We’ve Been Waiting for the Ice Guy
As a member of the “I’m grown and like grown things” committee, I was anxiously waiting for The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague anime. I originally learned of the series as a manga a few years ago and instantly fell in love with the premise. Cute office workers flirting and one of them makes ice? Sign me right up!
Stories that place in the workplace aren’t uncommon in Seinen and Josie manga, however, few of those stories receive anime adaptations. In recent times, I can think of Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Aggretsuko, and My Senpai is Annoying. But manga readers know these barely scratch the surface of workplace stories. Aside from the megahit Sweat and Soap, there are tons of workplace stories that cover many topics like romance, comedy, and drama.
Workplace stories are exciting for older anime fans because while they are very relatable, it is also refreshing to see adults in anime do adult things. Of course, I love watching Deku and the gang do cool things in high school, I graduated over 10 years ago. That part of my life is long gone and not as relatable.
Feeling Seen
The Ice Guy and The Cool Female Colleague immediately dives into the “omg this is so me” area when the episode opens with the female mc Fuyutsuki asking her cat to watch over her apartment. With boxes about, it seems like she just moved in to start her new job. On her way to work, she encounters Himoru, a man in a suit with white hair, trapped in ice. Himoru explains that he is a descendant of a snowwoman yokai and because he’s nervous about his first day of work, he produces ice and snow.
While the moment is literally icy, you can feel the sparks between the two as Fuyutsuki uses her thermos of warm tea to try and melt Himoru’s ice. When pouring it on the ice doesn’t work, she offers for him to drink it instead. The two share many adorable glances among the falling snowflakes and cherry blossom petals.
When they both arrive at their company for the first day of work, they realize that they are coworkers and are sitting next to each other. They also meet two other colleagues, Komori, a descendant of a fox spirit yokai, and Saejima, who like Fuyutsuki, is just a regular human.
Bring on the Cuteness with Ice
As the episode continues, we see Fuyutsuki and Himoru interact in ways your average coworkers do. When Himoru tells Fuyutsuki that he loves flowers but he always frosts them over, she shows up to work the next day with a frost-protecting straw. When Himoru tells Fuyutsuki he likes cats but can’t be near them, she brings him cat whiskers from her kitty, Nyamerou. Again, totally normal and harmless coworker behavior.
It’s very clear Himoru likes Fuyutsuki (as if the mini blizzard in the office wasn’t a dead giveaway and the little snowmen,) Fuyutsuki’s actions are also being picked up on by Komori. While Himoru has winter reactions to other things, like when he made that mistake, the cutest ones everyone notices are after his interactions with Fuyutsuki.
Looking Forward to More Ice Guy
The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague will be 12, 24-minute episodes so we have 11 more episodes to explore the blooming relationship between Himoru and Fuyutsuki. In addition to the characters in this episode, the OP shows three more characters we haven’t met yet: seemingly another possible couple and someone who looks like Himoru’s sister.
Due to the style of the manga, I was expecting the episodes to be shorter, a la Play It Cool, Guys. I’m very excited that this is NOT the case and we get full episode goodness. This episode was such a sweet treat, I laughed and blushed the entire time. I’m so excited to meet the rest of the characters and see where the story progresses.
I’ve been eyeing this one, but you convinced me.