I love this series, so I'm very happy that this manga volume is just like its anime adaptation, except in print. It made me laugh again. It's still my favourite police series, because it rejects all the genre's usual formulae. If our heroines (Kawai Mai and Fuji Seiko) ever do anything exciting here like chasing a suspect, this will be a subversion with a comedy punchline and the whole thing will have been a waste of Kawai's time. She's not there to prevent evil or protect society. Her motivations are to get through the working day and get paid. The only outright criminals in this volume are apprehended immediately with no fuss and what's interesting about them is their dialogue scenes afterwards with the police.

1. The career burglar in chapter 1 has a lovely chat at the station and almost becomes Kawai's tutor.

2. That shoplifting granny wanted to be arrested by a handsome policeman and will be merciless to anyone who dares to be female.

3. Then there's the teenage prostitute whose interview is so filthy that Kawai Mai needs a translator (and her male colleagues are useless). Kawai doesn't understand half the words that this girl cheerfully uses to describe her activities. I nearly died.

Incidentally, I was right in assuming that the 2022 anime adaptation was far more faithful to the manga than the 2021 live-action drama. The latter couldn't resist the temptation to be a conventional TV cop show.

This first volume's art is a bit naive, though. I quite like its simple lines and expressive faces, but I'm interested in seeing how Yasu's art has evolved since then. Anyway, this manga has been running since 2017, has won awards and has millions of copies in circulation. It deserves it all. Recommended.