When Arika Went Missing, or literally "My Arika", is a manga I'm stunned is not more popular. While I don't believe it's the best in the medium, it was both an intense page-turner and seriously good quality—plus, it had a feeling of passion and care behind it due to the individuality and love given to all the characters. The story is about an idol group called "Lyrical Trick" that had one of its most famous and well-liked members, Mamiya Arika, disappear a year ago. Though the police are looking into Arika's stans, her stans themselves have other ideas...and one of them is Arika's childhood friend, Miyajima Nana, who decides to audition for a position in the group to try and find out the true killer!
Story & Characters
It first follows Nana's audition process with the mystery in the background, and then further develops the mystery with the showbiz in the mid-ground or background. The audition arc shows off just how good the character writing in this manga is. Six girls are in final auditions—only three can get in—and they must work closely together, practicing for lives. All the girls are distinct, bounce off each other well, and cause good conflict with each other. A couple are more in the background, but that helps with avoiding character overload, and you can still tell that the writer cares about them and doesn't just abandon their storylines. A few of their stories have unique, interesting ideas embedded in them, which I won't spoil, and all are executed well. I couldn't guess who was going to win, because most didn't seem more like "main characters" than the others (aside from Nana, who is established as such from the start—but even then, the story feels like she could start trying to solve the mystery in a guerilla way or something).
Nana is very fun to follow, with the intensity of her care for Arika, an interesting backstory, and a straightforward, ruffian attitude that contrasts with the schemers and serious idols around her. You can tell she isn't really interested in being an idol, but she gradually grows to care for her fans and for the job, and shows straightforward care and admiration for the others from the start.
She also has a group of idol otaku friends she bounces off of really well. I always enjoy seeing mixed-gender friend groups in anime, specifically those handled purely without any romance. This friend group has the blazing personalities of her and Morita (glasses dude) as well as the more reclusive Takahashi and kindly Yamamoto balancing out their quartet. Throughout the story, they're the ones working to solve the mystery and uncover what happened to their beloved idol. I really appreciated this fan-idol protagonist flip, especially because 1) we do get both sides—Nana has her life as an idol, lives in showbiz and has her own fans who care for her— and 2) it takes the time to contradict the bad image of very zealous male fans of female idols. Everyone suspects one of Arika's stans kidnapped her, but it wasn't any of them—it's not a crime just to be passionate about the thing or idol you love!
Mystery
The mystery is full of exciting intrigue and twists. Every suspect—in this case, the entirety of Lyrical Trick, besides the new-gen members—has some sort of mask or hidden side. Side members like managers and dance instructors have their own motivations and feelings. It's densely layered and compelling with no huge plot holes. The fact that it's a disappearance, not a murder case, makes it even more interesting. Anything could have happened to Arika, and she could be anywhere. She could have even left on her own. Most of the characters also have complex personal relationships with each other and with the non-idol characters.
There's a lot of foreshadowing, and I have the feeling it would be really good on a reread. Little details have a lot embedded in them, and there's no weird retconning to make the mystery work even though the answer itself is pretty convoluted. Nana and her friends frequently search for and find clues, which gives a satisfying sense of progression.Issues
When it comes to the flaws, most of them are also located in the mystery. The story is melodramatic at times, and even I—a big fan of melodrama and flawed characters!—was left frequently thinking "couldn't you just not be like that?" "couldn't you just not have done that?" Characters were intense, over the top, and could sometimes be described as stupid (though I don't think the story as a whole is an idiot plot, where stupidity is the thing keeping it going). A lot could have been solved by simple communication. What I did appreciate was how the line between good and bad was blurred, and everyone had both positive and negative qualities. Even characters who had done bad things could face them and be redeemed, and even characters with good motives could become twisted beyond repair.
Technical Execution
I like how characters had different face shapes and body types, but still felt a bit of same-face syndrome between the girls. However, the character design was good at conveying energy and personality, and was good enough to help differentiate a large cast. The non-idol characters also had a lot of differences between them. (And it makes sense that they'd have more differences, as the idols are going to be pretty girls).
I also really liked the image framing. You can see it above, in how they're centered around the glowing Mamiya and the song is called "My Selfish Serenade", and here's a couple others.
The sign high above them shows their powerlessness.
The feelings and parallels here are conveyed clearly and without words.Ending
This can often make or break a mystery, as it wants to be a satisfying fulfillment of everything leading up to it. I found this story's ending satisfying—though it did have the issues of stupidity and miscommunication I mentioned above, it is fully plausible with what is established and well foreshadowed, plus it's emotionally fulfilling.
Final Thoughts
My personal wish is to watch this as an anime one day; I think the already good cinematography and character work of the manga could be really boosted by elements like background music, timed pacing and cuts, and voice acting—plus adding songs for the characters to sing, since it's an idol story. I hope this manga gets more recognition so it can one day attain that and maybe be a full 10/10 anime. I also think it's already very good as it is, and would recommend it to anyone interested in idol media, dramas, or mysteries (though as a warning it does delve into dark topics, like beyond the potential of murder and kidnapping, there's vividly depicted drug abuse). For those more into fluff but not bothered by intense material, there's also funny moments, sweet relationships, and "best girls", so consider trying it out for those reasons as well.