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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
True rating is more of a 3.5-4 stars because it is a really compelling premise, but since the series is on indefinite hiatus, the story/characters aren’t nearly as well developed as they could be given another book or so.
That being said, it should be noted that this is a manga that really tackles the oft-taboo topic of sexual assault, specifically in the lens of a Japanese idol that is reminiscent of Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue or the more current series Oshi no Ko. The protagonist has chosen to deal with her assault by leaving the industry and cutting her hair, wearing a boys uniform at a new school under a new name. But there’s still everyday instances where sexism is clear, from the perceptions of fellow male students, men, or even other women. It’s a really interesting examination that draws from real life idol attacks and criticizes the relationships (perceived or otherwise) between idols and their fans (maybe particularly relevant with the generic rise of kpop and the increase of sasaeng fans).
But again, it’s hard to clearly judge the manga because it’s not complete - it’s been on indefinite hiatus since 2019 and it’s not clear that it’ll ever be picked up again. So in just two volumes, it can feel a little rushed, the characters don’t feel like they get a lot of development, but the premise remains interesting and there’s a lot that could be developed if it were to continue (like the mirror/foil relationship between the MC and the main female antagonist!! The idea that the MC was abandoning who she was to pursue an ideal that isn’t real but her real self is traumatized!! The toxicity of the idol industry that subjects literal children to exploitation for even a chance at success, and it being a stain on any future reputation!! The idea that women “expire” by 30 to the public eye!! The relationship between “pick-me” girls to normal girls but both being victimized the same way!!)
Anyways I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and really wish there was more. Much to think about.
That being said, it should be noted that this is a manga that really tackles the oft-taboo topic of sexual assault, specifically in the lens of a Japanese idol that is reminiscent of Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue or the more current series Oshi no Ko. The protagonist has chosen to deal with her assault by leaving the industry and cutting her hair, wearing a boys uniform at a new school under a new name. But there’s still everyday instances where sexism is clear, from the perceptions of fellow male students, men, or even other women. It’s a really interesting examination that draws from real life idol attacks and criticizes the relationships (perceived or otherwise) between idols and their fans (maybe particularly relevant with the generic rise of kpop and the increase of sasaeng fans).
But again, it’s hard to clearly judge the manga because it’s not complete - it’s been on indefinite hiatus since 2019 and it’s not clear that it’ll ever be picked up again. So in just two volumes, it can feel a little rushed, the characters don’t feel like they get a lot of development, but the premise remains interesting and there’s a lot that could be developed if it were to continue (like the mirror/foil relationship between the MC and the main female antagonist!! The idea that the MC was abandoning who she was to pursue an ideal that isn’t real but her real self is traumatized!! The toxicity of the idol industry that subjects literal children to exploitation for even a chance at success, and it being a stain on any future reputation!! The idea that women “expire” by 30 to the public eye!! The relationship between “pick-me” girls to normal girls but both being victimized the same way!!)
Anyways I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and really wish there was more. Much to think about.
Karen was once an Idol, a member of the all girl's singing group Pure Group, until a fan assaulted her at a handshake event. The worst part of the attack is that the assailant was never caught. Because of the attack, Karen decided she didn't want to be a girl anymore or an Idol. She cut her hair, started dressing like a boy, and moved away from her family to attend school. No one knows that the shy girl who dresses like a boy was once an Idol until a boy whose sister was Karen's biggest fan realizes who she is. Karen is still experiencing PTSD from the attack and doesn't know if she can trust him especially when current photographs of her show up at her old studio. Her attacker is coming back for her.
This manga is a wonderful story exploring the inequality of gender in today’s society. The story is well done and the art beautiful!
Not Your Idol: Volume 1 by Aoi Makino by Aoi Makino is a psychological thriller that explores sexism and rape culture. I will not get into the plot since there are many reveals about the characters and plot twists throughout the manga.
With that said, Not Your Idol is a one sitting, keep turning the page, well-written thriller. The art was also well done. I liked that the imagery really captures the deep emotions of the characters. Aoi Makino took great care in expressing the characters’s personalities through the drawings.
I appreciated that the manga’s principal focus was misogynism, rape culture, and toxic masculinity. It was skilled in the way it pointed out how people enable sexism through big and small actions. For example, I liked how some characters used judo to reinforce their machismo, while others correctly see martial arts as first a practice in nonviolence, and secondly to be only used as needed self defense. Also, there are scenes that show the consequences of the nice girl and pretty girl tropes. Not Your Idol doesn’t offer any answers, but it does an outstanding job asking how we can improve our world for women and girls.
I wished the comic would have dealt with the gender spectrum and nonbinary identities more directly. At first, I thought there was a nonbinary character. But, even though the book challenges gender roles, norms, and gendered fashion, the question of what about nonbinary people is left hanging. However, there is a scene where a character is not allowed to go on an all female train car because she is misgendered. So, it is implied, that non-binary identities are marginalized. I hope in the next volume there are explorations of transgender and nonbinary experiences.
There is a mystery throughout its pages and I’m eager to read the next volume to get answers. I rated this book a 4 out 5 stars. I recommend this book for graphic novels fans who like to read about social issues. Also, for teens and adults who enjoy fiction that makes them think and challenges the world order.
With that said, Not Your Idol is a one sitting, keep turning the page, well-written thriller. The art was also well done. I liked that the imagery really captures the deep emotions of the characters. Aoi Makino took great care in expressing the characters’s personalities through the drawings.
I appreciated that the manga’s principal focus was misogynism, rape culture, and toxic masculinity. It was skilled in the way it pointed out how people enable sexism through big and small actions. For example, I liked how some characters used judo to reinforce their machismo, while others correctly see martial arts as first a practice in nonviolence, and secondly to be only used as needed self defense. Also, there are scenes that show the consequences of the nice girl and pretty girl tropes. Not Your Idol doesn’t offer any answers, but it does an outstanding job asking how we can improve our world for women and girls.
I wished the comic would have dealt with the gender spectrum and nonbinary identities more directly. At first, I thought there was a nonbinary character. But, even though the book challenges gender roles, norms, and gendered fashion, the question of what about nonbinary people is left hanging. However, there is a scene where a character is not allowed to go on an all female train car because she is misgendered. So, it is implied, that non-binary identities are marginalized. I hope in the next volume there are explorations of transgender and nonbinary experiences.
There is a mystery throughout its pages and I’m eager to read the next volume to get answers. I rated this book a 4 out 5 stars. I recommend this book for graphic novels fans who like to read about social issues. Also, for teens and adults who enjoy fiction that makes them think and challenges the world order.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital copy of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.
Not Your Idol is a story touches on topics like objectification of women and young girls and assault, which I have found in my previous readings to be difficult to cover accurately in shojo manga. This manga does a good job with it, though, while also maintaining a plot that is fast paced and entertaining. I am looking forward to what the next volume will bring.
Not Your Idol is a story touches on topics like objectification of women and young girls and assault, which I have found in my previous readings to be difficult to cover accurately in shojo manga. This manga does a good job with it, though, while also maintaining a plot that is fast paced and entertaining. I am looking forward to what the next volume will bring.
I liked this one. It’s the story of a young girl who was once a teen idol. Then a man ruined it for her. She’s chopped off her hair, stopped wearing dresses, changed her name, and decided to try to live a normal life. Thing is, once you’ve been a superstar, there is no such thing as being normal. Still she tries. She’s even found a nice boy. Maybe. I mean he could be her attacker, right? Maybe? And the band really isn’t the same without her. They need her to come back. But what does she need?
The ending is a really big cliffhanger, not a fan of that. Otherwise I loved it.
The ending is a really big cliffhanger, not a fan of that. Otherwise I loved it.
Most of the manga I read is romance-centric, so I wasn't sure what to expect from a suspense/psychological thriller. I actually didn't notice the genre when I requested an egalley of this title, and was a little surprised at the very dark tone of this manga. Still, I thought it was just a really high angst romance... and now that I see it's a thriller everything makes a lot more sense!
I don't love the art style on this one - it feels a little outdated (but maybe my rom-com loving heart just wants it to look cuter?) It also ends SUPER abruptly - I'm all for a cliffhanger, but the ending on this had me wondering if my file had gotten corrupted and cut off or something. Despite not really being my genre, I'm interested to read more of this series and find out what happens next!
An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.
Like this review?
Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter
I don't love the art style on this one - it feels a little outdated (but maybe my rom-com loving heart just wants it to look cuter?) It also ends SUPER abruptly - I'm all for a cliffhanger, but the ending on this had me wondering if my file had gotten corrupted and cut off or something. Despite not really being my genre, I'm interested to read more of this series and find out what happens next!
An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.
Like this review?
Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter
I don't know....
I'ma give it a 3, cause I enjoyed it...but I'm unsure
Perhaps reading the second volume will help a bit
I'ma give it a 3, cause I enjoyed it...but I'm unsure
Perhaps reading the second volume will help a bit
http://www.barharukiya.co.uk/?p=2525
“Not Your Idol” is “Not My Normal Kind of Manga”, so, with that in mind, my opinions and comparisons are possibly going to be a little outside of what this books’ target audience is used to.
Not Your Idol follows Nina Kamiyama, formerly “Ren-Ren” of the Pure Club idol group. Nina chose to give up the Idol lifestyle after being assaulted at knifepoint by a fan and the manga covers her attempts at shedding her previous life under her new identity but also with coping both with being discovered and with the trauma she is faced within a book that tackles some surprisingly deep themes.
I found it hard not to think of a few things whilst reading this volume, the most prominent being that of Satoshi Kon’s “Perfect Blue” (which if you haven’t seen, you really should change that), which covers similar themes of a young woman dealing with the fallout of being in a pop group and fans who take things too far, though, in Perfect Blue, the themes are much more adult. That’s not to say that Not Your Idol doesn’t deal with adult themes, it’s just not quite as gratuitous as Perfect Blue. Whereas Satoshi Kon’s anime deals with a woman trying to find her identity and work, Makino’s manga tackles what it is to be female and other people’s perceptions of how women should present themselves. In short, it tries to broach the conversation (well… its not really a conversation) surrounding how a woman dresses and how her behaviour “allows” men to behave in certain ways.
Due to its high school setting, it’s easy for the manga to try and deal with this in very black or white methods, the characters emotions and thinking aren’t as fully developed as if we were dealing with an older cast, and as such the discussion mostly revolves around boys being disgusting and girls “asking for it” because they wear short skirts, whilst Kamiyama is ostracised due to her choice of wearing trousers to school and having short hair (an attempt to distance herself from her past and disguise her identity).
It’s not just female appearance that’s tackled here, however, as the main male character, Hikari, who studies judo, believes that he’s not muscular enough and carries bodybuilding magazines around with him. All of this in the first volume gives a strong impression, though it’s not without its problems, pages can look a little cluttered with dialogue boxes, whilst said dialogue can often be pretty basic and rather clumsy. All the key characters are fairly typical in their appearance too, Kamiyma, in particular, reminds me of Naoto from Persona 4, with there being some fairly obvious comparisons between the two.
Not Your Idol was provided as an advanced copy from Viz Media and NetGalley
“Not Your Idol” is “Not My Normal Kind of Manga”, so, with that in mind, my opinions and comparisons are possibly going to be a little outside of what this books’ target audience is used to.
Not Your Idol follows Nina Kamiyama, formerly “Ren-Ren” of the Pure Club idol group. Nina chose to give up the Idol lifestyle after being assaulted at knifepoint by a fan and the manga covers her attempts at shedding her previous life under her new identity but also with coping both with being discovered and with the trauma she is faced within a book that tackles some surprisingly deep themes.
I found it hard not to think of a few things whilst reading this volume, the most prominent being that of Satoshi Kon’s “Perfect Blue” (which if you haven’t seen, you really should change that), which covers similar themes of a young woman dealing with the fallout of being in a pop group and fans who take things too far, though, in Perfect Blue, the themes are much more adult. That’s not to say that Not Your Idol doesn’t deal with adult themes, it’s just not quite as gratuitous as Perfect Blue. Whereas Satoshi Kon’s anime deals with a woman trying to find her identity and work, Makino’s manga tackles what it is to be female and other people’s perceptions of how women should present themselves. In short, it tries to broach the conversation (well… its not really a conversation) surrounding how a woman dresses and how her behaviour “allows” men to behave in certain ways.
Due to its high school setting, it’s easy for the manga to try and deal with this in very black or white methods, the characters emotions and thinking aren’t as fully developed as if we were dealing with an older cast, and as such the discussion mostly revolves around boys being disgusting and girls “asking for it” because they wear short skirts, whilst Kamiyama is ostracised due to her choice of wearing trousers to school and having short hair (an attempt to distance herself from her past and disguise her identity).
It’s not just female appearance that’s tackled here, however, as the main male character, Hikari, who studies judo, believes that he’s not muscular enough and carries bodybuilding magazines around with him. All of this in the first volume gives a strong impression, though it’s not without its problems, pages can look a little cluttered with dialogue boxes, whilst said dialogue can often be pretty basic and rather clumsy. All the key characters are fairly typical in their appearance too, Kamiyma, in particular, reminds me of Naoto from Persona 4, with there being some fairly obvious comparisons between the two.
Not Your Idol was provided as an advanced copy from Viz Media and NetGalley
The art style is very cute. It reminds me of Shugo Chara.
I flew through this. The concept and story is really interesting. I was nervous at first on how they were going to approach rape culture and sexism, but so far it's been handled pretty well. I think the sort of psychological aspect is well thought out. I'm not sure if this is ongoing or if it's only 2 volumes. If it is only two, I wonder how they're going to wrap it up so quickly.
I flew through this. The concept and story is really interesting. I was nervous at first on how they were going to approach rape culture and sexism, but so far it's been handled pretty well. I think the sort of psychological aspect is well thought out. I'm not sure if this is ongoing or if it's only 2 volumes. If it is only two, I wonder how they're going to wrap it up so quickly.