Yamanaka, Matcha Made in Heaven, Volume 3 Cover, Kodansha.
Matcha Made in Heaven – Information
Author of Story: Umebachi Yamanaka
Chapter Count: 14 volumes, around 56 chapters
Status: Ongoing
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Trauma
- Misogyny
- Loss
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Matcha Made in Heaven – Plot Summary
Matcha Made in Heaven is a josei manga series with a fun and cute premise. The main character of this manga is Hananokoi Chako (“cha” means tea in Japanese, teehee), a 28-year-old woman who was a fitness instructor in the city.
However, Chako became fed up with the men around her underestimating her and treating her like an object every day. To make matters worse, she had a horrible experience with her ex-fiancé who won’t seem to leave her alone.
To escape from her exhaustion and frustrating ex-relationship situation, she decides to move back home. Although her parents have passed, her brother Yabuki took over their family’s tea farm, so she is confident she’ll have a place to stay.
When she arrives, she meets an unknown man by the name of Isshin Kazashi living in her family home, along with Yabuki and his daughter Futaba (whom Chako hasn’t met)! Unfortunately, Futaba’s mother has passed, and so Isshin cares for her while Yabuki works.
After a short time at the farm, Chako’s ex-fiancé randomly shows up to harass her. In a panic to fend him off, she declares (very loudly) that she’s married to Isshin… thus starting a fun fake-relationship trope!
I really love the tea-themed story and setting, it is so fun and wholesome. I also like the English title, such a cute little pun! With that being said, let’s jump into the full review.
Yamanaka, Matcha Made in Heaven, Volume 2 Cover, Kodansha.
Why I Enjoyed Matcha Made in Heaven
This story is very sweet. Chako and Isshin, although they don’t really get along from the start, clearly will do anything for Futaba (who does not have a “normal” family or mother figure). Therefore, they continue their fake relationship to keep her happy as well as for their own personal benefits.
It’s a really cute take on the fake relationship trope, and this manga also incorporates an interesting topic throughout the story. I never would have known about tea leaves or farming leaves at all, yet this manga shows the topic in engaging and enjoyable ways. The setting and tea theme feels both fitting and unique for a romance story.
The character design feels perfect for a josei as well. Our main character looks her age and is very pretty and mature, while the male lead is a more scruffy sort of guy.
This manga is great for readers who want a more masculine ML and to take a break from all the slender baby-faced shoujo boys, haha. Isshin is very rough around the edges as well as hardworking.
However, he definitely is a bit rough with Chako and seems to not have the best impression of women. The relationship between him and Chako grows slowly and naturally, so if you like slow burns and some character-building, Matcha Made in Heaven is a good choice.
I mention character building because both of our main characters have some growing to do. Chako ran away from the city and her problems, with the desire to retire and not deal with anyone or anything. She wanted to pretend like she’d help with the farm so she could take a break (although getting away from her stalker is a totally valid reason for leaving).
Isshin on the other hand is a hard worker but he also works too hard. He doesn’t trust Chako from the start and takes on everything upon himself rather than relying on her.
He also says misogynistic things at the beginning of this story, and underestimates Chako. He’s just a rough guy in general. Luckily for us he slowly begins to open up (which is pretty endearing)!
So with both of these characters, we can look forward to character growth as well as progress in their relationship! The romance does build rather naturally in this story, and our characters have some challenges to overcome in order to have a successful relationship.
Any Cons?
Although I did enjoy reading the available chapters for Matcha Made in Heaven and it is still ongoing, I have a few things that stuck out to me. Firstly, the situation with Chako’s brother hasn’t been explained in detail much. How Isshin came to be the caretaker of Futaba is still a bit unknown.
We also have’t learned as to why Chako had no idea her brother had lost his wife and even had a child; as if they had zero communication for years. I feel like we need more information on that topic, but I also think it’s important to acknowledge as readers that different cultures have different ways of caring for children (and who the task is left to).
Yamanaka, Matcha Made in Heaven, Volume 5 Cover, Kodansha.
Secondly, our female lead gave me really good vibes at the start with her feminism and attitude of not putting up with men underestimating her. She seemed like she was tired of relationships and ready to care for herself.
That isn’t something you see very often in manga so I was impressed and excited! However, that personality trait quickly mellows and suddenly her standards seem really low later on (she’s easily impressed in my opinion). I’m not hating on Isshin too much, but I thought Chako would be a harder-to-win kind of woman.
Isshin on the other hand seems to have some pretty awful communication skills at the start, but gets a bit better with time. I also disliked a specific event where he was much too rough with Chako. Despite these negative traits, he also clearly cares a lot for Futaba and has a passion for tea, which still makes his character rather interesting.
There’s a lot of story and character growth I’m waiting to see, so hopefully in future chapters these cons will be solved for the most part!
Final Thoughts
Overall I still enjoyed Matcha Made in Heaven, especially the main plot with the tea farm and the two main characters working hard to keep the business going (and of course keeping sweet little Futaba happy). I’ve always liked the family-story romances and hope to see a sweet, happy ending for this one!
The tea theme is also very endearing and an enjoyable topic to learn about through a romance manga. Lastly, I especially hope to see more emotion and sweetness from Isshin, and more progress in the relationship between the two main characters.
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Yamanaka, Umebachi. Matcha Made in Heaven. Kodansha, 2022. https://kodansha.us/series/matcha-made-in-heaven/.
