Tamon's B-Side and how it portrays the different facets of someone's personality
I’ve recently finished the manga up to the beginning of volume 11 and adore it! One of the aspects of the writing that has consistently impressed me is that despite us being presented with each member of F/ACE A-side (idol persona) and B-side (true personalities) we’re shown that the “fake” personas aren’t necessarily fake. In fact, I’d say the idol’s cultivated personas give them a sort of freedom to express qualities of their “real” personalities that they either don’t consciously show in their private lives or feel uncomfortable expressing in private (or just when they’re not purposefully acting the roles they’ve assigned themselves in F/ACE).
For starters, we know Ouri plays the part of a refined, princely gentleman when his real personality is aggressive, proud, and arrogant AF. But as the story goes on, we also see other qualities: Ouri knows he’s a nepo baby and instead of coasting off that or feeling entitled to being famous and respected, he wants to earn it. He has to prove he’s the best, to the world and himself. He doesn’t look down on Tamon for not being from a line of entertainers, he knows Tamon is talented and is insulted when he perceives Tamon as not working as hard for his success and popularity as an idol. Ouri respects Tamon when he steps up to the plate and challenges himself. He doesn’t expect Utage to fall for him just because he’s the Ouri Sakaguchi, but because he has put effort into being the type of guy women would fall for. When she doesn’t buy the prince act, and he realizes he’s genuinely developing feelings for her, Ouri makes genuine gestures to not only show his interest but he cheers her up and encourages her, even at the risk of Utage growing closer to Tamon as a result. In his own rough and tumble way, Ouri shows the qualities of a noble, respectable prince.
Then there’s Keito: his A-side is nurturing, chill, domestically skilled, and gentle. B-Side is Scrooge McDuck with an extra helping of pragmatic self interest. (also, his design and idol persona low-key seems like a shout out to the character makoto tachibana from free!) He judges Utage harshly upfront, in part because he sees her as a potential threat to his bag. Keito’s strict, high strung, and nagging, he notices things about the other members moods and habits consistently, and then we find out a big motivator for him is securing the financial stability of his brothers and parents. He can be reasoned with and apologizes when he realizes Utage isn’t who he assumed. He really does care about the well being and reputations of the other F/ACE members and looks after them, albeit in a much more “do as I say” way than his A-side. But in reality, Keito actually is a nurturing, thoughtful, and responsible person.
Then there’s the resident cutie pie, Natsuki. He’s fashionable, bright, cheerful, and gives off fun loving little bro energy, despite being the second oldest member of F/ACE. We’re shown he’s actually a chainsmoking, boozing, gambling bum with a rough past and is all but stated to have depression. We learn about how Natsuki’s past came back to haunt him when his first love, Asuka, was injured defending him from his dirtbag father (who was trying to steal the money Natsuki had saved up for and intended to use to buy Asuka a birthday present) and Natsuki feels responsible for her being unable to practice Judo, despite her doing so much to help him achieve his. Natsuki carries that guilt with him and still holds a torch for her even after they reconcile. He’s sentimental and needs to be inspired emotionally and in the right headspace to write music. Despite having dealt with some horrible shit from his childhood, he doesn’t discount Rintaro’s family troubles and wants to help when it looks like Rintaro might have to quit F/ACE. He’s encouraging to Asuka, being genuinely optimistic in their last conversation, still wanting to cheer her on and giving a heartfelt thanks for the love and care she’s shown him. Natuski’s real self is romantic, earnest, and sentimental, and he cares deeply, to the point of feeling like he’s responsible for the harm someone else did, just because he was involved.
Now, there’s Rintaro: stoic, mature, mysterious, and hardly says a word. Yeah, he’s just nervous. He’s also an Utage level fanboy for his hyperfixation and a chatterbox otaku rich kid who sort of just stumbled on becoming an idol and is mostly doing it because he thinks it’s fun to quote “evoke emotions and stories that wouldn’t happen in normal life”. But as previously stated, Rintaro almost ends up quitting F/ACE altogether because his father is sick, his sister is (attempting) to be a delinquent, and his family needs him at home. He majored in political science, and outside of being a nerdy otaku for his favorite character from Sushi Musume, is shown to be fairly intelligent and knowledgeable. He’s a responsible, dutiful son who’s willing to give up something that he genuinely enjoys if it means supporting his family. Rintaro’s “real” personality checks a lot of boxes for a mature, manly sort of guy.
And last but not least, there’s Tamon: it goes without saying the wild, confident, charming, seductive A-side is a complete contrast to the Gloomyhara, insecure, anxiety ridden mess of a guy he actually is. But even then, we see Gloomyhara can be bold. Tamon can be charming, strong willed, and actually kind of sneaky. He uses Hottiehara mode to his advantage. He gets possessive of Utage and has moments of being overwhelmed by how cute and attractive he finds her, even if he doesn’t completely understand what he’s feeling and why. And as she points out, Tamon’s feelings are genuine: he loves his fans and wants to make them smile. He loves being an idol and the passion began from being inspired by his older brother, and he’s determined to succeed.
And Utage also fits the A-side/B-Side dynamics. No, she doesn’t have to cultivate a persona for performance, but she performs in her daily life. Behind Utage’s obsessive fangirl devotion to F/ACE (and Tamon in particular of course) who chats with her friends and busts her ass working to fund her obsession, is someone nearly as insecure and unsure as Tamon. Utage seems to truly view herself outside of her love for F/ACE as a boring, common girl with no real skills to speak of. She thinks her family doesn’t respect her, her friends would turn on her for being a “bad fan”, and she isn’t worthy of being anything to Tamon outside of his housekeeper/fan. But that’s simply not true: Utage is creative, strong willed, thoughtful, and just a very compassionate person. She realizes she’s working as a housekeeper because it’s work she enjoys doing (as a caregiver/housekeeper, this part of the manga really resonated with me). Helping people, even in ways most might consider unworthy of notice, brings her a feeling of self satisfaction. Her family does care for her, her siblings in particular resent she doesn’t spend as much time with them: she did in part due to her fixation of supporting F/ACE and also her assuming they had become apathetic to her presence in their lives. Utage (who may or may not be grappling with imposter syndrome, if not, Tamon most definitely is) doesn’t give herself nearly as much credit as she should and she falls into the trap a lot of us do: giving so much grace and putting so much effort into seeing the best in others while being hypercritical and harshly judging ourselves for every perceived flaw as we go about our lives.
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