Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 1 by Honda

When that happens to me, I’d sometimes get so many recommendations for the customer that the customer ends up with a stack of books to choose from. Scenes like when Honda couldn’t think of a book to recommend to an old man who wants to buy a manga for his 11-year-old granddaughter whose tastes he’s not familiar with, so Honda frantically runs into the back to ask his coworkers for suggestions and gets a barrage of them.

It’s funny and entertaining and gives you an idea of what it’s like to work in a bookstore because although this story is about working in a Japanese bookstore, the situations and Honda’s emotions and reactions to customers and certain situations are so relatable that I think the synopsis should be “what it’s like to work in a bookstore” - so anywhere in the world. The premise might make it sound boring to some, but trust me, it’s worth checking out. I assume that’s done to protect the persons’ identity, but it also adds to the humor. The protagonist, Honda, wears a skull facemask, and the coworkers and other significant people in Honda’s life also wear a mask. This manga is basically about working at a Japanese bookstore, and I guess it’s pretty much true to life but certain scenarios are exaggerated to make it funny.

I would have preferred something like Fullmetal Alchemist, but I was open-minded when I decided to try Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san and was really taken in by how humorous and relatable it is. So I was more than willing to get another manga to jump into. by Amanda HaleyĮver wonder what it’s like to sell comics at a Japanese bookstore? Honda provides a hilarious firsthand account from the front lines! Whether it’s handling the store, out-of-print books, or enthusiastic manga fans, Honda takes on every challenge! (Goodreads)īefore this, I’d only read the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series, which I love and am still working my way through. I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed it. It was obvious that she enjoyed it, so I ran over to the manga section of the bookstore and got myself a copy too. I work part-time at a bookstore and one day when I visited to shop, a coworker told me about this manga that she’d just read.

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 1 by Honda