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Stan By Me
A quirky 18+ Boys Love manga about two very different boys with a shared love for the same popular idol somehow fall in love themselves.
Thirty-year-old manicurist Toshi Agawa is a devoted fan of the idol group FLAT. For the first time in two years, he’s finally going to see them live, together with his new friend “Kazusa,” a fellow fan he met online who managed to snag them tickets to the upcoming concert. It’s the perfect match — not only does Kazusa share the same intense love for FLAT, but they both stan the same idol! However, when Toshi arrives, the man waiting to meet him looks less like a fan and more like a yakuza thug! Will he still survive the night and have fun?
Thirty-year-old manicurist Toshi Agawa is a devoted fan of the idol group FLAT. For the first time in two years, he’s finally going to see them live, together with his new friend “Kazusa,” a fellow fan he met online who managed to snag them tickets to the upcoming concert. It’s the perfect match — not only does Kazusa share the same intense love for FLAT, but they both stan the same idol! However, when Toshi arrives, the man waiting to meet him looks less like a fan and more like a yakuza thug! Will he still survive the night and have fun?
Kindle Edition
Published February 24, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 30, 2026
Absolutely loved this one!
They're both idiots! Such big dummies and so precious!
Toshi runs a small nail business out of his older sister's cafe, and he's a big stan of idol group FLAT, with member Shuu being his bias. He has an online fellow Shuu-stan friend Kazusa who manages to get them both tickets to the last show of FLAT's tour. When they meet up, however, he's terrified of Kazusa because he's in the most yakuza-looking outfit possible. (Bro isn't a yakuza, hahahaha.)
The whole time, Toshi is uber polite and walking on eggshells to avoid doing anything to upset Kazusa, despite Kazusa being very sweet.
Kazusa falls for Toshi right away and even asks him out later, but Toshi thinks he did something to offend him, so what Kazusa sees as a date is Toshi thinking he's gonna have to pay up--in money or his life. Big dumb baby. I just kept going, "AH! THEY'RE BOTH IDIOTS. MOSTLY TOSHI, THOUGH. HAHAHAHA."
They figure things out obviously, once Kazusa makes a move during their date, and the rest is just really, really cute.
The art is great. Kazusa has the hot-yet-wholesome wild look and Toshi's longer wavy hair and glasses suit him really well.
They're both idiots! Such big dummies and so precious!
Toshi runs a small nail business out of his older sister's cafe, and he's a big stan of idol group FLAT, with member Shuu being his bias. He has an online fellow Shuu-stan friend Kazusa who manages to get them both tickets to the last show of FLAT's tour. When they meet up, however, he's terrified of Kazusa because he's in the most yakuza-looking outfit possible. (Bro isn't a yakuza, hahahaha.)
The whole time, Toshi is uber polite and walking on eggshells to avoid doing anything to upset Kazusa, despite Kazusa being very sweet.
Kazusa falls for Toshi right away and even asks him out later, but Toshi thinks he did something to offend him, so what Kazusa sees as a date is Toshi thinking he's gonna have to pay up--in money or his life. Big dumb baby. I just kept going, "AH! THEY'RE BOTH IDIOTS. MOSTLY TOSHI, THOUGH. HAHAHAHA."
They figure things out obviously, once Kazusa makes a move during their date, and the rest is just really, really cute.
The art is great. Kazusa has the hot-yet-wholesome wild look and Toshi's longer wavy hair and glasses suit him really well.
March 8, 2026
cute
I’m not into idol culture but this was an adorable romance where Toshi and Kazusa bond over the same bias and fall in love. I loved how it played with expectations based on appearance, and I loved Toshi’s relationship with his sister, especially the way he supported her when their garage father found out about her girlfriend. A really sweet manga overall.
I’m not into idol culture but this was an adorable romance where Toshi and Kazusa bond over the same bias and fall in love. I loved how it played with expectations based on appearance, and I loved Toshi’s relationship with his sister, especially the way he supported her when their garage father found out about her girlfriend. A really sweet manga overall.
April 1, 2026
omg this is so cute, i love them aaaa relationship goalssss
March 20, 2026
Very cute one-shot.
30 year old Toshi meets 23 year old Kazusa online, as a fellow male fan of his favorite idol group. Since this isn't too common when it comes to all-male idol groups, they bond quickly and are excited to see a concert together, and to meet in person for the first time. Except...the polite young man Toshi had befriended online turns out to be a scary-looking, flashily-dressed yakuza in person. (Or at least that's Toshi's assumption. He has a bad habit of jumping to conclusions.)
Still, despite his fear of being dragged somewhere and beaten or thrown into the ocean, Toshi has a pretty good time with Kazusa. After some additional misunderstandings, they even wind up going on a date, which is deeply confusing for both of them, but for entirely different reasons.
I loved the backstories for each of them: Kazusa's connection to the idols was actually a bit stronger, since he first encountered them during their debut performance, at a concert by his mom's favorite group. This was an activity his mom had gotten back into after grieving for her husband's death...someone she'd originally met at this group's concert, so it brings back a lot of good memories to be able to follow their reunion tour.
It's a cute little tie-in to Kazusa falling in love with Toshi under similar circumstances, and I wish the story could've been a bit longer so his mother could meet Toshi. Still, Kazusa's uncle and coworkers were very fun and accepting, which was enough of a change for Toshi - whose horrible father had thrown both him and his older (lesbian) sister out for not following traditional gender roles.
Toshi's offense was that he likes doing nails - his own and other people's, since he runs a little nail salon out of his sister's cafe. It's an unusual career and fashion choice for a guy, particularly someone who otherwise seems so ordinary, but he likes what he likes and doesn't really need to explain it to anyone.
Kazusa not only accepts this about him immediately, but admires him for it, and actively encourages Toshi to follow his dreams, even if it means their just-starting-to-bud relationship might fall apart. The bits with the idol group, and their favorite member, Shuu (27 years old), were surprising and really fun.
There could've been some more depth in places, but this was a sweet one-shot with interesting characters and a nicely creative meet cute.
30 year old Toshi meets 23 year old Kazusa online, as a fellow male fan of his favorite idol group. Since this isn't too common when it comes to all-male idol groups, they bond quickly and are excited to see a concert together, and to meet in person for the first time. Except...the polite young man Toshi had befriended online turns out to be a scary-looking, flashily-dressed yakuza in person. (Or at least that's Toshi's assumption. He has a bad habit of jumping to conclusions.)
Still, despite his fear of being dragged somewhere and beaten or thrown into the ocean, Toshi has a pretty good time with Kazusa. After some additional misunderstandings, they even wind up going on a date, which is deeply confusing for both of them, but for entirely different reasons.
I loved the backstories for each of them: Kazusa's connection to the idols was actually a bit stronger, since he first encountered them during their debut performance, at a concert by his mom's favorite group. This was an activity his mom had gotten back into after grieving for her husband's death...someone she'd originally met at this group's concert, so it brings back a lot of good memories to be able to follow their reunion tour.
It's a cute little tie-in to Kazusa falling in love with Toshi under similar circumstances, and I wish the story could've been a bit longer so his mother could meet Toshi. Still, Kazusa's uncle and coworkers were very fun and accepting, which was enough of a change for Toshi - whose horrible father had thrown both him and his older (lesbian) sister out for not following traditional gender roles.
Toshi's offense was that he likes doing nails - his own and other people's, since he runs a little nail salon out of his sister's cafe. It's an unusual career and fashion choice for a guy, particularly someone who otherwise seems so ordinary, but he likes what he likes and doesn't really need to explain it to anyone.
Kazusa not only accepts this about him immediately, but admires him for it, and actively encourages Toshi to follow his dreams, even if it means their just-starting-to-bud relationship might fall apart. The bits with the idol group, and their favorite member, Shuu (27 years old), were surprising and really fun.
There could've been some more depth in places, but this was a sweet one-shot with interesting characters and a nicely creative meet cute.
Review of advance copy
This is available digitally from Hoopla (library app). Tokyopop decided to post the file early there. I like that Tokoyopop sends their content to the library pretty quickly and consistently.
This was so cute! I really enjoyed it.
Toshi and Kazusa stan the same idol group, chatted in the fan forum and met up at the concert. The story goes from there. I won’t spoil it but it’s a sweet story. I like that the characters surrounding Toshi and Kazusa were good, loving and accepting folks. I like that Kazusa had a good relationship with his mom and Toshi had a good relationship with his sister. How their relationship progresses was funny.
I also liked that the idols have a role in the story beyond the reason for Toshi and Kazusa meeting.
It was nice seeing a fandom based rom-com where the fandom wasn’t toxic.
This one was funny and cute. Hopefully more of this mangaka’s work is released in English.
This was so cute! I really enjoyed it.
Toshi and Kazusa stan the same idol group, chatted in the fan forum and met up at the concert. The story goes from there. I won’t spoil it but it’s a sweet story. I like that the characters surrounding Toshi and Kazusa were good, loving and accepting folks. I like that Kazusa had a good relationship with his mom and Toshi had a good relationship with his sister. How their relationship progresses was funny.
I also liked that the idols have a role in the story beyond the reason for Toshi and Kazusa meeting.
It was nice seeing a fandom based rom-com where the fandom wasn’t toxic.
This one was funny and cute. Hopefully more of this mangaka’s work is released in English.
March 23, 2026
-age gap
-fans of the idol group FLAT
-Wholesome with a few spicier (personally thought tame compared to a decent amount of BL) scenes toward the middle/end
- a oneshot
- fairly quick read
"So let's stand our favs until we're old grandpa's, okay?" Just from this you can tell Kazusa is smitten with Toshi.
This oneshot was a wholesome read with a very green flag seme. Toshi misunderstood Kazusa when he first met up with him at the concert - thinking he was Yakuza. However, he eventually learns that he can't judge someone based on their appearance. While Kakusa fell quickly for Toshi and fully accepted his interest as a nail stylist. These two are just cute together and super supportive.
I enjoyed how the idol group was intertwined in the story and how while Toshi is a fan he tried not to bring it up until the badges on his bag were mentioned by Shuu (one of the members).
-fans of the idol group FLAT
-Wholesome with a few spicier (personally thought tame compared to a decent amount of BL) scenes toward the middle/end
- a oneshot
- fairly quick read
"So let's stand our favs until we're old grandpa's, okay?" Just from this you can tell Kazusa is smitten with Toshi.
This oneshot was a wholesome read with a very green flag seme. Toshi misunderstood Kazusa when he first met up with him at the concert - thinking he was Yakuza. However, he eventually learns that he can't judge someone based on their appearance. While Kakusa fell quickly for Toshi and fully accepted his interest as a nail stylist. These two are just cute together and super supportive.
I enjoyed how the idol group was intertwined in the story and how while Toshi is a fan he tried not to bring it up until the badges on his bag were mentioned by Shuu (one of the members).
February 25, 2026
I really liked this one-shot manga, and even though it had the choppy pacing of many one-shots, I liked many of the choices the creator made. It felt a bit more evolved that many BL manga, with one of the MCs a manicurist who paints his own nails and even though in all other ways he wants to fade into the background, can't help but stand out in this way. The yakuza mistaken identity bit was played for laughs and quickly cleared up. I liked the queer siblings plot point (and could have used more!)
Mainly, this could have benefited from a 2-3 volume run to flesh out the existing plot beats and backstories to get to know the characters a bit better, but as far as one-shots go, I'd recommend this over many others I've tried.
Mainly, this could have benefited from a 2-3 volume run to flesh out the existing plot beats and backstories to get to know the characters a bit better, but as far as one-shots go, I'd recommend this over many others I've tried.
February 26, 2026
Rating: 3.5*
This took me on a ride. They did so many things that made me have to close out of my phone and stop reading for a bit lol. It made me laugh out loud a few times. It was honestly a good time. I feel like things definitely moved super quickly and the stuff that happened with the idols seemed random. It also wasn't developed as much as I normally would like, but it was a fun read overall.
This took me on a ride. They did so many things that made me have to close out of my phone and stop reading for a bit lol. It made me laugh out loud a few times. It was honestly a good time. I feel like things definitely moved super quickly and the stuff that happened with the idols seemed random. It also wasn't developed as much as I normally would like, but it was a fun read overall.
March 8, 2026
Reading this on Hoopla, I am glad to pick this up when I saw on hoopla was available and knew that this was a new manga release. This is about two different guys shared the loved for the same popular idol but somehow fall in love themselves. This story is cute and I love it, wish that it was in color haha to know Toshi’s nail stylist work of his. I rating this a 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
March 28, 2026
***zaterdag 28 maart 2026 | tablet***
Translator: Katie Kimura
⭐4 - liked it
This story is just unique enough that I wish I bought a physical copy. Rarely do you see siblings who are both queer and have to deal with a bad home life in manga.
But it is a standalone so I do wish we got some more story about certain things. But I liked it well enough.
Translator: Katie Kimura
⭐4 - liked it
This story is just unique enough that I wish I bought a physical copy. Rarely do you see siblings who are both queer and have to deal with a bad home life in manga.
But it is a standalone so I do wish we got some more story about certain things. But I liked it well enough.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
It has great dialogue. It’s a bit confusing at times but underneath so heartwarming. Two guys who just see themselves as awkward and maybe not like others. From dress to the way they interact. It was super fun to read!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
3.5 rounded up. I don't know if "adorability" is a criteria Tokyopop 2.0 uses when choosing books to license, but they sure have a knack for it.
February 25, 2026
Thought this was super cute
Read
February 26, 2026Cute, just cute, but plot is predictable. Also really cool for the uke being a nail technician.
Review of advance copy
actual rating: 4.5 stars
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was surprised at how much I liked this one. decided to give it a sample and found myself reading the whole thing in one sitting. would love more!
.
was surprised at how much I liked this one. decided to give it a sample and found myself reading the whole thing in one sitting. would love more!
Review of advance copy
Pretty good! Would read more of them :) i like the concept and it was a fun story kinda short had me wanting more but i was overall pretty satisfied
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Found this on Hoopla and was glad I did. A fun, cute one-shot!
Review of advance copy
This was pretty cute, but once again I don’t think the age gap was at all necessary. Or if it was somehow the younger one didn’t need to be that much younger.
March 21, 2026
I'm a bit disappointed that it's not about a yakuza stan, but this was kind of cute and silly. The perfect read for a stressful day.
March 22, 2026
Hilarious and fluffy. Such a fun read 🤭
March 24, 2026
it’s purely a light, fluffy read that is cute and not heavily driven by plot.
March 25, 2026
*3.5/5*
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I received this manga from the publisher (Tokyopop) in exchange of an honest review.
I just LOVE a BL / M/M manga featuring idols so when I spotted this one in the mail of course I had to say YES and read it!
While I did have a lot of fun with this one I did think it was very rude how Toshi thought about Kazusa at first. I mean, I get it he looks intimidating, but to think he is yakuza and working in shady business? Very harmful and very bad. So yeah, that put a cloud over things for me. Eventually they did talk about things and that cleared up things, but that wasn’t until halfway in the book. I am just a bit done with people judging others based on how they look/dress.
Plus, while I did love the romance and eventually I started shipping them, for a quite a bit of the manga I just didn’t feel it. Maybe to do with how Toshi thought about Kazusa, or maybe it was how awkward/stilted it felt.
Oh, and given the art I would have expected Toshi to be either around the age of Kazusa or younger, not 7 years older. Sometimes the art showed Toshi as the older but quite often he looked so young.
But now on the good things! When I did get to shipping these two I really enjoyed seeing them together. They make quite a cute couple and I loved that they were both honest about their feelings and I loved how happy they both looked when together. Sharing their future ideas, Kazusa making plans for later (he is a carpenter), thinking about the concerts they will go to, and more. Plus, I loved their sexy scenes, they had quite the chemistry there.
And I loved the whole idols thing. Flat! I loved how Flat didn’t care about gender, they give everyone a good portion of fan service and it made me smile. It was fun to see why the guys were stanning the idols and especially Shuu. And I loved it when Flat started working together with Toshi and let him do their nails in fun ways. Yup. Toshi is a nail artist/stylist and boy he is good at his job. I loved that he got that opportunity and I love that, despite being a big big stan, he kept his cool and made things work. I was a bit worried at one point in the story but I am glad that it didn’t go further than what we saw.
The art was really fun and I like the style, though again I wish that Toshi was drawn more mature. Oh, and that his glasses didn’t semi-disappear in his head when he and Kazusa kiss or did things. XD
All in all, despite some issues I had fun with this one and I am glad I got the chance to read it. You can’t go wrong with idols x two fans who stan the idols.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I just LOVE a BL / M/M manga featuring idols so when I spotted this one in the mail of course I had to say YES and read it!
While I did have a lot of fun with this one I did think it was very rude how Toshi thought about Kazusa at first. I mean, I get it he looks intimidating, but to think he is yakuza and working in shady business? Very harmful and very bad. So yeah, that put a cloud over things for me. Eventually they did talk about things and that cleared up things, but that wasn’t until halfway in the book. I am just a bit done with people judging others based on how they look/dress.
Plus, while I did love the romance and eventually I started shipping them, for a quite a bit of the manga I just didn’t feel it. Maybe to do with how Toshi thought about Kazusa, or maybe it was how awkward/stilted it felt.
Oh, and given the art I would have expected Toshi to be either around the age of Kazusa or younger, not 7 years older. Sometimes the art showed Toshi as the older but quite often he looked so young.
But now on the good things! When I did get to shipping these two I really enjoyed seeing them together. They make quite a cute couple and I loved that they were both honest about their feelings and I loved how happy they both looked when together. Sharing their future ideas, Kazusa making plans for later (he is a carpenter), thinking about the concerts they will go to, and more. Plus, I loved their sexy scenes, they had quite the chemistry there.
And I loved the whole idols thing. Flat! I loved how Flat didn’t care about gender, they give everyone a good portion of fan service and it made me smile. It was fun to see why the guys were stanning the idols and especially Shuu. And I loved it when Flat started working together with Toshi and let him do their nails in fun ways. Yup. Toshi is a nail artist/stylist and boy he is good at his job. I loved that he got that opportunity and I love that, despite being a big big stan, he kept his cool and made things work. I was a bit worried at one point in the story but I am glad that it didn’t go further than what we saw.
The art was really fun and I like the style, though again I wish that Toshi was drawn more mature. Oh, and that his glasses didn’t semi-disappear in his head when he and Kazusa kiss or did things. XD
All in all, despite some issues I had fun with this one and I am glad I got the chance to read it. You can’t go wrong with idols x two fans who stan the idols.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
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