MANGA REVIEW | "Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best!" - Vol. 1
It’s nice when your significant other shares the same interests as you. You get to experience things with different perceptions, sometimes discovering new things about the passions you love. It can cover anything, be it a sport, a video game, an anime, or — in the case of the couple in Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best! — a certain performer. But there are different levels one can be passionate about, as Mito Aoi’s manga comes to show.
Tachibana and Onda are coworkers at a diner, whose personalities couldn’t be any more different. However, when it comes to idols, they bond like the bestest of friends. Tachibana worships Fuji-kun, while Onda admires Kiwa, and both do their best to support their favorite artists. That’s when Onda confesses his feelings for Tachibana, who is taken aback by the admittance.
Both decide to give the dating thing a go, with no idea how the end result will be. They experience dining at their favorite idols’ places, meet-and-greets, and many other idol-related events as a couple. But they also take on Onda’s birthday, traveling long distances together as a couple, and introducing their significant others to their closest friends. As their time together grows, their affection for one another slowly follows.
One of the strong elements of Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best! is the fact that it’s the right kind of cute. While many shojo manga likes to drown its readers with the adorableness, author Aoi delivers just the perfect amount to make it an attractive read for any gender to enjoy. Yes, it has sparkles and pretty-looking characters, but more focus is placed on the story rather than the visual aspect. And fortunately, the narrative is pretty impressive for the story it wants to tell!
Despite an early bad first impression, readers are shown that Onda’s a genuinely good guy. Not only do his interests line up with Tachibana, but they genuinely have a decent amount of chemistry to make a relationship work. Even better is how Onda views his love for idol Kiwa, as it’s more about admiration and inspiration rather than a genuine romance. The same can be said about Tachibana’s love for Fuji-kun, as her now real-life relationship gets to a point where a conflicted schedule between an event and Onda’s birthday makes her try her best to make the right choice.
It’s when Onda invites Tachibana along to a trip to see Kiwa perform when the strength of their relationship is put on display. There’s some kerfuffles, especially when it comes to sharing a hotel room. But when it comes to the things they do together and experience, it brings the two a lot closer than either could’ve ever imagined. The trip even ends with Onda doing something that Tachibana was probably ill-prepared for, although her thoughts regarding it were a lot more positive than negative.
For its debut volume, Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best! does plenty of things different for the rom-com genre. The character chemistry is great, and the reactions that Onda and Tachibana have when thinking of their faves are genuinely sweet. But when it focuses on the actual relationship, that’s when Mito Aoi’s manga truly shines. Even if you’re not the idol-loving kind of person, Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best! delivers a good amount of heart and humor that’ll keep you fully entertained.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Tomo Tran of Kodansha Manga
