Idol Burning

Idol Burning / Rin Usami
trans. from the Japanese by Asa Yoneda
NY: HarperVia, 2022, c2020.
144 p.

Another short novella, from a Japanese author interested in fandom and what it can do to a person's sense of self. I listened to this one, which I think worked really well - there are strings of social media comments included in the storyline and the way that the narrator read them made it seem so fresh and immediate. I know some readers haven't enjoyed this structural addition but as an audiobook I thought it was an interesting element.

The story follows Akari, a socially isolated teen with learning disabilities and difficult relationships. She withdraws from life, and from her family who struggles to help her. Her focus is on her 'oshi', Masaki, a pop idol. She writes a blog about him, scouring the internet and magazines for every detail about him, and has a following whose comments seem to give her the approval she needs. But then Masaki tumbles from his pedestal, accused of hitting a woman who is possibly his girlfriend. 

The way that this intense fandom affects both Masaki and Akari is explored in the narrative - they don't know one another but Akari's need to justify his actions and thus her own, is part of the parasocial fixation she has with him. The book looks at mental health, online fandom & its spaces, loneliness, teen alienation from life and many other similar things, all through the lens of oshi culture. 

I found it a good read, although some of the themes could have used a little more length in the narrative to be fleshed out, for more impact. Akari's life is described quietly, but gives the reader a strong impression of the crisis she's going through. Her isolation, partly self created, is dramatic and she finally has to hit bottom to realize it. I felt like the story mostly communicated this, although the reader has to be committed to the story arc as it does move a little slowly for such a short book. Still, I thought it illuminated a corner of life that I hadn't considered much before, and found lots to think about here.