I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an idol fan (although plenty of the seiyu I like are in idol units or act the part), but I do appreciate a good story about characters who are or are in love with idols. Maybe because the fandom of it is quite similar to the otaku fandom when you’re really into a show or character. I can relate to those feelings readily enough. And there’s certainly a whole lot of manga based on this subject recently, especially in the BL genre (seriously, there are so many). But when I pulled 推しがファンのファンになっちゃうお話 (Oshi ga Fan no Fan ni Nacchau Ohanashi), out of the backlog, I discovered it had a fairly novel take on the concept.

The story follows Tanpopo, an office worker who fiercely stans the popular singer Itto. However, back when she was in school she once got made fun of for being ‘too devoted and overwhelming’, so now she lives her days quietly trying not to stand out or get noticed. She even has Itto’s official account blocked just in case he happened to come across her posts!

What Tanpopo doesn’t know is that Itto is secretly a fan of hers. Tired of being praised on social media for his looks rather than his singing abilities, Itto has a private personal account where he stumbled across Tanpopo’s energetic and loving posts that praise him for the things no one else notices. He doesn’t even follow her account, but he can go there to get a reprieve and be reassured that someone out there gets him. These two people have no other contact, but there’s a gentle atmosphere as we watch over them quietly live their lives as fans of one another.

I’m sure eventually this will become some kind of romance since it’s hinted that the two actually live quite close to one another, and I’m sure they’ll cross paths, but as far as Volume 1’s concerned, that isn’t happening. Instead we get to enjoy mishaps like Itto posting a photo of a mug he bought that looks like Tanpopo’s, thinking it will make her happy and instead leading her to lock her account because she’s worried about how other fans will react. It only occurs to Itto later that he might have caused her trouble. And it’s fun to see an idol like Itto begin to think about things from the perspective of the fans; even if he has their happiness in mind, it doesn’t mean they’ll react the way he expects.

The mangaka behind this one is Kakeru Utsugi, creator of How to Keep a Mummy, which I have definitely read a bit of back when it was on Crunchyroll Manga (the first time, not the abomination that service is now) but didn’t carry on with beyond a few chapters. I think it was too comedic for my tastes, but Utsugi’s new series feels like a better balance of slice-of-life and comedy.

I almost certainly picked up Oshi ga Fan due to the idol theme since I tend to purchase on autopilot with those, to a degree. And I would have been fine with whatever Utsugi chose to do with the story, given I like the tropes of the genre. But still, I’m happy to have been so pleasantly surprised that the mangaka decided to put a fun twist on the usual idol / fan story. The second volume is due out sometime in the summer (yes I am actually not behind with reading this one!).