Ramon’s B-Side continues to be a fever dream train wreck of an idol romance manga and I am here for it. Volume three features a competition in the idol group to name a new Center while our female lead continues to obliviously attempt to separate her fan girl creed from her own burgeoning romantic feelings. Very entertaining series.

In volume three of this series, we see a decent amount of personal growth on behald of Tamon. Comparatively to the past two volumes, this volume felt as though it was a bit lacking in the excitement and energy the past two in the series held. However, I do overall think the series continues to be good, and that a volume focused on the growth of a main character is important for series longevity. Will continue reading on!

Okaaay, don’t get me wrong I’m still really enjoying this series and it’s a lot of fun BUT I feel like this volume fell a little flat after the excitement of last volume!

The competition for centre continues but it lacked a little tension and the developing love triangle (?) felt like it deflated a little although I guess it’s about to become a square? Maybe? It definitely feels like something’s being set up!

Tamon continues to be hilarious although it’s perhaps a little bit much at times at this point, but their relationship is certainly developing further and I’m hoping things pick up again in the next volume!

Thank you for the review copy!

This series is a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who likes shoujo manga or romance. I will definitely be reading more and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Anyone keeping up with the Tamon B-Side series knows how much God Tamon can flip-flop to Mr. Gloomy. Enter in a second-lead and we get to see hints of a different side of Tamon never seen before! Strap in for a high school love story between a fan and her favorite idol and how one can toe the line between different forms of devotion and love.

My thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media LLC for an eARC of this book to read and review.

Ok, TRIGGER WARNING follows which will be spoiler-y.

The fine line between OTT "funny" self denigration by the idol Tamon has been crossed. There is a scene where he is incredibly depressed and standing on the roof of his apartment building. The MC h clearly believes he is going to jump. She runs up and prevents him from doing so. The entire time I was hoping it was just a misunderstanding, he was up there for the view, etc.

No, no, he was up there to jump off, because he thinks she is going to switch from having HIM as her favorite idol who she 1,000% obsessively supports to a different idol in his band.

He then goes DARK with indicating that he doesn't want her to even THINK about other people and without her in his life, he would just DIE.

He then manipulates her to get her to do what he wants by putting on the idol charm to take advantage of her obsession over his idol-self.

She realizes what he is doing, and is trying to draw a boundary line and he completely ignores it and she 1) allows it and 2) continues to enable him.

This is NOT healthy and has more than stepped over the line it was flirting with in the previous two books. It decided to say "Hold my Pocari Sweat" and VAULTED over the line, sprinting away and leaving it in the dust.

I'm not even going to get into how each of the idols in the band are really just fake and twisted mentally and emotionally. They all need mental help. The fans too.

I DO want to read the next volume, as I am hoping the storyline can be saved, that she stiffens up her backbone, that he gets mental help for the depression and self-loathing he has, that they can learn how to have a healthy relationship once they are mentally and emotionally mature enough to do so.

I do love her fierce protectiveness of Tamon, but she was right when she realized she needed to kick the baby bird out of the nest. More like, she needed to deliver the baby bird to a therapist who could help the baby bird, as she is not equipped to do so. Also, the lack of communication and misunderstanding trope was wearing thin in this one.

2, I have high hopes for the next one but this may not be for everyone, stars.

We got to see some good growth from Tamon in this volume. He's becoming more assertive, learning what he actually wants to do. In the manga they say he's maturing, but I don't know if I'd use that word myself. It's interesting to see a female lead with such strong convictions interacting with a male lead who is so easily swayed, and I like seeing how their dynamic is changing in this volume, with the changes that Tamon is undergoing.
These characters have got me completely hooked, and I'm so excited to see what mysterious thing happened in Tamon's past that other characters and the plot keep alluding to. I can't wait for volume 4.

Utage continues to support Tamon as he prepares and competes to retain his position as the center of F/Ace. Tamon worries about Utage's relationship with his rival.

This story is getting better as the characters grow and the cast expands. Mr Gloomyhara is growing on me even though I didn't like him in volume 1.

3.5/5

It’s volume 3, you know the drill. Utage is still a clueless but helpful friend. Tamon is still a clueless pop star. We’re introduced to more of Tamon’s group mates quirks. Mostly this volume was the conclusion to the Center Competition.

Real question: is anybody okay in this story? Is everybody delusional? I swear everyone and their dog has a split personality.
That being said, everyone being complete whack-jobs does make this manga very interesting and hilarious.

I can’t wait for when the romance clicks, because currently it’s very dry. I can definitely see a ramping up of emotions and I’m interested to see the outcome of this story.

Okay, I liked this volume! I liked more of the personality that was shown from the idols than in previous volumes. Would love to read vol 4!

Each volume of this gets cuter and cuter. Thank you Viz and Netgalley for a digital ARC!

While I'm not sure if a subtle purpose of this story is to show how being an idol is indeed a job and not usually their true personality, I do find it amazing that we get to see Utage's perspective and understanding of a persona vs an actual personality. We get to see more of the F/ACE members and their true selves during the competition for a new group center. I'm curious to see where the story will go from here: is there a potential for a budding relationship between Tamon as an individual with Utage or does she want to remain in their current relationship of idol and housekeeper.

This third volume of "Tamon's B-Side" is solid. I admit that as the story progresses, Tamon's personality switch from "dark" to "light" mode is becoming a tired gag. However, we are seeing Tamon's development as a character away from this. This volume also introduces more of the side characters and further develops Tamon and Utage's relationship.

Thanks NetGalley, VIZ Media, and VIZ Media LLC for the arc

2/5 stars

I was just starting to like this and then the ending got so weird and manipulative, no good. Not finishing this series after this issue

This digital ARC was obtainable via NetGalley for an honest review!

This is my absolute favorite volume out of the series!! First of all, can we please get some help for Tamon. He needs a therapist ASAP. That being said, I've become a Tamon fan (what does that say about me). Oh my gosh, these boys are absolutely nut cases and I am here for it. It did get a little dark for a second, but I guess I like my men a little crazy. I need this a paperback like yesterday!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an Arc in exchange for review.

So the competition continues between the boys of F/ACE! Who will become the group's new center? Will Tamon keep his role, or will sneaky Ori swoop in for the prize? Reader's will find out the answer in this installment of Tamon's B-Side! Utage continues balancing her life between Mr. Gloomyhara's depressive moods and being his alter-ego's obsessive fangirl. We left the last volume off to a Romantic ending, but what happens when Ori comes to the realization that he wants Utage's attention on himself? As the competition grows fierce, feelings start to set free. 4/5 stars.

High schooler Utage works as a housekeeper part-time in order to fund her fangirl obsession over idol Tamon Fukuhara. Coincidentally, she lands a job as his housekeeper and discovers a gloomy side to him.

I mostly enjoyed the first two novels as it was fun seeing idols have wholly different personalities than their stage personas. The humor is kind of silly, but wore out fast for me. What prevented me from enjoying this volume is a spoiler so I won't go into detail but Tamon says something extremely off putting for me towards the end of the volume. The humor doesn't help to dissipate this particular scene for me so I think I'll stop reading this series here.