“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” This quote is widely attributed to Albert Einstein who was obviously thinking about me and Hirao Auri at the time.

I keep reading work by Hirao Auri-sensei and expecting to not want to strangle him. Why? Why do I keep doing this to myself? Augh!

Wabi-Sabi Hirao Auri Collected Works (わびさび 平尾アウリ作品集) is a collection of all of Hirao-sensei’s interests and obsessions (school girls, idols, schoolgirls who are idols) with a frisson of Yuri and a handful of “STFU, there, it’s Yuri, okay? Now go away!” leaving one with a tidy little volume of no one particularly to care about, lots of hand holding, a kiss and a sad memory or two. I say “or two” because I am sad I won’t actually get to strangle the author. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall- 5

Not as full of nihilism and despair as Manga no Tsukurikata, but not as full of anyone I give a hoot about as Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu.

I really have to question my decision in regards to giving him so many chances to not make me crazy.

In Volume 1 of Hirao Auri’s new series, we met the idol group Charm Jam, and the otaku who “idolize” them. In Volume 2 of Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu,（推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ) we are given a sobering glimpse of the rigors of that fandom.

The popularity rankings have arrived and we find that they are driven not by applause or mail-in cards but purely by sales. Each idol sells goods and CDs at a table, post-show, which we kind of all knew, but never really grasped. Idols whose fans buy the most are accorded higher rank. 

(As an aside, I was not sure I could loathe the Japanese idol industry more than I did, but upon learning this, I found room to hate it more than ever.) 

Having emptied her account, Eri is able to catapult Maina into the front row. 

We digress into a story about Reo, the most popular of the group, and the group’s history, and some of the relationships between the girls themselves. It’s not hard to see something more than just fellowship between Sorane and Yumeri.

Eri does not realize it, but she wields a lot of power as a superfan. The other fans look to her for colors, sales leads, and other indications. She only has eyes for Maina, so much so that she cannot see that Maina herself wants desperately to reach pass the important wall that exists between fan and idol. Neither have any idea how to make that connection, since both play by the rules.

The end of the book forces us to see a situation in which the strict rules of contact and communication actually hurt, rather than protect.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8, dammit
Character – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 4 I’m running out digits to cross, with the need to strangle the author.

Overall – 8

Despite myself, (very, very much despite myself) I find that I actually want to read this series. I’m not always comfortable reading it, but I am learning a lot and finding all sorts of new ways to strangle Hirao-sensei in my head with every page.

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. ^_^

Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu (which is a really evocative title that one could have a lot of fun translating: Budokan or Bust; Give Me Budokan or Give Me Death; Push on to the Budokan or Die Trying…) follows an obsessive fan of a minor pop idol group, a woman named Eripyo, and the specific idol she likes, Maina.

Cham-Jam (pronounced “Charm Jam”) is a street pop idol group that is just starting to get some traction. Each of the members has her own set of otaku, of course, and we get to see some of the many unwritten rules involved in being a idol’s fan in this manga. It reminded me of Yumi’s line about a “fan’s pride.” These fans are allowed a certain amount of controlled exposure to their objects of admiration and anything else crosses a line for the idols – and the fans.

Eripyo is friends with two other Cham-Jam otaku, Kumasa and Motoi. Each has their favorite, but it’s easy for us to see that Eripyo’s feeling when she yells that she loves Maina are more complex than just admiration. And poor Eripyo….the mangaka hates her. We can see that Maina has sincere regard for her Number 1 fan, but plot complications force them further and further away from one another.  I have to admit to a few imagined comic “strangling the writer” panels in my head, as poor Eripyo, so deserving of real intimacy with Maina, is beaten bloody with failure. Argh.

The loveliest – and I mean this sincerely – moment of the volume, comes as the members of Cham Jam are participating as models for a “girls festival” fashion show. The audience, mostly fashionable young women, are put off by the idea of a street idol group, and Eripyo and Kumasa are uncomfortable and awkward out of their element. Despite the different social mores of the girls festival, there are Kumasa and Eripyo in the front row when it’s the members of Cham Jam’s turn. Reo, Kumasa’s favorite, even goes so far as to make her signature move towards him as she turns back up the runway. Maina and Eripyo lock eyes, and it becomes immediately apparent that their feelings – nascent and confused – are the same. Maina notices that Eripyo has dressed up for her, so as not to come to this fashion show in her usual UPS-style outfit.

Sadly for readers, this moment is followed by an excruciating Rube Golderbergian plot, that includes mice eating through a string that holds a tanabata tree, which crashes through a window so that Eripyo’s messages to be tied on it  fall outside and are missed in the mayhem. (cf, imagined comic “strangling the writer” panels in my head.)

The upshot is that, while I still imagine comic violence against Hirao-sensei, this time it’s because I really like the characters and want to see them together. So…progress, I guess.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Much improved since early days At least Manga no Tsukurikata had some use, then.

Story – Still frustrating, but there is hope for a decent payoff, unlike Manga no Tsukurikata, which was merely an nihilist exercise in manga-reading.

Character – 8 I really like the otaku group. They aren’t all one thing, but we really get to see the side of this 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.

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 – Gods help me, 8.

I want to know what is going to happen. (Hirao-sensei, they better bloody well get together, you. (insert comic “strangling the writer” panels here.)

Hello redditors: I’ve reviewed 5 of the 6 current volumes here and yes, this is pretty much how it goes.