4⭐
Genre: Japanese Literature, Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Fiction
Original Title: 推し、燃ゆ [Oshi, Moyu]
Original Language: Japanese
Translated by: Asa Yoneda
Pages: 144
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Canongate
Date Published: 20th July 2023
Huge thank you to Canongate for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.
Book Blurb:
My Review:
This book was on my wishlist for ages,
and I am so glad I finally had a chance to read it. It is so beautifully written
and although it is a very short book, it packed so much in such a short length.
This book explores idol culture yet at the same time draws a lot on cancel
culture that happens quite often with celebrities and touches on social media’s
role in both, cancel and idol cultures. Additionally, it explores mental health,
obsession and anxiety…
The story follows a 16-year-old
Akari who is obsessed with one of the members of the J-Pop band Maza Maza.
Masaki is her idol and she has been obsessed with him ever since she saw him in
the movie Peter Pan. Akari even runs a blog, which is quite popular, discussing
and fangirling over her idol Masaki. However, suddenly she finds out from news
outlets that her idol punched a fan. With no more details than that and just
speculations from fans and media, Akari goes into a deep obsession and
depression over her favourite idol. That’s where bits of Akari’s potential
neurodivergence and mental health issues are discussed. She alienates herself
from her family and friends even more than she used to and immerses even more
in obsessing over Masaki, whilst trying to figure out who he is and whether everything
she knows about him is true.
In this book, the author also points
out the very thin line between consumerism and production…Fans both produce
celebrities and can end their career just as easily, but then at the same time
are used as consumers to make those celebrities as powerful and as famous as
they are. Additionally, it shows the reality of being a fan and idolising
someone to the point it becomes your new reality.
What stood out for me the most in
this book is that Akari is labelled as ‘abnormal’ by other people and this,
together with the fact that she doesn’t get any help when it comes to learning
provisions in school or emotional support from her family, drives her to search
for that support elsewhere, leading her to this obsession and idolisation of a celebrity.
However, I wish there was more
gone into the incident of Masaki punching a fan, maybe how it happened and why
it happened, all that leading to him and then the band being cancelled. Also,
it would have been interesting to see what exactly Akari is struggling with and
why her family is not willing to help her with that.
Overall: Very thought-provoking
and interesting short book. I enjoyed learning and reading about different, yet
important topics in our modern society, such as idol and cancel cultures,
fandom toxicity, obsession, consumerism, mental health, and social media’s role
in all of it. Just wished this book was longer and explored all these topics
even more in depth.
About the Author:
Rin Usami (b. 1999) was born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Usami began writing novels in high school. Her debut novel Kaka, published in 2019, received the Yukio Mishima Prize, making her the youngest recipient in the award’s history. In 2020, at the age of 21, Usami won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for Idol, Burning. She lives in Tokyo.
https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/rin-usami-20228291555826
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