Suppli

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Suppli (サプリ sapuri) is a manga series by Mari Okazaki. It concerns the life of career woman Minami Fujii, a single 27-year-old office worker in an advertising agency. She lives the average life, being very work oriented and in love with her boyfriend until he, well, dumps her at the end of the first chapter.

Thrust back into the world of relationships, Minami decides to reconnect with her fellow employees and with people in general.

The manga was published in English by TokyoPop. It got up to Volume 5 before Tokyopop shut down.


Tropes used in Suppli include:


  • Adorkable: Fujii.
  • Adult Child: Fujii and Ishida, two folks who are remain impressively innocent for their age. Kouda also counts.
  • Attention Whore: Amano, who decides to try and come between Ishida and Watanabe because she has nothing to do at work.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: Watanabe pursues Ishida because he's interested in Fujii. She ends up being frustrated when she can't get him to give up on her.
  • Bottle Fairy: Fujii and her fellow employees drink at every opportunity.
  • Broken Ace: Tanaka seems to be the perfect woman, with the exception of her affair.
  • But Not Too Foreign: Wherever the other half of Sahara's blood comes from, it's not Japan.
  • Camp Gay: Mita is hilarious.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Ogiwara is unaware that Fujii knows he's also involved with Tanaka.
  • Career Versus Man: Fujii's boyfriend gets fed up with her because he doesn't want to compete with her job anymore.
    • Kouda points this out as the main reason why Yugi won't just marry him. She can't do it all and it bothers her.
  • Christmas Cake:Yugi, Fujii and Hirano. Watanabe's interest in Ishida is partly to curtail this.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Watanabe and Tanaka are both worried that Fujii will take their lovers. See Be Careful What You Wish For for Watanabe. Tanaka, on the other hand, is a married woman having an affair.
  • Cool Big Sis: Hirano and Yugi to Fujii. Tanaka is introduced as this but eventually becomes The Rival.
  • Executive Meddling: Damn you, TokyoPop.
  • Genre Savvy: Mita and Yugi can call pretty much everything Fujii does.
  • Handsome Lech: Sahara has some shades of this is this.
  • Hello, Nurse!: Fujii, despite not dressing or being particularly sexy at all, manages to attract the attentions of Ishida, Ogiwara and Sahara, as a result of childishness and her work ethic.
  • Imagine Spot: Fujii has quite a few.
  • Important Haircut: Tanaka cuts her hair after Ogiwara leaves for New York.
  • Jerkass Facade: More like Pervert Facade, as Sahara's womanizing masks his issues with his race and family.
  • Josei
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Watanabe. Can you guess the other reason why Amano is interested in Ishida?
  • The Mistress: Ogiwara to Tanaka. She even insists that every working woman should have one!
    • Yugii says she's this to her boyfriend. She's lying, Kouda's wife is dead.
  • My Biological Clock Is Ticking
  • Office Lady
  • One of Us: Fujii is a bit of a dork.
  • Oranyan: Ishida.
  • Plucky Office Girl: Fujii is a little higher up in position than most examples but otherwise fits.
  • Poor Communication Kills: So much could be avoided if people grew spines and talked to each other.
  • Put on a Bus: After a three-book leadup and the promise of an epic battle, Ogiwara just kind of... vanishes in book 4, while Tanaka kind of drifts into the circle of friends as if nothing ever happened.
  • The Rival: Tanaka. Feminine, stylish, sociable and married.
  • Sexy Secretary: Watanabe certainly looks like one.
  • Through His Stomach: Watanabe and Fujii try this. Doesn't quite work.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Yugi and Fujii, Fujii and Watanabe and Fujii and Tanaka.
  • White Collar Worker
  • Your Cheating Heart: All over the place. Ogiwara can't choose between Fujii and Tanaka. Tanaka can't let go of Ogiwara despite her being married. Despite now being in a relationship with Watanabe, Ishida still can't get over Fujii.
    • This reaches new heights in books 4 and 5. Sahara carries on a relationship with two women, Fujii, who admits she should know better by now and a young assistant stylist. Fujii's new employee/trainee Amano decides she won't leave well enough alone and is trying to come between Ishida and Watanabe, who, up until that point, looked like they finally got it together.