I'll preface my review by pointing out that there may be many fans of the Isekai genre out there but I'm not one of them as I find it tends to get extremely formulaic in almost all variants of the trope. That said, this title subverted my expectations from page one since the heroine isn't the isekai'd one but the villainess-but-not-really (another common trope) who instead of being depicted as a misunderstood character is soon established as the target of a conspiracy. From here on the setting switches to have an unexpected backdrop of political intrigue against which the main couple have an excellent balance of kinky smut scenes and fluff romance. I'm currently hooked to their story and hope I'll soon discover where the machinations of their enemies and Michael's fierce protection of Lucienne will take the next chapters. Please update soon, Renta!

[Mild spoilers ahead]This manga has quickly become one of my favourites in Renta. Following a clichéd beginning populated by standard elements (timid femaled lead who's a virgin, handsome and popular male lead, initial dub-con encounter) the story and especially the characters grow and develop in a mature way: Rika is shown to be painfully introverted and unsuited to her job because of it but the author doesn't make her conveniently useless at work so the male lead has to “rescue” her (I personally hate that trope), but becomes more assertive and develops her career to a better direction. Chiaki, the male protagonist, doesn't play it cool all the time and even owns up to his own actions to realise his initial encounter with Rika wasn't entirely consensual, and apologizes several times throughout the story (at least up to chapter 22). All in all I see a very well-rounded relationship with tons of communication, close to zero unnecessary drama, and hot sex scenes. 100% recommended!

As much as I love Josei/Mature Romance manga I have to admit that most of them are essentially porn with plot and are plagued with clichés deeply rooted in Japanese social conventions. Show It To Me, Baby! takes some of these clichés and throws them out the window to construct a story in which we have characters balancing their work lives and personal matters in a refreshing way. We have realistic depictions of long distance relationships and challenging family expectations; the age difference isn't a kink but an obstacle for the main couple to work around. Special kudos for not introducing the rivals as some sort of cackling villains but actual people with feelings that can't be reciprocated and for making Asahi a hard working woman who tries her best and doesn't always succeed but doesn't need Kouya to come “save her” from sudden bouts of incompetence. The smut isn't as abundant as in other series but it's steamy and somehow feels earned, maybe because the plot is so well crafted.