The Spring 2025 Manga Guide

Idol x Idol Story!

What's It About? 

Meet Mimi, a college grad working part-time at a convenience store. Once an aspiring idol, she abandoned her dream when her group failed to make it big. Enter Ibuki, a rising star inspired by Mimi's past. Their unexpected encounters reignite Mimi's passion for the spotlight. Together, they decide to audition for a high-stakes idol competition show. Can they achieve their dreams and forge an unbreakable bond, or will the intense rivalry tear them apart?

IDOL x IDOL STORY! has a story and art by Shōtarō Tokunō, with English translation by Sarah Burch. This volume is lettered by Jennifer Elena Pizzaro. Published by Seven Seas (April 29, 2025). Rated Teen.

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Is It Worth Reading?

Christopher Farris
Rating:

There are naturally questions going into IDOL x IDOL STORY! preceding any context. What kind of relationship between said idols does that title connotate? How seriously will this story tackle industry issues? Exactly how are we to pronounce that 'x' in this particular case? It's a volume that seems to thrive on throwing audiences off at least a bit at first. Lead idol fan Mimi pines after her fave Ibuki in a way that doesn't seem dissimilar to Oshibudo, until some clever narrative omissions are pulled back to reveal that Mimi is a former idol herself. It winds together into an ouroboros of inspirational role-reversal, both idols having impacts on each others' recurring dreams until they've chased each other into a reality show audition framework that calls to mind shades of Selection Project. Does it speak well for this series' distinctiveness that I mostly frame it in reference to other idol stories?

That issue with asserting its own identity, even with those early subversions, defines the generally cromulent vibe of IDOL x IDOL STORY!. Even the character designs themselves could stand to be a bit more distinctive, as Ibuki and Mimi get lost a bit among their own crowds and supporting cast—to say nothing of kinda looking like idol-flavored versions of Chisato and Takina from Lycoris Recoil a lot of the time. Late in the volume the idol tournament arc moves to a cruise ship, with the art thoroughly failing to capitalize on a sense of place for that unique setting. The idol industry competition vibes are similarly mushy. The alpha idol running the show offers seemingly cutting criticism to the contestants, inspiring the ones that are main-character- shaped enough to move forward based on whatever her plot-propelling judging criteria is. Any issues with burning out or failing in the industry is cast at the feet of the work ethic and luck- based struggles of the girls themselves. Mimi is even far too eager to be constrained by the ludicrous 22-year-old idol cutoff date.

It's frustrating mostly in how IDOL x IDOL STORY! fails to capitalize on any latent potential it might have underneath a base that's otherwise entirely fine. There's some spark in Mimi as a protagonist. I can appreciate an older (by the standards) idol dealing with burnout and career woes. And there's something to be said for how unabashedly gay she is (even if much of her interest is directed at high school girls…). The emotional storytelling of the performance visuals mostly lands where it wants to, even as I'm not sure this is one of those manga that can effectively communicate musicality in a medium like this. If you know me, you know I'm open to idol stories, and this one hit a lot of the expected notes with just a couple of interesting moves. So if you're hard up for idols yourself, it might be worth checking this series out to question where it goes.