Manga Review: Idol Dreams, Volume 6, by Arina Tanemura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2019

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Chikage Deguchi, age 31, reverts her appearance back to age 15 to pursue love and success as an idol!

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!

To pursue missed chances at love and success, 31-year-old Chikage Deguchi takes an experimental drug that changes her appearance back to how she looked at age 15. Brokenhearted after Tokita’s engagement, Chikage writes the lyrics of a new song to express her emotions as Akari. But her producer Hibiki has suddenly gone missing…

Review:

This volume has two big moments. First, Hibiki's sister grows seriously sick, and he has to try to help and try to cope. I don't know how I feel about how this is handled, since it kind of feels too quick, but also it's kind of a hard situation to put a timeline on.

In the second half of the volume, the adults take the stage, and have some wedding and baby drama. I had kind of thought this was done with, so I was a little surprised that more drama showed up. Also kind of not, though, cause these characters are kind of a mess. It makes me wonder more about where the main romance is going, though. This opens up another possibility I'd thought was closed.

I'm really not sure where this is going next, or how long this series is going to be. It feels like some things are concluding, but then even more issues show up and change things. I don't even know how to feel with the age differences anymore, either, since I don't know what romance is actually happening anymore.

Manga Review: Idol Dreams, Volume 5, by Arina Tanemura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2018

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Chikage Deguchi, age 31, reverts her appearance back to age 15 to pursue love and success as an idol!

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!

To pursue missed chances at love and success, 31-year-old Chikage Deguchi takes an experimental drug that changes her appearance back to how she looked at age 15. Chikage meets Tokita’s girlfriend for the first time and is shocked to discover that she knows her! Even worse, she knows his girlfriend has been cheating on him…

Review:

Chikage faces a real challenge as her teen idol self as the volume starts. Someone has sabotaged her costume right before she's to go on stage, and so she has to think quick to fix things and put on a good performance, if she really wants to do this thing. As she continues to work hard, and her relationship with Hibiki grows, the plot strays away from her and to Tokita for most of the volume.

We discover who Tokita has been dating this whole time, a surprise connection with Chikage, and there's some drama as they fight. It's a surprising plot line to me, though the connection makes a little sense. It's also surprising to me how it wraps up, since it definitely narrows down Chikage's pool of boys.

Despite how this series started, it's matured a bit, I think. Or, at least, Chikage seems to have grown up at least a little. It's also wrapping up in ways that make me suspect the series might not go on for too much longer. It's definitely gotten better, though, which is good. And I look forward to the next release more than the previous ones, whether it'll be a while or not.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Idol Dreams, Volume 4, by Arina Tanemura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3-3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2017

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Chikage Deguchi, age 31, reverts her appearance back to age 15 to pursue love and success as an idol!

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!

To pursue missed chances at love and success, 31-year-old Chikage Deguchi takes an experimental drug that changes her appearance back to how she looked at age 15. Chikage tells Tokita she’s decided to date the teenage Ru as her 15-year-old self, and Tokita wonders how things might have been different if he had confessed his feelings for her back in high school…

Review:

Chikage has started dating Ru, the less obvious choice for her teen self. This brings about all kinds of conflicted thoughts for the reader, and her other male contenders, but Chikage herself doesn't seem to notice. She's in a honeymoon world of her own, thinking everything is working out for once.

I must admit that I appreciated the turnout for that relationship. Chikage realized what their relationship was doing, and decided to be the mature adult for once, and make the correct, though hurtful, decision that she does. That felt like a step in the right direction, and I was surprised by how quickly it happened, but we'll see.

I will admit that Chikage has pretty much taken on two full-time jobs, as two different people, and so it makes sense that one—if not both—of those jobs are going to take a hit, as we see in this volume.

This volume took an upward leap for me, so I'm hoping the next volume continues that path.

Manga Review: Idol Dreams, Volume 3, by Arina Tanemura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: September 6, 2016

Volumes: 3+

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon.

Volume: 1. 2.

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!

To pursue missed chances at love and success, 31-year-old Chikage Deguchi takes an experimental drug that changes her appearance back to how she looked at age 15. Chikage meets Tokita and her first love, Haru, for drinks. Tokita has been able to keep his feelings for Chikage a secret, but Haru isn’t fooled…

Review:

In this volume, we get to see adult Chikage go on a date with her long-time crush from high school. This is good for her, though conflicting for the two men fighting for her and trying to be amicable to each other. Chikage has little experience, but it seems like this could be good for her to grow.

And then that half ends and Chikage goes back to being a teenager with two boys fighting over her. One of whom confesses, though I mostly feel bad for him. Because it’s clearly not going to work in his favor, and it’s just going to get messy from here.

I’m kind of annoyed that Chikage has at least four boys in love with her, two for each age. I’m also not a fan of her being a teenager again. I think her adult age is more interesting and more honest, so her changing to a kid so often bothers me.

I want to like this series more than I do. It’s Tanemura, so of course I like it on some level, but I really hope it gets better soon.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Idol Dreams, Volume 2, by Arina Tanemura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: March 1, 2016

Volumes: 3+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1.

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!

Chikage has debuted as the 15-year-old Akari, but now she must compete with Yuko to have Hibiki produce her CD. Tokita, the only one who knows Chikage’s secret, continues to help her while trying to atone for the past...

Review:

I’m a forever fan of Tanemura, honestly. So even if I’m a little unsure of this series, even when it’s just okay, I’m enjoying it. I just love her work, her art and how she writes. I always will.

We get to see inside Tokita’s head in this volume, find out what happened when they were teenagers and why he feels the way he does about Chikage. Then we get a glimpse of who Hibiki really is on his time off, that he actually has a big family of siblings to take care of—which works in making me like him more.

Aside from the boys, we continue to see Chikage striving to make herself a better person, pushing herself to be a good idol and learning what that really entails. I do like getting to see adult Chikage growing, finding herself again, while trying to also be teen idol Akari. I like seeing such a mature struggle in a shojo-ish manga. (I know this is technically being called josei, but it just doesn't feel like it to me. It's more like half-and-half.)

I am enjoying this series so far. I’m not sure how I feel about Chikage changing age and the weird relationship she has with two very different aged boys. But definitely still reading.

Also: Tanemura mentions a second series she’s releasing at the same time as this one, and honestly I really really want to see more about that. Pick that one up too please?

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

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!