Once again, it is my great pleasure to welcome guest reviewer Luce back to Okazu!

In volume 1 and volume 2, we met and got to know Sakiko, a shy girl who is a big fan of an idol group Spring Sunshine, and Chihiro, her favourite member, who sits next to her in school. Alongside is Maaya, an obsessive fan who is very focused on Chihiro as well, and their school lives together.

Volume 3 of My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over begins with the fallout of the confession – Chihiro thanks him but doesn’t accept, and is not impressed by Sakiko and Maaya’s interference, unsurprisingly, seeing it as unfair to her and Tanaka. Sakiko has a photography club competition with the theme of friends – but she can’t put a photo of Chihiro in as it goes on the website. They change into summer clothes and Sakiko notices. They have swimming lessons and her and Maaya both notice. They have finals at the same time as an album release, and Chihiro has some doubts about her idol life…? Finally, Spring Sunshine are announced for a big summer rock festival! Whilst this means Chihiro isn’t free much, Sakiko and Maaya are still thrilled. Upon getting there, though, they meet up with the girl in their class who was somewhat disparaging of Spring Shine…?

I’ve noticed that this series has a lot happen, because things wrap themselves up quite fast – not too fast, but they’re not endlessly dwelled upon. There aren’t many ‘wasted’ panels, not so many lingering looks or agonising thought monologues. It does what it needs to do – it helps that Chihiro, by nature of her being away from school so often, has to make the most of it when she is there, and Maaya is always driven to get closer and interact more with Chihiro, so we have two driving forces who are not shy about what they want. Sakiko is almost a different person from who she was in the first volume, which as I said last time, is great to see. Being able to be up front about her interests and becoming friends with Chihiro has done her a world of good.

This volume brings them into summer – which means summer uniforms with shorter sleeves, a heat wave, and swimming lessons. As such, the yuri quotient has gone up – not in a service kind of way, but Sakiko outright thinks herself a pervert for noticing Chihiro in a way she hasn’t really before. It’s pretty innocent, really, things like her pale upper arms and her neck, but it definitely makes it onto the yuri front. The swimming chapter is pretty funny, as Maaya distinctly can not deal, although Sakiko only does a bit better. When Sakiko promises to cheer for any prospective crushes Chihiro might have in future, Maaya… can’t. Possession? Love? I’m still not sure.

We get a bit of backstory for Chihiro in this volume, and some focus on her doubts about the reality of being an idol. One of the things that I actually really like about this manga is that it doesn’t idolise Chihiro – Sakiko and Maaya do, but the manga itself portrays her as a real person, who happens to be an idol. It actually does the same with the rest of Spring Shine. But she works through her doubts and fears about missing things and, with the help of the other two, comes out more sure of her direction. It was nice to see.

Story: 8
Art: 9 (I’ve noticed that everyone’s face is subtly different, something I like in manga)
Yuri: 6
Service: 3? Swimsuits and short sleeves. It’s the tamest service I’ve ever seen
Overall: 9

I’m a little sad this isn’t coming out as a physical book, honestly, I’m enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. In Volume 4, Sakiko meets the girl who made fun of Spring Shine at the festival, and the summer concert!