From Gengoroh Tagame, the brilliant mind behind My Brother’s Husband and Our Colors, comes Fish and Water, which follows the unlikely love story of two “straight” friends. Having met at a mutual friend's wedding, Akira, a business sales administrator, and Koji, a freelance writer, quickly become close buddies. One day, during a visit with a farm client, Akira is offered a case of freshly picked cabbage. Since no one at his office wants it, and he is no cook, Akira decides to see if Koji (who loves to cook) might be interested. Koji accepts and invites Akira to join him. Lonely and in the midst of pandemic-related shutdowns, Akira welcomes the chance and one meal becomes many. Once they get past how to be COVID-cautious, they become quite relaxed with each other, creating an amusing but emotionally perplexing scenario. Eventually, Akira and Koji grapple with deciding if they are just friends, or something more.

Fish and Water has a story by and art by Gengoroh Tagame. English translation is done by Anne M. Ishii. Published by Pantheon Graphic Library (June 23, 2026). Rated T.

Erica Friedman
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Fans of stories about food and fans of stories about queer life and love will find some pleasant common ground in Gengoroh Tagame's Fish and Water. With a setup reminiscent of Sakaomi Yuzaki's award-nominated She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, it is very easy to enjoy this story about two men who share memories and meals as they become more than just friends. There's quite a bit of double-entendre in their banter, which seems natural somehow.

It is still relatively early during the COVID pandemic in this manga, so both Koji and Akira wear masks in public, something that is very rarely represented in manga as a whole. As a result, Koji and Akira discuss life during the pandemic, and we see how it affected small businesses and other historical relics of life just a few years ago. Koji and Akira do talk about expectations of the 21st century versus their hopes. There is also a moment of apparently significant cultural weight that leads into the above discussion that lacked context for this reader. I understood that the moment was somber, but was unable to determine what it specifically referred to.

This manga has a finger on the pulse of life during serialization; just expect food to be the star, lightly seasoned with gay romance.

Rebecca Silverman
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Somewhere between She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat and What Did You Eat Yesterday? lives Gengoroh Tagame's Fish and Water. Like those other two, this is a queer love story that's only about food, insofar as food brings two people together. Akira's job often means that he ends up with boxes of veggies, but he doesn't cook. His friend Koji does, and so the two strike an arrangement: Akira will supply the fresh vegetables, and Koji will whip up an amazing meal. As their time together goes on, they find themselves trying to make up excuses to eat together, as if “I want to spend time with you” doesn't count as enough of a reason.

The back copy frames this as a question of sexual orientation, but I never actually got that impression reading the book, possibly because of who the creator is. (And you just can't top Tagame for lovingly drawn muscular male bodies, a skill on full display here despite the G rating.) The flashback chapter at the end makes it clear that Akira always knew Koji was gay – he was at the wedding where they met with a boyfriend – but Koji isn't sure that Akira is. Although I personally never questioned it, and Tagame does an excellent job of showing the attraction between the two, apparently we're supposed to wonder. But the story neither gains nor loses anything from this; whether you interpret the hesitancy as a question of orientation uncertainty or as two friends unsure what taking things to a different level might do, there's an excellent sense of yearning and nervousness in each interaction. Even if you don't care about the food, watching Akira and Koji talk and eat is superb, and other romance authors should take note.

Tagame wrote this during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he does a good job of capturing how it felt. Koji's life doesn't change much because he works from home, but the worry about wearing masks, interacting with the public, and trying to figure out what's okay and what's not is depicted very well. (Even down to that “I'm going to drown!” feeling if your mask gets wet.) It helps create a closed world for Koji and Akira that works to bring them together more quickly than they might otherwise have moved, but again, that feels natural when you remember those not-so-far-off days.

Fish and Water is a well-written, well-drawn book. It's a snapshot of two men finding happiness, bonding over food, and realizing the real draw is the time they spend together. It's a great place to start your Gengoroh Tagame journey and a treat if you're already a fan.