Skull-faced Bookseller Honda-san by Honda

While the names and faces (heads? masks?) are changed to protect the innocent, Skull-faced Bookseller Honda-san is an autobiographic, day-in-the-life series about working in a Japanese bookstore chain that nails retail life in every hilarious moment.

“To those of you who commented, ‘Now I want to work at a bookstore!’–Thanks, and think again!”

Honda, our titular skull-faced bookseller, works in the American comics and manga sections of a large bookstore. She helps customers both Japanese and foreign, works with publishers and wholesalers to keep books in stock, and lends a hand to her fellow booksellers. The series is brimming with details of the bookstore industry, and depicts working in retail in a most wonderful-terrible-relatable way.

From enthusiastic BL fangirls to sales reps who won’t take no for an answer, from creating a book fair to the worst customer service training session, Honda’s honest and self-depreciating humor, attention to detail, and spot-on observations lead us through the charming chaos.

If you, like me, have ever worked in a bookstore or in retail in general, then you’ll probably feel Skull-faced Bookseller Honda-san deep in your heart. But even if you haven’t, the camaraderie between Honda and her coworkers, the disdain-pride you get from the job, and the love-hate relationship you have with customers is drawn with laugh-out-loud humor that will have you chuckling long after you put down a volume.

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-Kate