Interesting...........

I have mixed feelings about this one, so far for me the fan makes sense even if she's disappointingly rigid in her thinking. Sumika on the other hand is kind of weird. Why is she going to such lengths to stay in touch? Is she that sheltered/contact starved that going to one awkward dinner with another girl has her go this far to force said girl into her life?

I'm kind of hoping Sumika is very, very gay, had an "oh no she's hot" moment while fighting over the phone, and this is the start of a very awkward and over the top courtship. But that's just me projecting what I want, the tone isn't that lighthearted.

I have mixed feelings about this one, so far for me the fan makes sense even if she's disappointingly rigid in her thinking. Sumika on the other hand is kind of weird. Why is she going to such lengths to stay in touch? Is she that sheltered/contact starved that going to one awkward dinner with another girl has her go this far to force said girl into her life?

The story is pretty clear about it—Sumika is both lonely and controlling. The isolated control freak who gets fascinated by the ordinary person who dares to tell them “no” is a pretty common trope.

Cthulu is cool and all, but yuri is still the color for me.

The hate for MC is puzzling for me. I actually like the Ito and how firm she says no to Sumika when the position was offered. I've seen far too many flim flamy MC for my liking. I'd even think her reaction might be a bit unrealistic since I'm used to seeing diehard fans making all kinds of dumb excuses to justify their idol's faults. Although Ito is obviously not a diehard, she's just a young girl stuck in a rigid, stupidly traditional school with unrealistic bourgeoise ideals compared to the western society. So she admires the image of Sumika, who is the image of someone "from the outside" and is "both free and beautiful." When reality did not meet expectation, she did do exatly what she says on the first page: "since I don't want to end up hating them, I'd distance myself from them instead." Given the social context since this is a Japanese manga drawn by a Japanese person taking place in a Japanese school setting, this is actually very standard? The unrealistic part would be Ito being extremely firm to Sumika saying no. Ito is also extremely mild when it comes to the incredibly rabid fans who would viciously cancel their idol if they find a speck of dirt on said idol.

I'm not sure how Ito's self-esteem and ideal of her own self will have an impact on the story direction, but it could be an interesting twist. I just don't want the development to go in the direction of "hey, she's pretty cute. Let's develop her into an idol too."

But the odd one out is definitely Sumika. I can understand Ito's motivations and etc since the story is in her POV, but Sumika seems all over the place and inconsistent. Some of it could be explained away with extremely sheltered life or something, but she IS in the entertainment business so it's just a big ? to me. I can't get a good read on what drives her right now. Hopefully the next few chapters will fix that. But she's definitely going through some extremes just to have Ito around. At this point it's just yuri plot device, so To Be Continued. munches popcorn

Cthulu is cool and all, but yuri is still the color for me.

Your True Colour Out of Space

Disillusionment is an interesting angle. Some people get like that and far worse than the main character. The line "never meet your heroes" comes from somewhere after all.

There's a lot of things that isn't really logical, but... yea, still kind of curious about what's going to happen.

I​ like​ the​ art​ but​ the​ plot​ is​ all​ over​ the​ place.​ I​ feel​ like​ the​ author​ tried​ to​ make​ something​ new.​ Instead​ of​ a​ fan​girl​ who​ followed​ arrogant​ idol,​ the​ plot​ is​ reverse​d​ but​ somehow​ it​ doesn't​ make​ sense.

The Main Character is acting wierd because she is experiancing Cognitive Dissonance. She has projected a fantasy unto the ideal of Sumika as a form of escapeism from her backwards school, but it doesnt match Up with reality as the real Sumika is kinda spoiled (likely because of the life she is living)

Cognitive stress in these kinds of situations isnt a fair emotion, its not fair for the MC and its not fair for Sumika either. But its a decent drama catalyst in storytelling as IT quickly establishes a Dynamic between the two

To those who dont know, Cognitive Dissonance is a type of stress that one experiances when something that is strongly rooted in somebodys head gets contradicted

last edited at Jan 12, 2020 5:57PM

The hate for MC is puzzling for me. I actually like the Ito and how firm she says no to Sumika when the position was offered. I've seen far too many flim flamy MC for my liking.

The problem with MC is she's being selfish. I get being disappointed when an actor or actress you like turns out to be kinda a bitch in real life (I've for a few myself), but she is messed up. "Don't tarnish MY Sumika"? The ultimate form of selfishness, which she criticizes Simika for exhibiting herself.

Now, I realize as this story progresses, we're going to see her realize how similar she is being to the Sumika she seems to hate for doing the same thing to her. Sumika will start becoming more and more like her sterile ideal and she'll realize how much she actually liked the real thing better, but for now, this is who she is. A selfish girl getting mad at another selfish girl.

edit: the person above me hits the situation pretty well

last edited at Jan 12, 2020 6:21PM

Looks interesting, but the fan rubs me the wrong way, probably from how creepy "don't taint my Sumika" sounded and glorifying her, she's human too afterall. I was expecting for it to be like, she definitely dislikes how Sumika truly is but ends falling for the "real" Sumika, but that'd be too predictable so them going for "helping her be a better "Sumika"" is fine too, I guess.

Let's see how it develops.

Another school girl/idol story... meh. Need some more “Adult Living” manga.

THANK YOU

last edited at Jan 12, 2020 9:46PM

Sumika's flaws really aren't jarring enough to justify the MC's level of disillusionment with her. The idea that she's a terrible person because she's somewhat thoughtless and self-absorbed is a pretty big reach.

Agreed.

subbadubdub. this looks like its gonna be good/

Sumika wearing a cap literally looks like Trixie Tang disguising to buy a comic book

A wobbly beginning, maybe I'll get back to this once the story reaches at least 5 chapters.

You’d think a fancy school could afford ribbons that aren’t so cheap

If you like the psychological drama in Still Sick, I think you'll like this one too.

You'd compare this manga with Still Sick?

In my book, that's enormous praise. I sure hope you're right.

I like dis. Sumika is a waifu and the plot is somewhat fascinating. Sumika should smack the other girl real quick because she’s overreacting as fuck. Or kiss her, kissing always solves problems

last edited at Jan 14, 2020 12:45AM

I think it's cute so far, so I'm all for it. Thank you onesnowyday for translating, your credits page comment amuses me yet again. Also, sorry for ruining the 69 comments we had

I am conflicted...tbh. She says "These school rules to look proper and lady like are so outdated!" but she also gets really mad with Sumika for being so carefree... and yeah she's spoiled and demanding but how glorious was your image of her? I really want to know what's that "perfect Sumika" role you want her to play. Hmmmm but I guess is because she goes to a school like that that...
I mean, if the author had decided to make the protagonist believe that Sumika was discussing with a boyfriend on the phone (and then she would be like "ah, so it was just the manager") I would relate more to her and her disappointment but right now I'm just saving my judgement, feels like the story and the character's goals hasn't quite landed yet for me... Or like, I don't understand what they're feeling right now.

I think I understand though. A lot of people in really restrictive situations get into these types of mindsets. It's a form of jealousy. She hates the rules she's forced to live under and then holds as an ideal the "outside world" as embodied by the "fictional" Sumika who is held up on a pedestal. However when she discovers who the real Sumika is, she becomes jealous, even hateful, of Sumika not following societal rules that she herself is forced to follow. It's a contradiction but it's also wonderfully how the brain functions in such situations.

Alternative more familiar example: a lot of parents who grew up in restrictive households go on to raise kids in a restrictive household even though they hated the rules that their own parents forced upon them.

ah finally

Some really took offense to the 'my Sumika' image thing. Eh. Seems pretty logical to me? I think it's already addressed in the thread before with different explanations including cognitive dissonance, words I should really commit to memory. Ito's in that tender stage where girls her age is going to act guess what, like brats who are immature and stupid. Very rarely are people her age ever been taught how to deal/cope with certain types of problems psychologically, probably especially in Japan. A country with a ridiculous emphasis on keeping up with the facade and image. What happens when you are unequipped mentally and psychologically to deal with something disappointing, basic instinct kicks in: destroy said unsavory thing by fighting it, distancing yourself from it because overwhelmed, or maybe cover your eyes and pretend the house isn't on fire. (There might be more, but I can't be asser to Google this now on a phone) Ito was handling it on her own until her stressor, the idol in question showed up

1. Completely out of the blue at her school's front gate
2. Tries to pressure Ito into an acting role
3. Tries to double team with the boneless manager

Being polite in this situation isn't working since the two tries to pressure Ito into it. Blowing up is super effective however.

Nah. Being selfish in this case is totally necessary and even healthy. I've dealt with pushy types like Sumika before, volcano meltdown is necessary sometimes. Although we are talking about image rather than dealing with pushy people. Call it cancel culture or outrage culture? It's just how the brain works for certain situations. It's one of THE easiest solution to go for, and damn does brain like easy solutions. High EQ people can surely be much more mature in handling this, on a Japanese JK though? Not likely

:/ Don't like MC at all. I get that you'd be disappointed about how your idol is in real life, but it's not right to suddenly project your ideal on to them because you think you have a much better understanding of what it is they're supposed to be. Don't be such an inconsiderate human being. Idols are people too. You can't just have them erase their whole personality to make way for your own exacting standards. The thought of that happening to me is frightening and creepy as hell.

...then again, from reading a few pages from chapter 2, its looking like this idol wants that to happen anyway, so whatever. Haha. To each their own.

last edited at Jan 18, 2020 8:25AM

Okay the gayness has fucking exploded upwards as of this chapter, and further justification why everyone is the way they are is there. That's pretty good. I don't see why everyone in here is trying to take one side or the other, they're both fucked up by the situations around their life and trying to set things up so they can be happy. Sumika is pushing Ito's boundaries, and using her to build her own brand (but also looking for Ito's company and frankness, someone that actually is interested in her as a person instead of a prop), but Ito is also using Sumika, trying to make her into the ideal she'd projected upon her. I imagine as things go on, Ito will become Sumika's defender, Sumika will start to fit the ideal more, and at some point Ito will be like "I like you, I don't like the fake Sumika" or something along those lines.