The contrast between these series was interesting, because both deal with idol fandom culture and the impact it has on the fan. Both are also light romantic comedies, but I enjoyed My Coworker Has a Secret! much more.
If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die follows Eripiyo, who is a huge fan of Maina. Maina is an idol in an underground idol group and is the least popular, with Eripiyo being her only real fan. The main reason is that Eripiyo is so big of a fan that she scares everyone else off and buys all of Maina’s handshake tickets so no one else can meet her. Maina is so shy around Eripiyo that she thinks she doesn’t like her, but Maina actually does. The manga also focuses on the friendships that being a fan brings. My main issue was that two volumes in, the two main characters are still basically in the same spot where they started, and I can tell it’s going to be a long haul before they maybe get together. Miscommunication and one character thinking the other one hates them when they are actually super shy is a personal pet peeve of mine, and that’s basically the whole plot here. On the plus side, the art is very cute and it was interesting to learn more about Japanese idol culture. I will skim read future volumes in the bookstore, but I’m not going to keep buying these.
My Coworker Has a Secret! is about Akari, a 25 year old office worker who is a secret fan of Ren-Ren, a musical theater actor. She is convinced that if her coworker friends find out, they wouldn’t like her anymore, so she spends her lunch breaks in the park watching Ren-Ren’s livestreams while telling her friends she’s talking to her boyfriend. With her ex-boyfriend having stolen her savings and her spending the rest of her money on fan activities, she can only eat one meal a day. One day her lunch gets stolen by a bird and a nice man in the park sees this and lets her have his bento. She opens up to him about being a fan, only to find out when she gets back to the office that he’s actually her new coworker. Kazama agrees to keep her secret and they start to get to know each other and fall in love. This series is only two volumes but it doesn’t feel rushed and the characters are really sweet and fun to spend time with. The art is perfect for the content, with a cartoony vibe that captures the slapstick nature of events. The author is also able to show the more serious and tender moments well. I really enjoyed this and related a lot to Akari’s devotion to her idol, while also finding her developing relationship with Kazama super cute. It’s just a very sweet and enjoyable read. I wish there were more!
2 stars for Budokan, 4 stars for Coworker, so an average of 3 stars.