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I thought I wasn't the target audience for this series, I've never been a fan of celebrities and don't care about Jpop/Kpop, but this anime is hilarious. Even if you are not an idol fan, it's a great satire that's self-aware enough to acknowledge how these singers put on a carefully crafted persona and how fans buy into it. At the same time, we see the positive side of their job with them inspiring young people like Utage.

The relationship between Tamon and Utage is wholesome, with Utage respecting Tamon's private life and actually doing her job when she's working at his place - Utage is ... great at lifting Tamon's spirits while Tamon's kindness resonates with Utage. Even though she's a superfan of his, she differentiates between his idol self and real personality, and the worst thing she's done so far was "exploding" when Tamon switched between his personas. They are both awkward teenagers and have great chemistry.

The supporting cast is also great, not so surprisingly all members of F/ACE are different off-stage which would probably be the same in real life as well. They all have their own story and life outside of the band and only play into their characters when they are on camera. This is the kind of self-awareness that I love about this show, in every episode we are reminded that Tamon's on-stage persona was also decided by his agency. The situations arising from superfan meeting the different faces of her idols are hilarious, and the voice actors are doing an amazing job.

Production quality for a shoujo series is outstanding, the visuals are amazing, the songs are catchy. Probably the best rom-com of 2026, I highly recommend it to anyone, regardless of gender it's a good anime.

This is a comedy manga which means it doesn't take itself very seriously. Listen, I'm not an idol fan, I've never been obsessed with celebrities or any type of media. I thought I was not going to be the target audience for a manga that is centered around an idol group and their superfan. BUT this series is hilarious! If you're not into idol-culture like me, this is a great satire, the manga is self-aware enough to portray both sides of the entertainment industry while still being fun. If you're unsure about the relationship dynamic, it's not weird at all. Utage might be Tamon's fan, ... but she usually separates his idol persona and his real personality (referred to as Gloomyhara). She's not going through his personal things, not posting personal information about him, the worst she does is "explode" when Tamon switches to his on-stage-persona. If you keep reading the series, Tamon is actually the bigger weirdo between them, and it actually makes sense knowing he doesn't have friends and his self-confidence is at rock-bottom. They have a funny and cute dynamic, and I haven't even mentioned the other boygroup members who are all extremely entertaining. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's refereshing to see an idol-centered romantic comedy that shows how these celebrities are just putting on a planned act made by their companies and how people buy into it, while still acknowledging the positive side of being a "fan".

I personally think most new shoujo series are kind of bland, this one is actually one of the funniest rom-coms right now, if you love slow-burn romance with lots of over-the-top comedy with subtle nods to real-life problems idols have to face this is a great choice.

Please don't listen to the negative reviews, one of them only read 5 chapters and the real plot starts from ch 8. This is one of my favourite josei manga right now, it has great art, good characters and an interesting plot. The series tells the story of an orphan girl named Nina, who is forced to take the place of a dead princess. She develops feelings for the second prince of her country, but in order to save his life, she decides to marry the crown prince of an enemy country. However, her potential husband has no intention to marry her, in fact, he ... uses the bride candidates as political tools in order to attack their countries. With no one to rely on but herself, Nina has to make her own decisions and try to survive in a new environment.

I've seen people calling Nina all kinds of bad names, but people have to understand that she's a young girl who's only just learning about the workings of the world. She grew up in the slums, lost her parents at a young age and had to steal in order to stay alive. She believes that one's destiny is not written in the stars and it can be changed, because she doesn't want to lose more people dear to her. She's around 15/16 years old at the beginning of the series, that is when she has her first love, but she doesn't think she'll see him again. She resolves herself to stay by the man who has to be her husband, she teaches him how to express himself and share his feelings, they have vulnerable moments together that's a start of a new love. But Nina's first love appears again, and she gets confused. And it's totally normal, she's so young to fully understand herself and her feelings, in fact, she cannot even imagine herself in a physical relationship with either of them. The first kiss that SHE initiates is much later in the story and it's a kiss on the cheek. It's not until she learns much more about the world and herself that she starts to experience a more mature love, one that has the potential to grow into something more. Which leads me to me next point (minor spoilers ahead):

Another negative review said how Nina will choose Az in the final arc. I don't know what led that person to believe this, but it's not true. While there's no confirmed male lead, it's kind of obvious who has Nina's heart, and (spoiler) it's not Az anymore. Nina clearly thought about how Sett will be the one to be at her side when she grows old. She talks about her feelings for Az as if they are part of her past. Right now, the main focus of the series is not this anyway. There's a lot of interesting lore about gods and Nina's eyes, and everything is slowly coming together. There are plot twists that were foreshadowed ever since the first chapter.

I enjoy the manga so much so please give it a chance and decide if you like it.

Banana Fish is an experience of a lifetime. It's been days since I've watched it and I'm still affected by its last episode. Right off the bat, for people who come here expecting a typical BL story, this show is not that. Banana fish contains extremely triggering subject matters and traumatic moments, so it's not for everybody. There's a deep connection between two male characters that is the heart of the show, but the nature of this love is up to interpretation. But if you're looking for a soul-wrenching crime-drama thriller, this show is a really good one.

Without spoiling too much away, this series tells ... a story of two contrasting worlds that under normal circumstances should never have merged. It's a simple coincidence that lets two entirely different people meet under the most cruel circumstances. Our main character Ash is a heavily traumatized individual who finds hope in his life through a Japanese student named Eiji. Ash gets involved in a dangerous situation involving a drug called 'Banana fish' and the story is about his personal fight with the mafia boss who tormented him throughout his whole life. It's a tale full of suffering where a geuine humane relationship symbolizes the light in Ash's dark and corrupted world. While Ash's innocence was taken away from him at a young age, he desperately wants to protect Eiji's pure heart.

There are many stories of different people in this work. Most of them are dark and hopeless, and it never truly gets better. In contrast to the corrupted world Ash lives in, his mutual love with Eiji is a pure connection of two souls, no matter how you choose to interpret it. What you can take away from this work is that there are things that can be more important to us beyond our existence, like a bond we share with someone else and what it teaches us.

Spoilers for the ending.
This is the perfect example of a story that started with huge potential and had one of the worst endings I've ever read in manga. Where did it go wrong, one might ask? Signs were all there from the beginning, ever since the female protagonist, Nino, started to burst out singing in the most cringe way anyone could imagine. Or how her childhood crush was always on her mind, even years later without any contact with the guy. But no, the most unforgivable part of this manga is its terrible ending and total disrespect of its best written character, Yuzu.

Yuzu had the ... most compelling storyline in the whole series. He was hospitalized as a kid, but his passion for music was so strong he started to draw music sheets in the sand. After meeting Nino she became his voice, a new inspiration, a new hope. Yuzu's singing was the emotional climax of the entire series because we rooted for his dream. As opposed to his journey, Momo, the childhood friend of the FL was absent for the majority of the manga. Yet, for whatever reason, Nino had to mention his name in every sentence. Honestly, if you let another guy kiss you and say that's your happiest moment in your whole life in the very last volume, and declare you will tell him your true feelings, how on earth can you start dating someone else in the very next chapter?? It doesn't make sense?? I feel like even the author felt how the endgame couple had no chemsitry so they were given one awkward moment in the last chapter, while the whole series ends with the other two singing at the beach where they first met. Please make it make sense??

But if someone thinks I'm exaggerating, majority of the JP fandom hated the ending, even the live action had a different conclusion. If you want to piss off your readers, than sure, it was successful. Platonic soulmates do exist, but here it didn't make sense why they didn't become romantic when the other couple had nothing in common except their love for music. And they didn't have a lot of interactions, either, and even if the guy had family problems, it didn't justify his rude behaviour. I don't know why authors still make their female characters choose the rude first crush over the person who supports them through everything and have a very natural and healthy chemistry. Meh.

I liked Charming Junkie, but I will never touch another work of this mangaka, please don't waste your time with this one or just imagine a different ending.

Ghost Hunt is a horror manga, although by today's standards I would call it a thriller with great comedy and a hint of romance. The plot is relatively simple, 16-year-old Mai encounters a group of people who deal with ghosts. We have a young man who owns a ghost hunter agency, nicknamed Naru by Mai because of his narcissistic tendencies; a priestess with heavy makeup who wants to get a boyfriend, an ex-monk/band guitarist, a TV persona who's a psychic medium and a young exorcist from Australia who believes the Kyoto dialect is the polite form of Japanese language. After experiencing how they work and ... destroying Naru's camera accidentally, Mai becomes his assistant at his agency and they all work together to solve paranormal cases.

If you haven't guessed from my synopsis yet, this is a very fun story with an eccentric cast of characters. The story has an episodic nature, but every case is interesting because of all the new information we get about the paranormal and also the delightful interactions of the cast. They all play off each other very well and you never feel like they shouldn't be a part of the narrative. Although I said that the story is episodic, it doesn't mean that it's repetitive. Through every volume, we always get new additional info about the main characters and that's how the main mysteries of the plot slowly come together.

And I cannot finish my review without talking about the art. It's absolutely gorgeous, the inking, the shading, they all just look so good while the characters are distinctive and you can easily tell them apart. It was such a pleasure looking at every page. I cannot recommend this series enough, it's a hidden gem if you like a good old msytery series.