Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san seems to push the idea that you never realize how amusing or harrowing situations at your job might be until you point it out to someone else. They might seem normal to you! Little daily agonies. Unexpected anxieties from otherwise mundane moments. Customer encounters you wouldn’t expect to be funny, but absolutely somehow are. With the complete omnibus now available, it gives us a chance to see how encounters over multiple volumes add up. A position that might seem boring ends up stimulating. Early volumes and chapters of Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san act as an introduction to her role working in the manga section of a bookstore. This means dealing with people who are fanatics about certain types of series or genre, like Boys Love, the harrowing stress that comes from offering recommendations that may or may not land, or dealing with a customer who speaks English when the mangaka relies on a few key phrases. Especially when that last customer was looking for a certain type of doujinshi based on a major series that his daughter requested. It eases us into the situation. From there, things can get a bit more niche. This starts with Honda being the store’s customer service coaching attendee. Which means insight into how that process and training goes. Not only that, but she ends up as the customer service leader there after that as a result. Which, in turn, leads to different sorts of situations into insights like what does the staff need to do when a famous author, in this case mangaka, decides to come in for a signing event. Perhaps one of the greatest things about Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san is how identifiable the manga and heroine is and funny the series as a whole becomes as a result. While this is specifically an autobiographical tale about the mangaka working in a book store, the situations she encountered apply to many other daily life or working ones. The sudden responsibilities, pressures of being seen as an authority, and needing to deal with people who might judge your for your responses. It call comes down to very typical customer-service and daily life experiences. Well, that and the fact that reading about the anxieties that Honda experiences over things like dealing with fanatical fans, foreign customers when she doesn’t speak their language, and general management tasks makes me feel like it’s easier to handle my own. Seeing her get so flummoxed and overwhelmed, with the hilarious reactions, but then things work out are both amusing and reassuring. If a skeletal bookseller is going to be okay and make it through her day, then dang it so can I. The Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san manga omnibus is a great way to relive a workplace comedy, slice of life sort of series. Though Honda herself works in a rather specialized role, the presentation and execution makes it all feel very relatable. Especially if you ever also worked in a customer service or managerial position. The Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san manga omnibus is available via Yen Press. The anime is streaming on Crunchyroll. We may earn a commission if you purchase from certain links. Learn more here.