by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

Originally hailing from Shinchosha and released by Line Manga online, Midori Tayama’s Girl Crush has been released digitally in English by Comikey since 2021, but has now been picked up by Viz Media for a print release.

In Girl Crush, Volume 1,Tenka Momose protects herself by being better at everything than anyone else, standing atop her pedestal where she’s admired and idolised by everyone else at school. But one day, she learns of her seemingly very average classmate Sato Erian’s ambition to become a K-pop idol. Scornful at first, Erian’s determination to achieve her dreams soon draws Tenka in and now’s she’s auditioning in Korea as well…

“Girl Crush” – “K-pop slang for a cool girl that other girls idolise” (volume 1, p33)

I have to admit, the first thing which drew me to volume 1 when I saw it on the new releases shelf was the title, but I did find the premise interesting enough to buy it as well. There’s plenty of idol anime and manga out there, but K-pop centred stories are much rarer. I also stayed a night in Shin-Okubo (Tokyo’s Koreatown) when I was in Japan in 2018 and found the K-pop fandom there fascinating, especially given the political relations between Korea and Japan. These days as well, one of the most popular K-pop groups, BLACKPINK, has several international members so the idea of a Japanese person getting into a K-pop group isn’t so far fetched.

At first Tenka seems to be your typical perfect protagonist, but thankfully there is more to her than that. Right at the very beginning of the story we learn that as a small child she was actually rather shy and preferred to sit in the corner with a book. She also lives only with her father, it’s implied that her mother cheated on him when Tenka was a child, so there’s definitely more to learn about there. Fast forward to high school and Tenka still has a crush on her childhood friend Harumi, but when she asks him how he feels about Erian, he says he likes her, and Tenka’s world suddenly turns upside down. She knows she’s better than Erian in every way, so what does he see in her?

“She scares me. That sincerity of hers. A girl like that could steal everything.”

As Girl Crush, Volume 2 opens, Erian and Tenka head to Korea together, and audition at one of the big agencies, not before an impromptu singing session on the street when a strange man approaches Tenka and gives her his business card, inviting her to audition at another agency. Volume 1 ends with Erian being called back for a second round of auditions at the original agency, while Tenka is not, and for the first time in her life she realises that it’s not just perfection which makes people like and respect you. Determined not to lose to Erian, Tenka visits the mysterious agency, meets the strange man again, is accepted as a trainee there and our rivalry is set up by the end of volume 2. Conveniently, her father is supportive because he trusts her to not do anything half hearted. Erian’s mother is briefly mentioned as being supportive, but unlike Tenka’s father, she doesn’t appear on the page, it’s just in a passing moment.

I enjoyed the moment when Tenka does Erian’s makeup for her and I hope their relationship continues to develop. I feel like these two volumes read together are a good introduction to the story and characters, and I am interested to see how the rivalry develops in future volumes as well as if Erina’s “girl crush” on Tenka becomes something more.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6 Some cliched moments but not enough to ruin it.
Characters – 7
Service – 1 A bath scene but not detailed
Yuri – 1 It has potential but I think most of the yuri will be in the readers’ imaginations.

Overall – 6.5 . An interesting take on the rivals premise, and I’m rooting for both girls to succeed.