Tamon B Side Manga Ongoing Review

22/01/26

I am currently reading Tamon's B Side (A Popular Shojo Manga), where a F/ACE (The name of the band) fangirl, Utage, discovers that when working as a housekeeper, her idol, Tamon, is extremely different from what he portrays to others. Tamon is supposed to be this wild, sexy idol to others, but he is different when he is at home. At home, he is a socially introverted, sensitive, and low self-esteem individual, making negative remarks about himself a lot of the time. Utage, not liking this, works to improve on Tamon's negative attitude. 

I am currently on chapter 21, Vol 5, and so far it has been an enjoyable read. The pace is really good, and the interaction between characters has been sometimes funny. For instance, the other idols from the group have distinct personalities in real life, such as Keito and Ouri. Keito, who is portrayed as a calm and sweet individual, is actually greedy and does not genuinely care for his fans as he claims; it is revealed that he only cares about the money. It was mentioned later that the reason why he cares about money so much is that he wishes to support his siblings. He is also quite protective of his member's image, disliking it whenever Utage is close to either Tamon or Ouri. Ouri is portrayed as the "Prince" in the group, which is far from the truth. In secret, he is actually a very arrogant, hot-headed individual. Being described by F/ACE's manager as a "Gorilla". Right now, it is hinted that he may like Utage, which, in a way, is a bit annoying because I am mainly focusing on Tamon and Utage's relationship. This could also be a positive, though, as this could reveal Tamon's jealous side and his love for Utage. 

To be honest, I was quite reluctant to read this because I don't really read Idol x fan stories, but this manga is quite fun to read, and the characters are quite interesting. Tamon is also quite cute and soft, which I rarely read. So I would definitely recommend this manga; it is quite light-hearted and relaxing. 

Anyways, I am going to continue reading and let you know when I finish. 

Update:

I have just read Chapter 51 volume 11 (The latest). At the moment, I am still enjoying reading the manga. I found out about Tamon's past after finding out about his brother, and it made me a bit sad. Like, Tamon is so cute and adorable, and the fact that he got bullied makes me so sad. The art is amazing, and honestly, little Tamon smiling as he watched his older brother dance was so heartwarming. This is later revealed to be his inspiration and the goal of "Making that one person smile."

He recently friended Utage, and honestly, it was quite refreshing as their relationship felt like a wall, considering Utage restricts herself solely because she is a fangirl. I believe being friends sort of gets rid of that wall and allows the two to get closer. The way Tamon was trying to be friends with her was a bit weird, though. In chapter 47, volume 10, Tamon states that he will use money and sell his organs just to be friends with Utage. Which is odd and can be taken as due to him not having friends in a while; he has no idea how to befriend someone. I also believe he definitely has feelings for Utage, as in another chapter, when Utage got whisked away by some men, he got quite jealous. This is not just one scene where he gets jealous, though. Ouri, who may be the 2nd male lead, contributes to this jealousy by telling Tamon in recent chapters about his feelings for Utage. Which honestly just ugh, can you just leave them alone? 

Moving on from the romance, I learnt a bit about the other bandmates, who are polar opposites of their idol personas. Natsuki is a sluggish smoker/drinker, and Rintaro is a chatty otaku. These characters were pretty cool to read about. I especially liked looking through, maybe I have a thing for sluggish men? Anyways I'll update more in a few months' time since it is ongoing and let you know what I feel.

Bye!!!