Title: Not Your Idol Vol. 2
Author: Aoi Makino
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Digital
Pages: 168
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Drama, Romance
Publication Date: September 1, 2020
The Story
The second volume of Not Your Idol (Sayonara Miniskirt) opens up with solving the mystery of whether or not Hikaru is Kamiyama’s stalker. As we all suspected, he wasn’t; however, the true stalker is out there and watching them. We are introduced to Miku Nagasu who becomes the stalker’s next target. He begins by taking photos of her and leaving them in her mailbox. This causes Hikaru to make a decision on whether or not to walk Kamiyama home to protect her or to do it for Miku. He chooses Miku but after Miku makes some comments after seeing one of Kamiyama’s sexy posters, it strikes a chord with Hikaru and the two of them end up in a disagreement. As soon as Hikaru turns his back, Miku is kidnapped.
Miku is released by the stalker and returns to school after lying to her friends that everything is okay. There, she confronts Hikaru and wants him to kiss her. Hikaru is conflicted but Miku ends up kissing him anyway. Kamiyama ends up seeing it and the volume ends with her heart being broken.
For a second volume, this one was pretty intense! It did more than just advance the plot but it also took us into Kamiyama’s mind a bit and we got to understand her a bit more because of it. Miku is nothing more than a user and I already detest her… but not in a way where I think her character is bad… it’s just that I think she is written so well as a backstabber that I have an innate hatred for her… just as the author probably intended.
Overall, I felt this was a great follow-up volume that really set the tone, allowed us to explore the characters, and continue the story’s plot!
Characters
Kamiyama ended up with the most development here. She was still care of Hikaru in the beginning but as the volume went on, she became more and more trusting of him. She tested this out by shaking Hikaru’s hand and felt that it was something that she could do without feeling afraid. After she does this, she comes to the realization that Hikaru is someone special to her. Even Sara gives her advice by stating that she is nothing more than an ordinary girl that is capable of falling in love. You really got to feel the human side of Kamiyama in this volume and it really helped add some more dimensions to her character. I’m really starting to enjoy her as a main character now!
Hikaru, on the other hand, is too kind for his own good. He says that he wants to get close to Kamiyama, he says he wants to protect her, but when he’s practically peer pressured into looking after Miku, he caves pretty quickly which causes some discord with Kamiyama. It isn’t until Hikaru sets things straight with Kamiyama that she realizes that he’s special to her. Hikaru and Miku, on the other hand, kind of have a one-sided relationship. Miku is doing her best to get close to Hikaru but it’s only because she has some sort of vendetta against Kamiyama. She only wants to take Hikaru away from her in an attempt to crush her spirit for an unknown reason right now. She already admitted to Kamiyama that she will use the world to get what she wants.
It’s for that reason why I really like Miku. In other words, I love to hate her. She is written in such a way that her sweet side makes you sick and her true side makes you feel even sicker. It’s almost if you kind of wish to see something happen to her. In fact, when she did get kidnapped, I kind of rooted for the kidnapper. Even without Miku doing much, I could tell she was fake and had an agenda from the very beginning. Is it bad that I want bad things to happen to her?
Final Thoughts
Two volumes into Not Your Idol and I’m really enjoying this series. The diversity of the characters is there as they all bring their unique perspectives to the series. The story is a bit basic with a former idol getting stalked, though. I wonder how long they can keep that up before it gets stale and/or resolved? Once it does get resolved, will the manga be in a place to continue on or is that just going to be the end of the series? It’s way too early to tell what the end goal truly is here outside of the obvious shipping of Hikaru x Kamiyama. Usually, when it comes to love stories like these, end goals like that are painfully obvious from the outset.
Still, I enjoyed this volume and I’m really looking forward to reading more from this series. If you want a basic romance series that is constructed around a lot of real-life drama, then this should be a good pick up for you!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
