Wholesome Is Nearly Not Enough to Describe Sweat and Soap.
Manga review. A wonderful and passionate relationship with a hint of fetish. By Yannick Ondoa
Because I spend so much of my leisure time on Manganelo*, I frequently come across strange but excellent mangas that have yet to be published in either English or French. This is true not just of Shrink: Psychiatrist and From Now on, We Begin Ethics, which I hope to both evaluate someday, but also of Sweat and Soap.
Sweat and Soap is a manga written and illustrated by Yamada Kintestsu about Yaeshima Asako, a 26-year-old accountant who works at Liliadrop LTD, a women’s cosmetics company.
As she sweats more than most people, Asako is quite self-conscious about her body odor, so she wipes and parfums herself during her breaks. While she someday examines a brand-new soap sample manufactured by her company, Asako is astonished to be sniffed by Natori Kentaro, a 29-year-old soap maker, who compliments her body scent and asks her to assist him in his work. As a result, a strange partnership between those two individuals develops, which could lead to something more serious.
Fetish X Soap
When I finished reading the first chapter of Sweat and Soap, I couldn’t help but think to myself, « Another narrative about fetish? ». Putting it that way, it may appear that I dislike this genre of manga, but this is far from the case. In fact, many mangas that I read have as main theme fetishes such as Ibitsu, where the male character is attracted to panties, and Nazo X Kimi, which presents a female character who is sexually aroused in being seen by his neighbor. However, in Sweat and Soap, the degree of fetishization is not as high as these examples, and the manga focuses its attention on a fetish that is probably not the most hurtful of all — body odor.
Unlike Kintestsu-sensei, I am not particularly fond of body odor. However, I can see why some individuals suffer from it. In my entire life, I have only kissed one woman, and that episode occurred six years ago. I remember her perfume well, no matter how long ago it was. It was mildly fruity, yet strong enough to make me feel like I’d been drugged, and sweet enough to have my act boldly. I could tell she was having a good time with her eyes and touches, but I couldn’t smell whether she was happy or not. On the contrary, the character of Natori Kentaro is completely capable of recognizing one’s own feelings through smelling them. This ability is obviously useful for his job and is also helpful when he needs to know Asako’s feelings.
When Natori first encountered Asako, he noticed a scent of her which « literally sent shivers into his spine. ». This scent is due to a simple reason: Asako was happy, and when she is, her sweat oozes a pleasant smell. Conversely, Natori can also smell Asako’s sadness, which proves to be pretty handy given that the series’ primary female character, at least at the start of the series, did not tend to open up much.
If you have successfully made it here, you may have the impression that the character of Natori is a real pervert. Nonetheless, he is not. He genuinely cares about anything related to scent and does not hesitate to take an extra inch to complete his job, even though it involved somehow forcefully sniff Asako during their first encounter. This seriousness obviously causes both funny and adorable moments that I am particularly fond of, and I am sure, many of you will like too.
Though Sweat and Soap remains a piece of fiction, I took some interest in looking for whether a human being was able to smell emotions or not. In the manga universe, we sometimes come across characters that have this ability such as Tanjiro Kamado in Kimetsu No Yaiba and Fungumi Yuya in Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure. It is not a secret, but dogs can smell emotions. And according to some researches, humans may also possess this capacity. For decades, scientists believed humans were not very good at detecting and identifying odors. However, some recent studies discovered that humans could sense emotions like disgust, and fear through chemosignals, that is, chemical signals the human body gives off, often through sweat. By the way, some people would even be able to smell « sickness ». As for me, apart from being able to smell whether it is going to rain or not, I don’t think I have this capacity at all.
A genuine and lovely relationship.
Sweat and Soap is a love story and as such, its main cast consists of two characters. However, if we read it carefully, we will find that Asako is the major character in the series. She is bashful, clumsy, and shy, but she has the distinct particularity of having her thoughts accessible, whereas Natori’s are not. Furthermore, because she has no prior experience with love relationships, readers learn what goes through the mind of a person dating someone through her eyes. Happiness is evident, yet there are also innumerable instances of skepticism, selfishness, and compromises.
Another intriguing point to consider is Asako’s perception of Natori. She sees him not just as a decent guy, but as a wonderful person, and as a reader, I must say that I had the same idea of him. Natori is Asako’s polar opposite. He has no qualms about speaking his views, seems to get along with everyone he encounters, and, above all, can accurately predict Asako’s emotions. However, as the story progresses, Natori’s image of “ideal” begins to fade as he reveals flaws, insecurities, and ignorance. He becomes more human, and this aspect increased my admiration for him.
The dynamic between Asako and Natori considerably appealed to me because it embodies what I perceive to be the ideal couple: they are not perfect because they never dispute; rather, they are perfect because when things go wrong, they sit down, have a cup of tea, and discuss. To make a relationship work, communication is essential, and the author goes out of his way to demonstrate this to us.
Sweat and Soap is a manga that I’d recommend to anyone who would like to have a wholesome moment. Natori and Asako form an adorable couple, secondary characters are genuine and the drawings, though simple, perfectly suits this romcom. The manga ended in January with ten volumes, and while I haven’t finished it yet, I’m already excited to see what Kintestsu sensei has planned for the future.
Thank you for having read this article. Sweat and Soap is already available in English, but also in French under the name Love Flagrance.
I started writing this article a little while ago, but I enjoyed the process. It is probably the first time I’ve tried to convey my own feelings and experience in a review, and I think it went pretty well overall. I will try to keep it on in my next articles.
*It is definitely not something I recommend doing at all. Please try buying original volumes.
