In If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Volume 5, the members of Cham Jam make it to Tokyo. And, while they do not get to perform at the Budokan…or even the other, smaller, Budokan…they are filled with a renewed sense of purpose and gain some new fans.

Eripyo is glad the group has new fans, she is no longer Maina’s only fan…but that puts her in awkward place. Yay, Maina is more popular!, but Eri’s not her one and only any more. Of course, yes, she is and Maina has eyes for no one else. Even though they manage to have an almost normal conversation over a handshake, neither Maina nor Eripyo manage to sake anything of importance, leaving everything they want to say hanging. As always.

It has been six years, *six* years, since I read this book in Japanese. And yet, the sense of desperation and obsession clings to me, still. So when I picked up this volume, I sat down to it much as one does to a meal of leftovers that were just alright the first time and won’t be better now. ^_^; Of course, I know what we’re in for and want to warn you that the next few volumes are just going to double, triple and quadruple down on Eripyo and Maina just not being able to communicate and Volume 7 is, enraging, because it is *almost an excellent volume.* And then, once out of the well*, the story starts to get better somehow.

But as I read this volume, my words from 6 years ago come back to haunt me. “The more I read this story, the more I desperately hope it’s meant to be a cutting commentary on the utterly brutal idol industry, and the equally brutal hobby of being an idol group otaku. Otherwise, it fills me with despair. (Yeah, I know, I know, I keep bringing it on myself.) The idea that this manga is getting an anime is already annoying, but it will probably be meant to be a comedy and I will just want the world to burn.” As we know, to make it a comedy, the anime removed much of the worst parts of the manga to leave us feeling as it was actually a comedy. So if you watched the anime and came to manga from that…the next few volumes are gonna be rough, I’m sorry.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – There is one, yes
Character – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 3 I was convince when I read this the first time that there was another couple among the members of Cham Jam, I know now that, yes, there is.

Overall – 7

I’ll end with another quote from that review 6 years ago, ““Their eyes meet, they have a conversation, no plants fall and Eri doesn’t end up injured. They are practically married.”

*Many ages ago my father told me of a story in which a person was stuck in a well, with no way to get out, at which point the next chapter began, “Once out of the well…”. This parable reminds us that there is lazy writing and there is lazy writing.

Phew. Now that Christian took us over the hump of Volume 2, in which neither Maina nor Eri act in any way approaching the way normal humans might, We arrive at Volume 3 of If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan I Would Die, where they are marginally less not human. 

The first-ever ranking contest results are in and through an amazingly tortured and unreal set of circumstances, Eri comes too late to make a difference in the rankings. Main is, yet again, disappointed for the wrong reasons, until she learns that Eri bought her CDs anyway and runs after her Number 1 fan, but missing her because of an amazingly tortured and unreal set of circumstances. But the Christmas concert comes and although Reo is still center, the girls make their best efforts at giving their fans the kind of service they want – callouts, special gestures, handshakes – and, for the holiday a fraught gift a three shot! Why an idol group would sow dissension among their otaku by requiring them to pick a second fave is beyond me, but perhaps management forgot that otaku live and die by single-minded, creepily possessive obsession?

Importantly, Eri and Maina make each other very happy by saying something mostly-incoherent, but this time at least positive to one another! Yay! Maybe we past their inability to communicate? Hahahah, no, obviously not. This is a Hirao Auri manga and no one important will ever have a meaningful conversation.

The manga ends with the Cham Jam girls and their fans accidentally being at the local shrine at the same time for New Year’s…and the news that Cham Jam will be participating in this year’s Okayama Idol Fest…and so will with the girls who were in Reo’s old group. shock!

I said we’re “over the hump,” and in one sense we are. There will be less torturing of Eri from Volume 4 onward, but this volume is still firmly rooted in the idea that hurting Eri, and Eri and Maina not managing to talk is super hilarious, and not massively stressful. On the other hand, the members of Cham Jam are actually lovely when they are together. You can really see how much they like one another and really believe in themselves, which is incredibly charming. The shrine scene is a reminder that whoever they are up on stage, idols are people, too.  Cham Jam seems like a group you could really get behind.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story –  Still frustrating but I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if I can’t see it yet.
Character – 8
Service – Pleasantly, 0
Yuri – 4 Hovering at “I think I feel something for you, but can’t put a finger on it,” to “I can’t look you in the eyes, but don’t know why” with potential

Overall – 8

Tokyopop does a very good job of making this series as fun as possible which, at least for a few more volumes, is not very much. But IF you love idol culture and love insights into both sides of the struggle – what idols and their fans go through – this is probably one of the most realistic manga out there. Idol culture is a niche of it’s own and has it’s own language and rituals. Thanks very much to Tokyopop for today’s review copy and for the excellent work by the entire team for bringing this title over.