Manga Review: Idol Dreams, Volume 1, by Arina Tanemura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 3, 2015

Volumes: 2+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

At age 31, office worker Chikage Deguchi feels she missed her chances at love and success. When word gets out that she’s a virgin, Chikage is humiliated and wishes she could turn back time to when she was still young and popular. She takes an experimental drug that changes her appearance back to when she was 15. Now Chikage is determined to pursue everything she missed out on all those years ago—including becoming a star!

Review: 

This is Tanemura’s current series, and in this one she switched magazines, which means it has a different feel to it.

The main character is a thirty-one year old who’s extremely unhappy with her life. When she gets the chance to be fifteen again, she jumps at it. Thinking that if she had a chance to re-do her life as a kid, her romantic life in particular, maybe she’d be better off now.

Firstly, Chikage is very depressed at the beginning, even thinking about killing herself. She’s so unhappy, and it’s hard to watch. Seeing an adult so stuck on her teen years is hard to take. And then she becomes a teen, and starts crushing on her partner in a modeling shoot. On the plus side, though, she is actually attempting to change herself for the better.

I’m mostly unsure where this is going. As an adult, Chikage has a friend from high school, a sweet guy who still has a crush on her, but might have a girlfriend? Then when she’s a teen, she’s falling for this teen idol. But, you know, she’s actually an adult. I don’t know how I feel about this whole thing. I don't know if this is supposed to be aimed more at teens or adults.

Undoubtedly, though, I will be sticking with this series. I’ve read all of Tanemura’s series at this point, and look forward to getting more into this one. It reminds me a bit of Full Moon, what with the age change, but less supernatural. And if you’ve enjoyed any of her previous series, I would definitely recommend picking it up.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, and Erik Jansen from MediaLab PR. Thank you so, so much!