I continue my Pride reading challenge this month with this manga. BACKGROUND:
I don't know anything about this one (what a surprise), but I did some searching to verify that it's indeed a yuri manga. I just needed to be sure that it was in theme, you know? Apart from that, I was a little apprehensive going in because this seems like typical high school drama at first glance. SUMMARY: Sakiko Manaka is a huge fan of the idol group Spring Sunshine, but the idol she admires the most is Chihiro Yoshida. Imagine her luck when the newest student in her class... is Chihiro herself! And if that isn't enough, Chihiro's been assigned the seat right next to her. Off the bat, it's established that Sakiko's head over heels for Chihiro, as the mere fact that her idol's sitting beside her is driving her up the wall. She ends up overthinking every interaction (taking great care to be considerate of Chihiro's privacy and not coming across as a creepy fan with ulterior motives), and her brain goes haywire when Chihiro herself initiates a conversation. Just from this one interaction, Chihiro is shown to be a kind girl who's looking to be good friends, and we learn the exact reason why Sakiko admires her so much. It turns out that they have being shy in common, but Chihiro overcoming that by being a stage performer ended up really resonating with Sakiko. It's actually really sweet. Sakiko's still a nervous wreck around Chihiro, but she strives to give Chihiro a normal high school life (especially after she shares how classmates at her last school treated her when her idol status became public knowledge), and Chihiro's knack for starting conversations help the two bond. Things get complicated when a violently toxic fan of Chihiro starts harassing Sakiko online. The twist? That fan is a fellow classmate who's just as enamored with Chihiro as Sakiko: Maaya Tozawa. Maaya is pretty close to that creepy fan archetype many might be familiar with: she obsessively tails Chihiro, writes down seemingly insignificant details about her, is frighteningly possessive when she catches wind of Sakiko's mere existence, swipes Chihiro's belongings when she isn't looking, and even has a shrine in her house devoted to Chihiro. This is the exact kind of person you file a restraining order for. The tension begins when Maaya finally confronts Sakiko, and the two start interacting with one another at school. Maaya's duplicitous, manipulative behavior rears its ugly head, as she tries to find subtle ways to throw Sakiko under the bus or to mess with her in some other way. Sakiko immediately recognizes the danger that Maaya poses to Chihiro's peaceful school life, so her first instinct is to keep an eye on Maaya's antics. However, she quickly realizes that, when it comes to admiring Chihiro, Maaya's not that different from her. Wanting to respect Maaya's own feelings, Sakiko acts selflessly and includes Maaya into the friend group. Now that the love triangle is fully active, the rest of the volume keeps the tension up between Sakiko and Maaya by having the two interact all the time at school. These include looking for a club with Chihiro (where Maaya spends the entire day making the shy Sakiko participate front and center), and Maaya goading Sakiko into asking Chihiro about upcoming Spring Sunshine events. Maaya's definitely a little shit, but she does value Chihiro's welfare above all, and does act in her best interests at all times. Oblivious to what's really going on, Chihiro appears to be having a time of her life just being a regular girl with friends, and she certainly cherishes her newfound company. During the school club chapter, Sakiko discovers that she likes photography, and she confides in Chihiro that her dream is to be the photographer of Spring Sunshine. Wanting to be at her best, Sakiko asks for advice from Masato Takizawa, an upper classman from the photography club with a real talent for the art. I'm not sure how major a character he'll end up being, but they establish that he's skeptical about idol groups having the spontaneous beauty he seeks in his subjects. Sakiko takes exception to this and makes an effort to prove him wrong later on. The volume ends with Spring Sunshine holding a concert. This is Sakiko's big test as a budding photographer, and she does her best to prepare for the event. The ending at the actual concert sets the stage for Sakiko's feelings moving forward, as she's hopelessly captivated by Chihiro's performance. Her admiration does not escape Chihiro's notice, and when Chihiro takes a second to wave to Sakiko during the concert, Sakiko is completely overwhelmed. I was really concerned going into this book that the story wasn't actually about a romance or romantic feelings, but I feel confident after reading this chapter that the book was what I was looking for this month. I don't have much to say about the art style other than it's quite adorable. The character faces dial up the cute factor and feature a lot of cartoony expressions, and most of the shading is on the softer, lighter side. As far as detail goes, majority of the panels keep it simple, but there are a few shots with more intricate detail or distinct texturing. VERDICT: I wasn't really sure if I would like this manga, but after giving Vol. 1 of My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over a go, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Something about Sakiko constantly being self-conscious and nervous around Chihiro made me invested in seeing her get the girl (perhaps the feeling is more relatable to me than I care to admit), and I like that she genuinely cares for Chihiro and isn't just a superfan looking to get close to her. I also liked Chihiro as a character, and I felt for her as she strives to make real friends after the stuff she went through when people realized she was famous. Maaya is.... a disturbing individual, but I have to admit that her presence introduces a lot of spicy tension, and I'm interested to see if she grows past being a lunatic. I wouldn't mind reading more of this. I'm not sure how long it takes for the story to lean fully into the romance (or if the latest volume is even at that point already), so if you're a reader who wants to get to that part in the first volume, this may not satisfy your appetite. That said, I think Vol. 1 is decent between establishing the connections between the characters and their feelings towards one another. - end -
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