I don’t know to what extent something is a sleeper when you’re expecting it to be good (or maybe that’s the essence of a sleeper in the first place). But I Have a Crush at Work isn’t getting much attention (more on that shortly). And in what looks like a weak season, it’s literally the only show I had sleeper vibes about going in. Workplace comedies are fertile territory for me, especially in the romcom subgenre. The manga has quite a solid reputation. It’s one of those series that checks all the right boxes, and in a season like this one I really need those series to carry their weight.
The good news is, Kono Kaisha ni Suki na Hito ga Imasu shows every sign of doing that. The bad news is no streaming service has picked it up, inexplicably. Which means, in this era where whole generations of anime fans have forgotten the old ways, it’s likely to be roundly ignored in English. That sucks for me if I decide to cover it, and just generally because good anime deserves to be discussed. And for a week at least this was very good anime. It fully met my expectations in every sense. It was funny, charming, and cute, and didn’t really surprise me at any time. That could be taken as a criticism but this is one of those times where predictability is a positive. Sasuga all the way…
The title is truth in advertising so far. The premiere is told from the perspective of Tateishi Masugu (Yamashita Seiichirou), a 28 year-old accountant working at what seems to be a pretty big company. He has a crush on Mitsuya Yui (Miyamoto Yume) from the planning department, and the pair of them have formally started dating (and being fully intimate). They’re both members of the same douki – the “incoming class” who joined out of college. And in Japanese business culture, this is critical in a way foreigners may not realize. Companies tend to onboard new employees in big groups (in April) and those in your douki are something like blood siblings in society’s eyes, entitled to your undying loyalty forever.
Having experienced this from all sides (manager and employee) myself, I thought the way the office romance angle was handled was very realistic. Workers gossip constantly about this stuff. At one company I worked at the president and vice-president were traveling at the same time – one of the things tongues were wagging about in the episode – and that sparked endless speculation (especially when the VP sent a “vacation photo” that was a stock image from the web). Once when I was a manager I happened to be on vacation at the same time as one of the staff, and returned to find the entire group had declared that we were a couple and had been traveling together. This shit happens – it’s real.
In this instance, Yui copes with living a lie by being verbally abusive to Masugu at work. I’m not nuts for that angle and neither is Masugu, but Yui says it’s the only way she’s able to keep from letting her feelings show. He’s definitely the less concerned about secrecy of the two – part of him definitely wants to shout from the rooftops that he and Yui are dating. But she’s obsessive about hiding it to the point of paranoia. She won’t even allow them to go out in public for fear someone from the office will see them. This is a source of a little tension between them, but only a little at this point. Masugu is not immune to concerns about this himself.
One thing I really liked here is that the two of them are having sex – which is perfectly normal for two 28 year-olds in a relationship – and absolutely no big deal is made of it. It’s the office stuff and the typical Japanese obsession with first names and the like that causes awkwardness, but there’s no forced drama or comedy regarding the physical side of the relationship. And of course the workplace romance angle should be a big deal, because it’s a complicated and dangerous sea to wade into. Some companies even have rules against it, either for direct supervisors or all employees, and that’s not unreasonable. It’s a huge risk to take even for people in different departments (though that does help) and I can’t really blame Yui for wanting to cover it up.
The two of them trying to do that is certainly a big part of the comedy. They’re clearly very into each other in a charming way, and that’s not easy to hide. In fact when they finally do go on a date they run into one of their trainers who now works at another branch, Suzuki Seiya (Oono Kenshou), who also happens to be Yui’s sempai from college. He totally knows but enjoys an entertaining evening of making them squirm a little. I should also note that Suzuki Seiya is also the name of an extremely famous baseball player who’s now with the Chicago Cubs, and not all that common a name – so it seems very likely the mangaka, Enomoto Akamaru, is a fan.
Bottom line, this delivered. It was exactly what I hoped and exactly what I expected, no more and no less. I like both Yui and Masugu individually and as a couple – there’s chemistry a-plenty – and the office politics felt very authentic. The manga is finished, which is normally a good thing for an adaptation, but that it’s 15 volumes could be an issue if Kono Kaishi ni Suki na Hito ga Imasu is only one cour. Which, if we’re honest, seems overwhelmingly likely to be the case. But we’ll worry about that later – for now all signs point to yes.
Simone
January 7, 2025 at 10:44 pmMy guess is that even if it’s not been picked already it might be later on (probably by Crunchyroll, this seems their kind of title). Like it’s happened with Girls Band Cry, though that was more unique in being a cult hit that this probably won’t be. There honestly doesn’t seem to be a good reason to just let this one stay out of the streaming services.
Casey W
January 7, 2025 at 10:47 pmWell, your write-up is encouraging enough that I’m going to try and find a way to watch this first episode. (I read the first couple of chapters of the manga and liked it, although I didn’t keep up.) It’s a quiet season and there aren’t a lot of must-watch shows; might as well download something that looks promising.
The story here does remind me of the series Ganbare, Douki-chan that aired a few years back — although that was a short-form ecchi anime and this seems to be a lot more mature.
Guardian Enzo
January 7, 2025 at 11:06 pmIf no one is going to provide an alternative means, it seems like it’s your prerogative to find a way to watch it yourself.
catterbu
January 8, 2025 at 2:21 amI echo what the others wrote. I hope you do continue writing about this one. I actually find it more valuable when you write about shows no other English language writer does since it means I can find the coverage nowhere else (I first found your writing searching for coverage of Kingdom).
Guardian Enzo
January 8, 2025 at 8:03 amI agree with that – I think of it as the Ginga e Kickoff principle. It’s just more fun when a series is getting comments and such.
ruicarlov
January 8, 2025 at 8:50 amI have been trained in the old ways of watching anime. This one shall not escape my sights when it’s so freakin’ adorable. It was even better than I’d hoped. I was also impressed that didn’t make the couple behave like elementary kids where a kiss is a huge hurdle, let alone anything else. For all the idiosyncrasies of Japanese society related to first names and whatnot, they do act more like a couple than what I’m used to see.
Raikou
January 8, 2025 at 11:45 amWow, you’re selling this hard, Enzo. I might give it a try.
Good thing in my country it’s licensed under Ani-One. So I can watch this.
Guardian Enzo
January 8, 2025 at 2:42 pmI don’t know, I don’t think I’m overselling it really. It was what I expected, no more and no less. And since I expected it to be good, that’s a good thing.