Reviews

Idol, Burning by 宇佐見りん, Rin Usami

Only show reviews with written explanations

jumoriarty's review against another edition

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challenging emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

heavyhearts's review against another edition

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3.0

this is a study on fandom culture and the obsession that comes with it. its told from the pov of Akari, a high school student who finds it hard to fit in and finds comfort in worshipping a certain celebrity, who then falls from grace when he physically assaulted a fan. while the topic is very interesting (since i am still deep in fandom culture dari jaman smp), kayanya ceritanya kurang nampol deh... entah apa lost in translation apa gimana, tapi ada bagian-bagian yang kurasa kurang aja? agak sayang, i was excited... it does remind me of Convenience Store Woman, the way Akari is written as being "different" and struggles very hard to fit in. tapi sayang the mental health and or the neurodivergence aspect are never properly discussed... salah satu alasan kurang nampol... tapi ya its was okay. kaya lagi nontonin salah satu mutual di fan account descending into the point of loneliness where she cant ever return consumed by the unhealthy obsession she has ke idolnya ini. its quite dark. its darker for me personally, so.

fairiesdust's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

crybabybea's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It's a literary novella so you can't expect much in terms of plot or character development. I think it serves its purpose well to get the reader to think about obsession, escapism, capitalism.

I'm sad I can't understand Japanese because I feel like this novella would be a lot more immersive in Japanese instead of English. The author makes a note in the afterword about her word usage that is super interesting and I'm sure there are little nuances that get lost in translation. No disrespect to the translator though, who I think did an impressive job making Japanese fan culture understandable to English readers. The translator herself even says in her note at the end that she translated with English & Japanese speakers in mind, which makes me think I missed some things by not being able to speak Japanese.

I found the main character super relatable as somebody who grew up with extreme anxiety and depression and escaped into K-Pop fan culture. The author does a great job capturing the feeling of having absolutely no hope or purpose in life other than living for an idol and how it feels to finally have to face the reality of life and realizing that fan culture escapism can't work forever. The overall tone of the book reads as incredibly lonely, and the main character moves through life with an almost dissociative view of the world that I found relatable and incredibly accurate. She understands the people around her by equating their expressions to emojis and as her depression progresses, she relies on her idol to accomplish even basic tasks such as feeding herself and going to sleep. The author did a great job capturing what that sort of hopeless, listless, disconnected life feels like and leaves most things open-ended in an intriguing way.

I do think this could be a bit harder to get through if you don't have any experience in fandom, especially idol fandom, as most of it seems almost too hard to believe. Let me tell you, there are MANY fans who would let their idol get away with assaulting a woman and find ways to defend them. Because idol culture isn't really about the idol themselves, but about the escape and the predatory way that companies prey on vulnerable young people's emotional imbalances (mostly girls) to boost profits and sales. I enjoyed the critique of idol culture as somebody who has experienced it for almost two decades. The translator also points to the parallels between the author's writing and the experience of Japanese people in a post-nuclear world, such as the idol's birthday being the same day Japan surrendered after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which I found super interesting and made me want to immediately reread the book to pick up on the parallels I definitely missed the first time.

A great thought-provoking novella that I think would be especially great for those who have lived in fandom cultures, especially Japanese or Korean idol culture.

Content Warnings