Double, Volume 1
by Ayako Noda
A Review by Jamilla @ LandsAwayBooks on Wordpress.

To be absolutely honest, I have no idea where this story is heading to, but I’m caught and will be hanging on for the ride!

Yuujin and Takara are two actors in the same theater company. Yuujin is captivated by Tamara’s acting and desires to see him deified as one of the best!

Even though he’s Takara’s senpai, he’s his understudy at various theaters, his training partner, but more than that he basically runs Takara’s life for him. It’s a unhealthy connection they’ve forged, and though it seems to be working I wonder what lies between them. How did this get to this point?

And what of Yuujin’s own wants for his career, and does he plan on untangling the co-dependent mess he’s made of their lives?

It’s fascinating and I can’t wait for volume two! Definitely recommend this for people who like manga that’s away from the ordinary.

Thank you Tokyopop, IPG and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you so much to IPG and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.

The story concept is by far my favorite part. New actor Takara can only act out a character in the way his best friend, Yuujin, tells him to. Unfortunately, we don't get to see too much of this dynamic in the first volume, but you can definitely tell it's going to be the main conflict of the manga.

I do wish it had gone into more detail on why Yuujin has taken such a backseat role, but I assume that will be better explained in later volumes. However, I don't think this volume has intrigued me enough to want to continue with this series. There were too many "empty" scenes that just don't progress the story, so it just doesn't feel like we got much out of this volume.

The art style is not my favorite either. It is very character focused, with little detail in the background. However, the faces felt a bit off to me through most of the book, so it was a little too uncanny valley.

Overall, the concept is interesting, but the art and storytelling just don't keep up.

3/5 Stars

This is the first manga I've found that is centered around acting. I'm not too big on acting and it shows in my rating but I still had to check this out and I ended up enjoying it :). I loved the relationship between our two main characters and I really hope I will get to see them again in another volume! If you like acting/theater you should check this out because you might like it :)

There were a few spots that were boring to me and it did take me a few days to get through this because of that. I liked the amount of content in this volume and I love this art style but the story overall isn't my taste much. I do like slice-of-life stories though so I'm assuming why this turned out to be a 3 star to me :). There were a few characters that I really didn't like but that's pretty much expected from the few acting stories I've read and from doing plays and acting in general. I definitely would continue this story and hopefully, I get to review the next volumes for NetGalley again!

Disclaimer: I read this arc copy on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a weird one. I liked the premise a lot (which is why I chose to read thanks to netgalley), but overall I am not sure what I think.

The good things about this book are the relationship between the two main characters. You can really see their dependence on each other. I am not sure if it is a romance, but there are some hints of it. If I do continue to read this series, I hope it goes more into their relationship and the past. What made them the way they are now? And this book lays a good foundation for any later drama between them. The art was good, though I am not sure if it was the version I was reading, but it felt a little cramped. I got confused on who was who between the actors on the TV set because the art of their faces seemed to change between panels. I thought there was a lot more to explore with the plot and characters. It took me way longer to read than usual with its confusing choices. I hope it improves over series, but for now, it is just okay.

Not my favorite. The premise was great, I wasn’t a huge fan of the art style but I don’t factor that into my review. Just felt the characters lacked something and the story wasn’t super strong.

When these two actors work together, one as assistant and one as performer, they achieve greatness - which catches the eye of an agent who offers a contract. But only for one of them.

I enjoyed reading something so far apart from the stories I usually consume in manga form. This is neither a shônen adventure nor a love story, which seem to be the main things published in Germany. In this, the characters and their relationship dynamics felt very real.
As great as this sounds, Ihave to admit I didn't care about anything. Now, I had a very stressful day and it might have been me, but it might have been the manga. I'd need another installment to make sure, which I don't have as this one is just in publishing.

The illustration style is incredibly detailed, all centering on the characters instead of giving them fancy ruffeled clothing or adding minuscule details to the background, which I liked a lot.
And if given the chance, I am sure I'd read on, but again, I would not go out of my way to find more of this story.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tokyopop for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Double was a solid read with steady pacing about two young actors with a very dependent relationship. Takara Takarada becomes the more successful of the two and Yuujin Kamoshima is left in the wings—even though he is arguably the cornerstone to Takarada's success. I wish Kamoshima's internal struggles were explored more in this first volume, and I hope to see the tension between Takarada and Kamoshima come to a breaking point in the next volume as well.

Editor: Lena Atanssova
Translator: Massiel Gutierrez
Copy Editor: Tina Tsent
Quality Check: Daichi Nemoto
Proofreader: Katie Kimura
Graphic Designer: Sol DeLeo
Editorial Associate: Janae Young
Retouching and Lettering: Vibrraant Publishing Studio
Licensing Specialist: Arika Yanaka
Eidotr-in-Chief and Publisher: Stu Levy

Enjoyed the story so much!

The fun, the frolic, the silence and the drama of the glamour world in the lives of an actor and their double.

No one sees the one who plays the role of double for popular actors and no one would recognise them ever.

This manga highlights some issues related to this and also, the points of view of both the actor and the one playing his double.

The artstyle is just perfect and the art sequence is just what makes the read more enjoyable.

The first volume is coming out in January 2022.

Go for it. Recommending it for hardcore manga lovers as well as for the beginners.

Thank you, TOKYOPOP and the author/artist, for the advance reader copy.