OL Shinkaron

OL Shinkaron is a yonkoma manga series by Risu Akizuki about OLs, or office ladies. It follows the daily lives of Minako and Jun, the coworkers, friends, family, and neighbors. It also had a short, spin-off series titled Okusama Shinkaron that focused on housewives.
Several different translations in English, including two bilingual Japanese/English series titled Survival in the Office and OL Revolution, have been published. The manga, along with Akizuki's other works, won the 2004 short story award at the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes.

Story

The manga is episodic and follows the daily lives of Minako and Jun, two office ladies working in post-bubble Japan. Each vignette contains a gag about happenings at the office where Minako and Jun work, socializing after work, vacations, or interactions with their friends, family, and neighbors.
As the series progresses, there are a number of secondary characters who make regular appearances in the manga, including Jun's boss and his wife, Ichirō, Satsuki, Keiko, Hiromi, Tanaka, an old man who runs a diner, Morishita, Jun's parents, and others.

History

OL Shinkaron began running as a yonkoma manga series in 1989 in issue 50 of Weekly Morning, a seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha.

Manga releases

The manga was collected in the following tankōbon, published by Kodansha under their Wide KC imprint:

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8
Volume 9
Volume 10
Volume 11
Volume 12
Volume 13
Volume 14
Volume 15
Volume 16
Volume 17
Volume 18
Volume 19
Volume 20
Volume 21
Volume 22
Volume 23
Volume 24
Volume 25
Volume 26
Volume 27
Volume 28
Volume 29
Volume 30
Volume 31
Volume 32
Volume 33
Volume 34
Volume 35
Volume 36
Volume 37
Volume 38
Volume 39
Volume 40
Volume 41

Two volumes under the title The OL Comes of Age were published as part of Kodansha's English Library series:

Volume 1
Volume 2

Kodansha also published bilingual editions through Kodansha International:
Survival in the Office:

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5

OL Revolution:

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

Spinoffs and related

OL Shinkaron had a number of spin-offs and related works:Ochakumi Enjerusu. This short series served as a precursor to OL Shinkaron. It has not been published in a collection. OL Chintara Pon-chan. Ran in Josei Jishin and featured a character named Pon-chan ho looked just like Jun from OL Shinkaron. Collected by Kobunsha in one volume in November 1992.Okusama Shinkaron: A yonkoma series that ran in Kodansha's Morning Party SE from 1988 to 1990. The series focused on housewives and was collected in one tankōbon in January 1992.

Awards and recognition

This series, in conjunction with Akizuki's other works, received the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in the short story category in 2004.