Title: Not Your Idol Vol. 4
Author: Aoi Makino
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Physical
Pages: 215
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Drama, Romance
Publication Date: July 7, 2026
The Story
Miku Nagasu’s situation has become much more complex, and it’s causing a divide amongst everyone, with some thinking that she really was assaulted, and some thinking that she wasn’t. As this goes on, Kamiyama and Hikaru have a conversation about Kamiyama possibly going back to becoming an idol. Just when they think that this is their only problem, a tabloid reporter from SCOOPS Magazine shows up and threatens to reveal Kamiyama’s true identity. She even has photos of Hikaru and her at the train station. Knowing she can’t get to Kamiyama personally, she decides to target Hikaru instead. This puts him in a bind because he promised to be the one who would protect her.
Hikaru agrees to meet the reporter for an interview, but instead it turns into an argument. Seeing that she’s not going to make any headway like this, she strikes a deal with Hikaru. If he can bring her another scandal, she will drop the stories on Kamiyama and her mother. She throws one last barb at him, wondering if he would be willing to ruin someone else’s life just because his back is up against the wall.
Meanwhile, Miku’s older brother, Seiyo, joins her school as a teacher’s aide. They have a playful relationship in front of the other students, and many think of him as just an overprotective big brother. Some even find that endearing. After class, Sanada, Okita, and Tsuji were about to head home when Seiyo approached them and asked if they wanted a ride. He said that some of his college club members would drive them home. They accepted the ride; however, doing so unveiled one of the biggest scandals they have ever heard… and it could just be the thing that Hikaru needs to stop SCOOPS Magazine from reporting that article.
But it’s not going to be that simple because in the midst of this scandal, a much darker secret is revealed!
Characters
Wow… a LOT was revealed in this volume, so some of these character discussions are going to be super vague.
The one thing that I can talk about is Kamiyama and Hikaru’s relationship taking quite the major turn. While they are not officially together or anything, there are some things that happened here that tell us that it’s only a matter of when… not if. The thing is, sometimes love can be interrupted by a cavalcade of different scenarios, and that’s exactly what happened here. So, while there have been some pretty big advancements, multiple hurdles that are affecting them both need to be overcome first before anything can materialize. At least we have something on the horizon to look forward to, and we also have solid concreate confirmation about something involving Hikaru’s character, too!
Masaki, despite being quite brash, is still one of Hikaru’s best friends, and he definitely showed that here in this volume. In addition to knowing everything about Kamiyama and willingly protecting her identity, he knows about the scandal unfolding with SCOOPS Magazine, and even came up with a clever ploy to get Hikaru an out. Masaki proves that you can do just about anything with the right information, and through this information, we also learn a bit about his backstory, too… or more specifically, his father. He just became a much more interesting character, especially when he voices his regrets about his past!
Miku is someone who I am convinced is just completely messed up in the head. I’ll leave it at that because a lot of her development here ventures into huge spoiler territory, but I will say that I thoroughly dislike her character… and it’s not because of her underhanded tactics, or the things she says, but she has one of the most vile brother complexes I’ve ever seen.
Speaking of Miku’s brother, Seiyo. There is something off about him. While he does come off as an overprotective big brother, even Hikaru can easily sense that something is amiss. While we do learn what that something is… and in quite rapid succession towards the end of the volume… it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he wasn’t as sweet as everyone thinks he is, just from the nature of his dialogue at the start of the volume.
Final Thoughts
Hmm… how do I put this? I truly enjoyed everything that we received here, and the plot twists just came one after another the further you got into the volume. Had one of the plot twists not ended up leading into a huge reveal, I would have had a bigger problem with it… and the plot twist I’m talking about is the scandal involving the tennis club at Seiyo’s college. It was a little too convenient that Hikaru had a deadline to find a scandal to save Kamiyama, then suddenly, here comes Masaki to the rescue with just the thing that he needs. Setting aside the moral implications, the timing just made it come off as a giant plot device, or a Deus ex Machina moment. Had you taken away the SCOOPS Magazine part of the story, and just kept the scandal, everything would have still worked out, and honestly, it would have been a bit more shocking.
While the scandal was shocking enough, it just didn’t need the excuse of Hikaru needing something to save Kamiyama. They could have just leaned into her decision to become an idol again and have Hikaru spend his time trying to convince her otherwise. The dramatic ending could have still worked when we get the reveal, right after Kamiyama defies Hikaru’s protests and makes her decision. Had they written the story like that, it would have felt a little more natural. So, instead of being left with the “Ah ha… there it is… the road bump,” ending, we instead had to deal with a huge facepalm plot device leading into a “that’s not a road bump, holy hell, this is serious” cliffhanger ending.
But that is my only gripe with this volume. Everything else was very solid, and while all of the characters intertwining felt like a spider web more than anything else, when it all ties together, it all makes sense to see how they were connected to everything. I don’t know what is to come in the next volume as far as Hikaru’s decision, but one thing is for certain: we have quite a serious situation to overcome, and there is zero doubt that’s how volume five is going to kick off. With the slow releases of this series, I’m going to be left wondering for several months, now. Eep.
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
