Healy's Journal

Currently I'm reading Stranger Idol Panic -- Managerial Stress!, written by Shinichiro Ito and illustrated by FATbeat, which is... okay, I'm not gonna mince words here, it's pretty bad. I only read it because I was bored and browsing some light novel translation site. The basic plot is, some guy in high school wins a contest to become manager of Japan's most popular idol group, the Danger Cool Beauties, but imagine his surprise when it turns out they're secretly a squad of magical girls that defend the Earth from a group of evil space aliens! Unfortunately the book really doesn't live up to that premise and soon settles into typical harem tripe with the idols and their hangers-on (the cute idol, the shy idol, the rude idol, yakuza girl, that friggin' ferret-lady). Don't get me wrong, it's mostly tame stuff (though I thought the bathing suit armor was a bit much), it just gets really boring when the author describes yet another trip to the pastry shop. I did think the twist at the end was pretty cool (The evil aliens turn out to be us humans from the future!) but it really wasn't worth what felt like a friggin' 15 page description of macaroons. Maybe it'd be worth reading if you're really bored one day, but overall I'd say you should skip it.