mostly, this can be attributed to genuine dedication, though Minami also uses work as a distraction from her turbulent romantic life.

After her boyfriend of seven years breaks up with her and promptly gets married, Minami begins to notice the people around her and makes friends with some of her coworkers. Two of the men are interested in her and, after briefly being tempted by the impulsive Ishida, she ends up choosing Ogi-san, who is still hung up on his ex. After agonizing periods during which she’s convinced that he isn’t interested in her (even though they’ve slept together), they begin officially dating, though things are not as perfect as either would’ve wished. Minami still feels strangely lonely in Ogi-san’s company and the presence of his ex (with whom Minami must work on a project) makes it difficult to be sure of his feelings.

Meanwhile, the rejected Ishida is pursued by another coworker whose plight parallels Minami’s own. Add to this a saucy freelancer, the married producer with whom she’s having an affair, and his lascivious cameraman with an appreciation for Minami’s posterior, and you get quite a tangled web of workplace relationships, infidelity, unhappiness, and insecurity.

This might seem too convoluted to follow, but it’s not really a problem. The focus is primarily on Minami, but does shift at times to the other women characters and their situations. I appreciated seeing what they thought and said about the protagonist, too, particularly the difference between what they were thinking inwardly and what they were actually saying to her face. Another female character of note is the forty-something Hirano, who presents Minami with an example of a woman who has devoted her life to her work and yet has nothing to show for it. Just before being unceremoniously transferred, Hirano gives Minami all the credit for a daring decision, attempting to give a leg up to the girl in whom she sees so much of herself. It’s a truly wonderful moment.

Alas, not all of the workplace action is so terrific. Minami’s many projects are virtually indistinguishable, and the scenes involving them include vague dialogue like, “Let’s feature the product here.” It’d be easier to care about what was going on if more details of a particular project were known, or if one actually succeeded in getting to the commercial production phase. Most of them get derailed by rewrite requests, and it’s frustrating to never see any of Minami’s harried efforts come to fruition. Also, in this office it’s apparently acceptable to skip out on meetings for projects to which you’ve been assigned. Must be nice!

As Katherine pointed out in her review of volume one, the art can be symbolism heavy at times. Women out to snare their men are shown carrying hunting traps, for example, and when Minami is sleeping with Ogi-san, there’s often water nearby, threatening to cover and drown her, much like the welter of feelings she’s experiencing.

I do like a lot of the workplace art, though, particularly how Minami’s scattered thoughts are portrayed. Often, panels of her in work mode are mixed with what is distracting her, like the messy state of her book-strewn desk or memories of an intimate moment with Ogi-san, and sometimes she walks about conducting business while thought bubbles going “jumble jumble” accompany her around. When Minami gets especially frazzled, the art reminds me of Chica Umino’s (Honey and Clover), with scribbly eyes and flailing limbs.

The third volume concludes with Minami and Ogi-san sharing an impromptu casual meal, during which she confides in him her work-related fatigue and finally allows herself to lean on him for support. Not realizing at the time, as the retrospective narration points out, that it was a mistake.

And that’s it! That’s where we will forever languish unless TOKYOPOP resumes publication of this series. Please join us at Manga Recon as we cry, “Save Suppli!”

Review originally published at Manga Recon.

From the back cover:
The skies are always clearer after a storm…

After her boyfriend of seven years dumps her, Minami realizes she’s shut out everything else in her life. Now, at twenty-seven years old, ambitious Minami throws herself into her advertising job and experiences life—and love—for the first time.

From Mari Okazaki, the edgy, provocative author of Sweat & Honey, comes a tale of rediscovering love.

Review:
I’ve read a small amount of josei before, but this is the first time I’ve read any that featured a woman in the workplace. I definitely like it!

When Minami’s boyfriend breaks up with her, she realizes she has no friends, and so instead throws herself into the only thing in her life—her job at an advertising agency. Gradually, her eyes open to the people around her, and she gets to know them. Two of her male coworkers are also interested in her, one who kind of ineptly pines around and says the wrong thing all the time and another who has suffered his own heartbreak and attracts Minami by virtue of his neediness.

The developing relationships are interesting, and though it seems Minami makes the wrong choice in feeling more drawn to the not-really-over-his-ex coworker, it still makes perfect sense why she would, and I look forward to seeing how that plays out. The actual occupational stuff itself gets a little repetitive—lots of clients not liking their ad campaigns and requiring rewrites—but does bring about an excellent two-page layout in which Minami, who has just had a bunch of hard work go to waste, sprawls on a breakroom chair in utter exhaustion.

Minami also struggles to balance what it means to be a professional—stay motivated, make the impossible possible—and what it means to be a woman. I like seeing a protagonist ponder that issue, though it’s rather unfortunate that she thinks the role of a woman is “to be cute.” Granted, it’s not wrong to want to attract a guy, and it makes sense that it’d be on her mind since she’s trying to avoid the spinsterly state of one of her coworkers, but the feminist in me kind of cringes all the same.

Suppli (pronounced with an ‘ee’ sound at the end, rather than like “supply”) is still running in Japan and is up to seven volumes. The first three have been published in English by TOKYOPOP, but it is doubtful whether the series will continue to be released in the wake of that company’s financial difficulties. An anticipated October release date for the fourth volume came and went with no sign of the book. It will be a real shame if the series is discontinued, as there’s a lamentable dearth of this kind of manga in our market.