Handsome and popular, Kaji seems like the perfect man—but deep down, he's hopelessly shallow. He rates potential partners on a 100-point scale and is always searching for the one man who can live up to his high standards.

His plain, unremarkable coworker Fukami isn't even on Kaji's radar. He wouldn't sleep with Fukami if he were the last guy on earth. But when an overnight business trip puts them in close quarters, Fukami steps out of the shower, seemingly transformed into the sexiest man Kaji has ever seen! More surprising still, Fukami actually seems down to hook up?!

Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami has story by and art by Ayaka Matsumoto. English translation is done by Katrina Leonoudakis. Lettering by Jamil Stewart. Published by Seven Seas Entertainment (September 29, 2026). Rated M.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

There are jerk protagonists and there are jerk protagonists – and then there's Kaji. Kaji is what might be politely termed “promiscuous,” but he only wants to sleep with guys who earn 100 points in his own estimation. I think that deep down he does know that he's an ass, but he's also doing an amazing job of acting like he thinks he's not…at least until he meets Fukami. On the outside, Fukami looks like he escaped from the grunge years of the 90s with his crummy converse, ratty jeans, and unflattering flannel, but when the glasses come off, he's suddenly Kaji's perfect man. And wow, is Kaji having a hard time dealing with that.

Despite what it perhaps sounds like, Kaji's not irredeemable. He's blown away by the reveal of Fukami's gorgeous looks and their shocking (to him) sexual chemistry, but the longer you read, the more it comes clear that Kaji's just not good at being himself. At one point he mentions that he hasn't seen his mom since his parents divorced when he was a kid while saying about his dad just, “He's still alive,” so clearly he did not have a happy childhood. That explains why he has no idea how to have a real relationship, something he begins to figure out in chapter two when, after Fukami has declined a second sexual encounter, Kaji realizes that he has no idea how to ask someone for sex. Or anything relationship-based. He can put on a good act at work, but when it comes time to be a decent human being, he's at a loss.

Fukami is much more stable – he's got a good relationship with his sister and young nephew, he's good at his job, and, even more importantly, he's comfortable with himself. Although he doesn't explicitly say so, he's obviously trying to help Kaji have a normal relationship with him, even if one of his original conditions when he agreed to be fuck buddies was that Kaji not fall in love with him. Fukami's a good guy, though, so he can't quite help himself, and besides, he wants a partner who knows how to listen to him in bed and out of it, someone who values sex with him as more than just penile action. And besides, it doesn't look like he's able to keep to that condition any more than Kaji is, although the cliffhanger at the end of the volume wants to suggest otherwise.

Part of what makes this so good is the translation - it's one of the best I've read recently, perfectly meeting the moment without sounding dated. It ably enhances the story, so if you're looking for some emotional components in your explicit BL (and this is very explicit and uncensored), Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami is the way to go. It's funny, it's touching, and it's about one jerk protagonist learning how not to be an ass. I'm definitely looking forward to volume two.

Lucas DeRuyter
Rating:

I might be one of the few people on the planet who both remembers the 2022 film Bros and has positive things to say about it. Ostensibly a romantic comedy featuring two cis gay men in the leading roles, it retains a place in my memory thanks to its direct and honest depiction of the life of gay men and the culture they've built in their community. As a bi man who grew up in some of the most rural and conservative parts of America, this movie was both super validating to me, and really helped me consider the ways in which I express my masculinity and sexuality.

I begin this review of Ayaka Matsumoto's Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami with my recollection of a Billy Eichner movie that flopped at the box office because the two have a surprising amount in common! This workplace romance focuses on the stylish and capable, but secretly shallow and egotistical, Kaji and the reserved and slovenly, until he takes off his glasses, Fukami. The two go on a work trip together and hook up when they both realize the other is gay and their type, and continue this sexual tryst that's slowly turning into a genuine relationship.

I immediately vibed with this work thanks to how it depicts queerness and how it fits into these characters' lives. I also appreciate stories that don't reduce queerness down persecution, but also appreciate the fact that neither character is out at their place of work, the underlying motivations for which are immediately understandable to any straight-passing queer person. I also appreciate that these are extremely flawed characters with Kaji being an annoying playboy and Fukami being almost comically apathetic. They're a very cute odd couple, and their emotional and physical attraction to each other feels genuine.

Further boosting this story is a very fun translation from Katrina Leonoudakis, that more than lives up to her impressive body of work and delightful reputation. There is also A LOT of very hot male x male sex in this manga, which Matsumoto manages to make feel both steamy and tender. For as much of a bad reputation as hook up culture gets, there is a connection and expressivity to those situations, and I appreciate how this work understands how sex can act as an inciting event for a meaningful relationship.

I don't know if Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami is the best romcom I've ever read, but it's definitely one of the gayest and informed by actual queer experiences and hope that folks celebrate it for these reasons!

Lauren Orsini
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We stan a garbage man getting a taste of his own medicine—so much so that we start to love him for real. Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami is an explicit BL manga about a dumb, horny idiot in a prison of his own creation. It feels like a spiritual successor to Happy Crappy Life, which detailed the comedic escapades of two terrible horndogs finding love with one another. This couple isn't quite as dumb (well, at least one half of it isn't), but it shares the same goofiness. It's a silly, sexy story about a shallow man who realizes that the only loser in the room is himself.

Kaji is the sales team's ace and a seemingly perfect man. Too bad it's all an act. In reality, Kaji is a narcissist who judges everyone on a numerical scale. Plus, unfortunately for the eager ladies at his company, in Kaji's own words: “Surprise, idiots! I'm gay as fuck!” When Kaji ends up on a business trip with Fukami, a shaggy-haired, bespectacled geek from the engineering team, and there's only one bed in the hotel room, Kaji's sure nothing's going to happen. That is, until Fukami takes off his glasses fresh out of the shower and suddenly looks like the long-haired twink of Kaji's dreams—and what's more, he's DTF. The rest of the story is Kaji tying himself into pretzels convincing himself he's far too good for Fukami, when actually he's desperate for the man. Meanwhile, Fukami couldn't have less patience for Kaji's self-inflicted pain. Revenge of the narrative is sweet, and to see Kaji falling in love all the while insisting that he only wants to pursue Fukami with no strings attached is absolutely addicting to see. Kaji is trash, but Fukami can fix him. I love that for him.

This is an X-rated story with plenty of sex, but it still feels like a bait-and-switch for the title to claim Fukami is “unexpectedly naughty” but actually mean Fukami is unexpectedly cute without his glasses on. The leads have self-professed great sexual chemistry, but I wouldn't call their lovemaking particularly naughty. What's more, it is clear that the story is going to involve Kaji figuratively hitting his own dick with a hammer over and over again to delay these two getting together already, rather than any real obstacles to their relationship. These caveats aside, it's a story with great comedic timing and well-deserved comeuppance for Kaji—enough suffering in fact that I liked him by the end of it. I'll definitely pick up volume two when it's available.

Bolts
Rating:

Pride can be a man's greatest weakness. In a world where everyone is trying to compete with each other and present the best versions of themselves, sometimes it's difficult to fully admit when you're wrong or fully give in to something that you legitimately enjoy. When Kaji, a businessman who only really cares about appearances, ends up developing a strong physical connection with his polar opposite coworker, he doesn't know what to do. He fumbles and stumbles over his words, making situations worse because he just can't admit that deep down he wants something that he is constantly conditioning himself to think that he should never pursue. That's a really fun idea, and it's probably one of the strongest thematic beats of the entire book. Even when Kaji's pride is clearly used for the sake of extending the story by creating the sense of romantic tension, it's believable since the foundation was laid very early on about these definitive character flaws.

The problem is that the story is very predictable because it doesn't really do much to explore those themes beyond that setup. You know exactly what this man's character arc is going to be within the opening chapters. There's nothing really exciting or engaging about this story because there are too many points where it feels like it's just going through the motions. Even when something interesting is introduced, like the titular Fukami flipping Kaji's pompous attitude on himself, it doesn't last long and has no real impact. Sometimes a conversation or plot point will be brought up and then resolved very quickly because it almost feels like the author is trying to fully go through every conceivable idea that you can do with these types of personalities and tropes. But by not giving those tropes any room to breathe or by refusing to set up genuine conversations between the leads, that earlier goodwill runs dry and the pacing drags. I've never read a book that felt both drawn out and underbaked at the same time. There are better boys' love stories out there that can do twice as much in half the time.