Ottoman: A super cute and wholesome hero romance story.

 

Sometimes, a certain manga cover grabs your attention for its art alone. You start reading, thinking that maybe you'll read one chapter or two, only to find yourself so engrossed that you end up reading the whole thing in one sitting. Such a thing happened to me with Shinnosuke Kanazawa's Ottoman. 

Souya Gomi is a salaryman, working tirelessly at his boring office job whilst dreaming of becoming a mangaka. His one and only constant in his life, is the love of his wife, Yuuka Gomi. One day, he receives a strange text that has come from his wife's phone number, but isn't her style of texting. Sensing that Yuuka is in danger, he rushes home. On the way, he is hit by Truck-kun. Instead of dying, an alien suddenly has merged with his body, granting him superhero-like powers that increases with the power of love! With these newfound powers he saves his wife from an attacking alien, drawing attention from a certain defence force. 

One of the biggest things I love about Ottoman is how Souya's power increases with the love of his wife. It's super cute and wholesome, with it never bordering into cringe. Yes, I am a lover of cute and wholesome vanilla romances... Souya's love for his wife feels genuine and their relationship is one that every couple should strive for. Also, most of the villains are also dealt with in the most heart-warming manner.

Souya is a bit on the goofy side at times, with some quirky humour being used throughout the manga, but he also takes decisive action and is quick at making important decisions. He has his convictions and sticks to them, a pleasant surprise as it results in conflict with supporting good characters at times, and he's no coward as he will take on anyone. 

Yuuka is quite literally the perfect wife. She's the most supporting and caring woman in manga, always thinking for Souya and striving to keep him happy. She's also super cute. She goes through some interesting development that starts on the very first chapter. 

Kyouko Uruwashi is also extremely gorgeous. That's another positive in Ottoman. The art is extraordinary and I'd put it up against any manga in existence. All of the characters are extremely detailed and very expressive, helping with immersing oneself into the world. 

The one major criticism I have is the fact that the last part feels incredibly rushed. The manga sprints to the climax with certain characters that had been made to seem like big threats being dealt with almost straight away. I feel like if the manga had had the chance to flesh out the last arc, it would have been even more special than it already is. I will say though that the fact that everyone gets a nice epilogue of sorts is rather nice. We get to see them after the events of the manga, even if some elements needing more development to feel truly earned.