Yippee! A whole volume of this manga in which I never once wanted to shake the daylights out of the creator!

Ahem.

But seriously, Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 8 (推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ) was… nice. No obnoxious jokes about Maina and Eripyo not being able to communicate in an excruciating way.

The volume begins with a nice juxtaposition of the Cham-Jam members delving into Youtube videos and dreaming about more opportunities (as well as Aya eating her weight in doughnuts.) This smoothly dovetails into several collaborations between Cham Jam and singers from other groups (notably, Reo’s old group Maple Doll.) Once again, the personal lives and relationships of the other girls in Cham Jam is the best part of the story.

And then the volume winds down and I steeled myself for the dumb joke du jour. And it came, as I expected it would.

There is a running gag in the series that Okayama, where Cham Jam performs, is best known for being the setting of the story of Momotarou. Cham Jam always brings kibi dango with them as a gift, because that’s the local souvenir. More specifically, because they can never think of another notable thing about Okayama. So, Cham Jam is invited on another group’s show and they are struggling to come up with something unique about Okayama, beyond kibi dango.  Maina is wearing a cute shirt and is asked if it’s a local exclusive brand. Embarrassed, she admits it’s a 480 yen shirt – at which point her adorableness is discovered by the world at large. Suddenly, Maina becomes “480-chan.” Obsessed with 480-chan, Eripyo buys things for 480 yen, talks about 480 yen, to the point of mania. (So, no change for her, really.)  At their next appearance, “480-chan” has a line of fans waiting to get a handshake! Eripyo is blown away that she’s actually got to stand on line to speak to Maina  – she is in heaven! Ecstatic that Maina has been discovered at last, Eripyo cannot wait to see her favorite.

When she finally sees Maina for the first time in a while, Eripyo starts to call her “480-chan…” but stops. Maina, for once(!) figures out what’s going on in time and asks Eripyo to call her to please call her “Maina.” Eripyo turns to the line behind her and calls out “Her name isn’t 480-chan, it’s Icchii Maina!”…then she turns back to Maina. I actually cheered, as she said, “Right, Maina-chan?” And Maina smiles and says “Right!”

I practically cried with relief. Thank goodness. A whole volume without once wanting to commit an act of violence.  I ought to give it a 10 just for that…..

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9 I didn’t hate a single page. It’s a Cham Jam miracle!
Character – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – They had a conversation and it wasn’t incoherent. 10

Overall – 10 There.  Good job, Hirao-sensei. See? You can do it.

You can find this manga on Amazon JP, Bookwalker JP (where I read it) or CD Japan, if you’d like one <bleep>ing volume of this series that isn’t utterly enraging. ^_^