Manga Review | Can an Otaku Like Me Really Be an Idol!? by Wacoco Waco

Title: Can an Otaku Like Me Really Be an Idol!?



Takumi Suzuki is living a double life. By day, he’s an idol otaku who keeps to himself at school. By night, he goes online as Rumepi, singing idol songs and sharing his love for . He never intended to pretend to be a girl online, but because of his small stature and high tone of voice, all of his viewers just assumed he was, and Takumi couldn’t bring himself to correct them. Takumi’s love of idols is very public, in more ways than one, but this obsession leaves him pretty lonely in class. While cleaning his classroom solo, Takumi puts up a desk, only to discover some idol merch left behind. It isn’t his desk, which means that someone else in the class is a secret idol fan like him.

Wondering who it is, it isn’t long before Takumi’s fellow idol fan’s identity is revealed as they rush back in to get their missing merch. It is none other than Misaki Hayakawa, one of the popular boys in his class and none other than Takumi’s crush. Takumi is ecstatic. He can’t control himself and ends up spewing all manner of questions and compliments regarding idols and the merch, but Misaki is not interested in fanboying over their shared love. Instead, Misaki wants Takumi’s deepest, darkest secret. Why? So he can blackmail Takumi with it and ensure his secret love of idols stays a secret.

Takumi is very open about most of his preferences, so Misaki decides to create something. Misaki takes Takumi home, forces him into some girl idol costumes, and then takes pictures. But once Misaki sees Takumi dressed as a girl, he is mildly attracted to him. Likewise, Takumi, dressed as a woman, alone with his crush, finds himself wanting to take Misaki right then and there. Just what is stirring between these two idol otaku?

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Manga Review | A Home Far Away by Teki Yatsuda

Title: A Home Far Away



Alan never feels more uncomfortable than he does when he is at home. His parents are intensely religious to the point that they are stunted into praying their lives away at home, blaming even the most slight inconvenience on sin and the devil. This would be bad enough, but Alan suffers from a chronic disease that his parents blame on some sin he has committed and believes that prayer and repentance will heal him. Alan’s life is suffocating, but he has nowhere else to go.

One evening, having stayed out past curfew, Alan refuses to go home, though he knows he will be punished when he gets home. Instead, he hangs out on the front steps of a restaurant. While sitting there, he’s approached by one of the workers, Hayden, who offers to let him out of the cold after his nose starts bleeding, which is a common symptom of his disease. The two share a deep conversation that continues daily, where Hayden reveals that he’s a drifter and will be moving on soon. Alan is heartbroken, but what can he do?

The day Hayden is set to leave, after a desperate and emotional confession from Alan, Hayden offers him a chance to escape with him. Of course, there’s a chance, even if they run, that Alan will never find happiness, but at least it would be his choice. So the two escape together, trying to find any small moments of joy they can cultivate for themselves while their dark pasts loom over them.

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