Manga Review: Not Your Idol, Volume 1, by Aoi Makino

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: May 2020

Volumes: 2 (Hiatus)

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 2.

 

Goodreads Synopsis

 

After that day, she stopped being a girl.

In the wake of an assault, Nina Kamiyama, a former idol in the group Pure Club, shuns her femininity and starts dressing as a boy. At high school she keeps to herself, but fellow student Hikaru Horiuchi realizes who she is. What secrets is she keeping? The shocking drama starts.

 

Review:

 

I was thoroughly warned of the subject matter in this series, which both made me curious and wary. With this kind of topic, it can be tricky to handle it. And I don't know that I've seen too many great ways in manga, so I was definitely interested. I needed to be in the right mind set, though.

Nina was a very popular idol, but one day when she was attacked, she stepped away from it all and didn't quite know how to recover.

There's definitely some petty drama being started here, with some jealous high school girls. There's also the suspense of knowing that Nina had a stalker, and that person might still be out there watching her, waiting to attack again. When a popular boy at school starts paying attention to Nina, and even supports her in her actions against sexual harassment on a couple of other girls, suspicion starts to form.

I'm intrigued by this series. It's handling harassment in an okay way so far, and then that cliffhanger has me curious for where it's going next. I'm also intrigued by how Nina is dealing with her femininity. From being an idol, in very short and frilly clothes, to dressing in pants and long sleeves and short hair, is a big difference. It touches on how these changes affected her, whether she likes them and how it might have affected the attack and how she feels about all of it. I definitely think there's more to see in all of this, though.

I'm intrigued, and I want to know more. This series is apparently on hiatus, though, so I'm not sure how much more or where we'll be leaving off in the next volume.

Manga Review: Crown of Love, Volume 4, by Yun Kouga

4 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Viz Media

Goodreads Synopsis:

How far would you go for love?
Sixteen-year-old Hisayoshi "Kumi" Tajima wasn't looking for love. But after he accidentally bumps into teen idol Rima Fujio, he can't stop thinking about her. Living worlds apart, he'll never have a chance to meet her again. Until Rima's former agent Ikeshiba gives him the perfect opportunity—by turning Hisayoshi into an idol himself! Too bad Rima only sees him as competition for Ikeshiba's attention...

Review:

I started this series a while ago but just recently finished it. It feels like there's a lot to take in with each book, like there's a lot of drama, or it's really emotional, or just full of stuff, but I don't really know if that's true. It just seems like a heavy series, or something. So it took me a while to finish it.

I read 3 and 4 together, so this might turn a bit into a re-cap of both of them.

In volume 3, Kumi meets Rima's mother, and Kumi meests this girl that's having problems in her love life that leaves an impression on him. And then Kumi and Rima have a serious relationship, where Kumi tells her that the next time she tells him she hates him, he'll take it seriously. So of course she immediately tells him that she does and then regrets it. The volume ends with Ikeshiba making a move on Rima, which she believes she wants, but it turns out that she's uncomfortable with it.

The volume starts with Rima getting home, confused with her feeling, and her mom wondering what is going on, and then calling Kumi. Oh, Rima and her mom also made up in the previous volume, and are living together again. Kumi's all upset because of his conversation with Rima earlier that day and doesn't want to answer, but does and talks with Rima's mom.

Within the next chapter, Kumi decides to run away. He doesn't do a very good job of it, because he leaves a note and then calls Ikeshiba not long after leaving. He ends up staying at a hotel like place, and the place catches on fire. He gets away from it mostly alright, and immediately heads back to town and goes to Rima's place. She's all scandalized because it's late and she's having a hard time with trying to deny her feelings for him. They have a conversation through the door and then she lets him in and there's a very intense kissing scene. It's very sweet and hot.

After that there's mostly just some closing scenes with other characters, closing some plot lines. Yurie has a conversation with Rima, claiming that she's still not going to give up on Kumi. I don't particularly like Yurie. She won't give up on Kumi and she should, he's already told her that he doesn't like her like that, and she mostly whiny and cowardly when going to Rima about Kumi. Kumi and Rima also have to work out some stuff with work because they're going out now.

Kumi and Rima are very intense and sweet together, not backing down about anything, and they're very honest about being together. It's cute, really. I actually kind of like Rima; she's kind of a spitfire, always going on the defensive. And I do like Kumi. He's sweet and honest. They're both still a bit immature and obviously need to grow up some more, but they've grown up some since the beginning of the series and will no doubt continue to do so.

I wasn't a big fan of the series at the beginning, but I actually do quite like it now, at the end. My feelings for it grew the more I read, which I'm glad for.