Eri is a fan. Not just a regular fan, but a full-on fanatic. Her favorite idol is a singer with Cham Jam, a small, not-well-known idol group from Okayama, in western Japan. Eri has given her life over to support her idol, who is very cute, pathologically shy and almost always in the back row. While her fellow fans shout their support for the main three, Eri enthusiastically lets Maina know she’s got at least one fan.

The problem is, that neither Eri nor Maina can seem to communicate. Eri tries to give Maina her support, but is awkward and incompetent…and the author will complicate this in maddening ways. Maina is apparently unable to understand Eri or communicate with her in any way that makes sense, setting these two up for a frustrating relationship in which two people who appreciate each other are completely unable to express that to each other. 

This is on top of what I have to believe is a critical look about the mutually manipulative relations between idols and fans, because if it I believed it were really only cheap jokes, I would collapse in tears.

If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Volume 1 has come out in English and I still don’t know what to think about it. It’s well executed. If you read my reviews of the 8 volumes I’ve read so far, you’ll see me go through a whole journey and back. ^_^; 

This is what I said about this first volume in Japanese, back in 2016. “So used am I to feeling frustration born of absolute disinterest in hideously boring characters in previous Hirao Auri manga series, that reading Hirao Auri’s new manga, Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 1（推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ）instilled in me a wholly new feeling – frustration because I actually care about the characters! It’s a completely different feeling, I assure you. ^_^”

I have been wearing this series like an albatross around my neck for 7 years. So, like the Ancient Mariner (wow, two classic literature references in a week, I’m on a roll!) let me warn you: This series is not light comedy. It pretends to be light comedy and we are supposed to be laughing.  I have laughed out loud once that I can think of in 8 volumes – which is *still* a better record than I had with Hirao-sensei’s previous long-running series Manga no Tsukurikata. It does get better. It’s a slow crawl, but it does get better and, funnier.

I really like the otaku group. They aren’t all one thing, but we really get to see a side of the idol/fan relationship we don’t tend to see if we’re not part of it. And the Cham Jam girls are nice, as well. You don’t feel yucky liking them

If you are interested in a mockumentary about provincial idol groups, with a highly improbable main Yuri relationship (and a few actual side ones, and a business Yuri relationship or two, for flavor) this is a solid series. As light comedy, it’s agonizing.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Frustrating, but there is hope for a decent payoff; some moments of joy, no matter how brief
Character – 8
Service – Not really, except for it being a pop idol group, but even the costumes aren’t creepy.
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

Thanks very much to Tokyopop for the review copy. It reminded me of all the feelings I have about the idol – and fan – industry. And Hirao-sensei. ^_^

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. ^_^

In Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 6 ( 推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ ), we meet another local idol group, the Starlights, when the two groups end up in a double show out in the Starlights’ home, Kagawa, across the Mizushima Gulf from Cham Jam’s home base in Okayama. The Starlights are a perfect foil for Cham Jam.

As the Cham Jam members start to do some research, they wistfully notice that the Starlights have a lot of female fans. It turns out that two of the members, Ryoka and Kana, are an apparent couple. On stage they are all love-love, but it’s an act, it’s business Yuri.

Eri bribes a coworker to attend a show with her, in response to a canned request from Maina. At the Kagawa,show  Eri pretends to be from Kagawa in order to shake Maina’s hands for free, at which point something occurred to me. A great deal of manga and anime – especially what passes for romantic comedy in anime and manga – is predicated upon the idea that two people just never have the conversation they need to have. This series is exactly like that, obviously. But it also is complicated by the fact that both Eri and Maina overthink things in oddball kind of way. It reminds me a lot of National Lampoon’s Doon.*

“Then-”
“Yes,” he said.
“So therefore-”
“Exactly, Mother.”
Her eyes widened in horror. “You cannot!” she hissed.

Every conversation sounds exactly like this to me. Maina says something banal and Eri misinterprets it, then vice versa.

That aside, this book is the closest to being a reasonable facsimile of a mockumentary about provincial idol groups. And! For the very first time, I laughed out loud at a joke in a Hirao Auri manga. The top three of the Starlights get all bent out of shape at the Momotarou connection in Okayama, and when during the post-performance Q&A Yumeri mentions that Okayama has a Momotarou festival, I actually laughed at “wtf” expressions on the faces of the Starlights top three. It’s a single panel buried way deep in the book and the page, but I laughed.

The trip to Kagawa makes everyone appreciate Okayama more. Reo is really an outstanding character. Surrounded by everyone else’s issues, she just gets more and more solid. There’s no doubt why she’s the lead.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Character – I really like Kumasa. He seems like a decent dude, Motoi is beginning to worry me. Eri is Eri.
Service – 1
Yuri – 4 Ryo-chan and Kana are “yuriple” (ゆりプル)

Overall – 8

* This book is the greatest parody of all time, far surpassing its better known sibling, Bored of the Rings and if you have not read it, you will never get any of my references about “being a bicycle” and quite probably 57% of all my other references. It’s super way out of print, but if you have ever read Dune, you will howl like a hyena at Doon.