This was so good!!

Thank you to Netgalley and VIZ Media for this review copy in exchange for my unbiased thoughts. This was very surprising considering the last few manga I have read were full of girls being objects for boys to gawk at but in a way that clearly was purposeful... like that was the basis of the storyline. Girls who want to be a certain way for boys and boys who see girls as these soft, simple things for them to protect. This was no girl looking for her “prince.” This was so different!

There was real pain and torment in this one and I found it very realistic, sadly. I will continue the series.

I really loved the first two chapters of this book that fought over female body image and the right to exist in a public space without having to apologize for dress or demeanor. However, the third/final. chapter was frustrating. It basically forgives a possible attacker after preaching protection and the female confidence/respect. I cannot condone a book that, once again, pushes a male romantic lead who could potentially be a violent sadist.

This could've been really good but it was so...bad. I could see where they were going with this but they really overdid it constantly. Half of the time, all of the people promoting rape culture weren't challenged. And when they were, they never learned their lesson. I also really really didn't like the ending. If the second volume goes where I think it's going to go, I'm going to be very mad. This wasn't worth reading.

Right off the bat, Not Your Idol is going to be triggering for some people. That said, the series seems to be handled well and I'm very interested to see where it goes. Definitely suggested for libraries where other more psychological Shojo Beat series are popular.

This is a really fun first volume in this manga. The characters are well-developed as is the world. We are given all the background information we need in a smooth and slow manner so it never feels like the information is being dumped on us. I really like the illustrations too, and I am really intrigued for the next volume!

Amazing graphic novel. Would highly recommend. Very detailed in the story as well as the details in the drawing. You felt draw into this novel.

2.5 stars - This manga started off so good and I wish I hadn't read the last 10% of the novel and it just ended right before that. I really enjoyed the discussion surrounding rape culture and misogyny (especially its prevalence surrounding idol culture in Japan). I am always a sucker for "girl in boy's clothes" trope, so I was super into the synopsis of this book, and the beginning of this book reigned true to what I had thought. I didn't realize the manga was a thriller, so maybe this is my own fault, but I absolutely hated where this went and I am super disappointed by it. A spoiler for the novel's ending but I really don't like that it is heavily implied that Kamiyama's assaulter is the boy she was opening up to the entire book. Even if it turns out not to be him, I cannot jive with the idea that it is him (that he had a good reason for doing what he did, that it wasn't as Kamiyama remembers it). On top of it all, when there is definitive proof that he at least could very well be the assaulter (photos and everything!), she runs away with him because he was a nice boy to her??? I am really uncomfortable with what implies and even if the story does not go the way I think it does in later volumes, I don't think this kind of plot works well in a serialized story. Thrillers work as one novel because you have that closure. With a manga format, there isn't that sense of relief. This could have done wonders for the discussion, but the ending really left me defeated.

Karen used to be the lead in an idol group (celebrities that cater to fans and are very feminine in their dress and manner), but after an attack by a fan, she quits. Now, anonymize game herself with a drastic haircut and the boy uniform at school, she is hoping to lead a normal life. It she can’t get the attack out of her memory. Exacerbating that anxiety is the fact that there is a lot of misogyny from the guys at school and from society in her new town. But one guy seems different; he doesn’t do the macho-talk that belittles women... and Karen finds herself falling for him. But will her past experience prevent her from making any moves towards a relationship with him? Especially when her attacker was never found and there is a rise in groping???

This manga is slightly confusing. I know I missed a ton of subtle stuff, but I got the gist of this series opener. And while I was horrified at first by the misogyny, it was soon replaced by the understanding that this series is going to focus on defeating that kind of talk and behavior. It’s like the opposite of fan service! I have high hopes for the following volumes!

Wasn’t able to access file. Let publisher know. Of the difficulty. Unable to review book due to being unable to open file. Netgalley requires a Star rating - will give a 3 so that can close review but again, be aware that I was not able to access this title.

It's hard to say what we'd do in the aftermath of a life-altering situation.  So, when Karen, the most popular member of an all-girl group is nearly killed at a handshake event, she decides that not being an idol any longer is the safest and smartest thing to do.  Would I have done the same?  I can't say, but it'd definitely be appealing to return to anonymity.  

She's so affected by the assault that she takes a new name and completely changes her appearance.  First, she cuts her hair, then forgoes any and all girly clothes and accessories, basically morphing into a young man in both looks and dress.  It's a type of psychological armor for her, since she believes it happened because she was a girl.  

Hikaru is one of Karen's - now Nina Kaiyama - classmates.  His younger sister is a huge fan of Pure Club and idolized Karen.  So, it wasn't a surprise that he knew who she was despite all her attempts to hide her identity.  It's obvious that he genuinely likes her and wants to be her friend.  But, due to her past, she's too afraid to trust him.  To his credit, he keeps trying and I don't think he's going to give up on her anytime soon.  

Honestly, from what I've read so far, Hikaru seems like the only decent guy in the entire school.  The rest are all sexist idiots, making comments about the girls' bodies and clothing.  Not to mention all the talk of 'asking for it' and the usual gross conversation that happens whenever a woman is assaulted.  It really bothered me reading it, but when Nina steps up and puts them in their place for victim blaming, I understood why it was done. 

Volume one presents the story in an upfront and straightforward manner.  I appreciate how the subject has been treated, even showing how often assault victims are treated in the aftermath.  Talk of false accusations and victim blaming included, which is important, honestly, because anyone who has gone through anything like this can relate and needs to know that there are people that will believe them and help them.  I'm excited to see where the next volume takes us because I'm hooked.

This was my first ever manga, so I was not quite sure what to expect. I think it will require me to read quite a few more before becoming an effective reviewer of the genre, what I liked was that it reminded me of Asian dramas I like to watch. I liked the funnier moments a lot. It's a bit hard to read it like this on the screen in a rather poor resolution though and very often the text is hardly legible because it gets pixilated.

Equal parts excited and nervous to embark on the journey of my first Manga ARC, I tentatively added "Not Your Idol vol. 1" to the list of my top anticipated releases for 2020.

After all, the book sounded right up my alley, following the story of a formal idol star who has dropped out of her group and started dressing like a boy after being assaulted. 

This manga has some pretty straightforward themes about the pressures and difficulties too often associated with womanhood, but also about the hardships female idols must face.

There are a lot of great topics addressed in this book and every single one was handled, in all honesty, a lot better than I expected a Manga to handle them. The takeaways may be a little heavy-handed and obvious at times, but I didn’t mind. I don’t really expect this type of format to be subtle. 

Not only that, but this book was full of psychological suspense which is marvelously mirrored in the somewhat unnerving formatting of its frames throughout. There are some incredibly shocking turns that I truly did not see coming and I caught myself gasping out loud more than once (something that I don't often do, for the record). The pacing was pristine, intersecting feel-good friendship moments with doubt, drama, and occasionally outright horror, right when readers start to get too comfortable. 

Everything I could want in a manga! Sign me up for the second volume...now!

I rated "Not Your Idol Vol. 1" 5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Viz Media for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Not Your Idol by Aoi Makino is a Japanese Manga (like a graphic novel), about a teenage girl who has been part of a girl pop group in Japan (so an idol), who was attacked by a fan.

If you've not encountered Japanese or Korean pop music, go ahead and have a look at a group like AKB48. In the west, we're used to groups having 5-7 members, with 7 feels like a lot.  AKB48 has 22 members in 1 team, and the teams rotate.  

There are various rules that a member of groups have to obey, such as no dating, no bad behaviour.  They are expected to perform and to carry out 'handshake events' where they meet their fans.

Nina was one of the lead singers of her group, and was attacked at one of these handshake events.  She drops out of the group to recover, and to be normal.  She cuts off her hair, and starts dressing like a boy (yes, that's her on the cover of the book), and we see the trauma that this event caused her mentally, as she has the scar to show what it caused her physically.

 Not Your Idol  will be published on 11th June 2020, and is available on  Amazon  and  Waterstones .   I’ve found a  link  to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Viz Media  (the publishers) for this book.

So I was given this for a honest review and I was not a fan of it. I feel like nothing really exiting happened. The characters were a bit dull to me and typical.

I really appreciated the dark topic that this manga addressed. So often Kpop is glorified and put up on a pedestal, but it is also very sexualized and I liked that the perspective was from someone who was being sexualized. I'm not usually a fan of manga and the artwork was a little too chaotic for me, but that is definitely a personal preference.

I really enjoyed this manga and can't wait to read Volume 2 when it comes out! The story revolves around a former pop star named Nina Kamiyama who started dressing like a boy after being attacked. In high school, a boy, Hikaru, notices her and realizes who she is. There is a delicious bit of tension between the two as the manga progresses.
I enjoyed the artwork. It was easy to read and fun. Thank you to Netgalley, Vizmedia, and Aoi Makino for allowing me to read this manga in exchange for a review. I can't wait to buy my own copy for my teenagers to devour too.

What a stunning book! The art style was gorgeous! This was about an idol who retired because a 'fan' hurt her. Nina was amazing and is my favorite character. She made a choice at the end that I question a lot but we will see how she resolves this.

Thanks to VIZ Media via NetGalley for the book!

This series follows Nina, who is a former idol. She retired after she was assaulted by a fan and is now unrecognizable since she has shed her long hair, miniskirt, and only dresses like a boy. I'm not sure exactly where the next volume will take us, but I really loved the message this volume was showing us. That it doesn't matter how girls dress, they do not deserve to be touched without explicit permission. We also have an interesting dynamic with some people (boys and girls alike) not agreeing with this, even though most do. I am eagerly awaiting more in this series.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This manga was so amazing! It tackles real stigmas and stereotypes to women, both from men and women. We see how people cope with trauma, too. This storyline is real, raw, and totally captivating. This volume ended on such a suspenseful note, and I can't wait for the next one!

Overall a raid depiction of someone who survived an assault and does a complete change in personality afterwards. I'm still curious to find out who actually attacked her and if her love interest (hot guy in school) was the attacker. The first volume definitely got me hooked and I'm interested in buying the next volume! The art was very nice and the translation read very smoothly. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️