Tamon's B-Side (Tamon-kun Ima Docchi!?; lit. "Which Tamon Am I Seeing Now?") is a shoujo manga written and illustrated by Yuki Shiwasu (who previously made Takane & Hana), which began serialization in Hana to Yume in 2021. The manga is licensed in English by Viz Media. An anime adaptation produced by J.C. Staff aired from January to March 2026 for 13 episodes.
Utage Kinoshita is a high school girl who's a huge fan of Tamon Fukuhara, the most popular member of the Boy Band F/ACE. When a coworker at her part-time housekeeping job falls ill, she has to fill in and clean a new client's apartment—only to find that said client is none other than Tamon himself. However, it turns out that the seemingly "sexy and wild" Tamon is a very different person from how he presents himself to fans, being a deeply insecure and pessimistic Nervous Wreck. As Utage becomes more involved in her idol's personal life and helps him through his crippling self-doubt, she has to come to terms with the contrast between his public persona and the person he really is.
Tropes associated with the series:
- Beneath the Mask: Appropriately for a group called F/ACE, each member has a personality that's very different (and much more flawed) than their public images as idols:
- Tamon is the "sexy and wild" member of his idol group who acts confident and bold to fans, but underneath that he's deeply insecure and pessimistic.
- Ouri is the sensitive, polite "prince" of the group, but behind the scenes he's arrogant, rude and regularly picks on Tamon.
- Keito is the "big brother" of the group who acts kind and friendly, but he's really a ruthless miser who's only an idol to make money. However, his idol image isn't entirely an act, as his fixation on money stems from his desire to put his five younger siblings through college.
- Natsuki in public is the cheerful, doe-eyed cutie of the group, but in private is very lazy and addicted to cigarettes, alcohol and gambling.
- Rintaro is the Tall, Dark, and Handsome one who doesn't say much outside of performances, but in private he's a massive Otaku who will talk endlessly about his favorite anime character. Unlike the others, however, he isn't consciously putting on a persona—he just doesn't talk as much when he's nervous.
- Betty and Veronica Switch: Tamon and Ouri, both members of F/ACE, develop romantic interest in Utage. To the public eye, the "sexy and wild" Tamon is the Veronica and the "princely" Ouri is the Betty. However, in private, Tamon is a Shrinking Violet with no self-esteem and Ouri is a Tsundere with a Hair-Trigger Temper.
- Bland-Name Product:
- Rintaro is a closet fan of a series called Sushi Musume.
- Tamon offers Utage to drink Poca-Cola.
- Boy Band: The series mainly revolves around the popular male Idol Singer group F/ACE, with Utage being an especially big fan of Tamon. It also riffs on how the public images boy bands display are usually very different from what they're really like as people, with Tamon being nowhere near as confident as he acts towards his fans.
- Brown Bag Mask: Tamon wears one when he goes shopping for new outfits with Utage, both due to his shyness and because he'd otherwise attract attention due to being a famous idol. He continues to wear a brown bag on his head whenever he goes out in public.
- Contrived Coincidence: Utage ends up forming friendships and acquaintances with people who have their own history with F/ACE members before she finds out about it.
- Dancing Theme: Part of the anime's opening theme shows Tamon and Utage dancing together in a field of flowers.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Tamon's brother Daiki reveals that Tamon used to be bullied by his peers in his hometown until Daiki brought him to Tokyo for a change of pace. The bullying still left a scar in Tamon's psyche, resulting in Tamon having an insecure and pessimistic personality off stage.
- Natsuki used to live in poverty with a neglectful and abusive drunkard father who'd steal any money Natsuki earned for himself until Natsuki met Asuka by chance, who gave him a stable part time job at her family's Takoyaki shop while pursuing his dream to be a musician, with Natsuki briefly dating Asuka around that time. However, his father caught up to him and attempted to steal Natsuki's hard-earned money. Asuka interfered to protect Natsuki and ended up hurt in the process, but when he learns that the injury destroyed Asuka's chances to pursue martial arts professionally, Natsuki broke up with her out of guilt.
- Date Peepers: Ouri spies on Utage and Tamon's date at the summer festival.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The anime's opening and ending themes are both sung in-character by the voice actors of F/ACE.
- Fan Community Nicknames: In-Universe, fans of F/ACE are called "E/YES".
- Fangirl: The story introduces several, due to the setting. How much of a fangirl they are depends on the person:
- Utage, the heroine, is one to Tamon through and through. Not even discovering his true personality persuades her to leave his corner. She can border on being a Loony Fan at times, at one point pinning Ouri against the wall and telling him she'll kill him if he insults Tamon again.
- Asuka Inoue, Utage's teacher, is a fan of Natsuki. Not just a fan, but also his pre-debut ex girlfriend.
- Utage's sister, Homare, is revealed to be a Keito fan.
- After she got over her issues with her conflicting feelings of her brother, Rintaro, becoming an idol instead of continuing the family business, Rinka becomes a F/ACE fangirl supporting her brother.
- Festival Episode: In episode 4, Utage and Tamon go on a date to the summer festival, with the justification that Tamon wants to learn more about what it's like to go on a date in the first place.
- Hanky-Panky with the Help: Utage gets to personally know the famous singer Tamon when she becomes his housekeeper and he quickly starts falling in love with her as she's the only fan who knows his true self. Utage, on her part, tries to keep a professional distance from Tamon while working for him and convinces herself that she only admires Tamon as a fan, but she eventually realizes she's in love with him.
- Interrupted Suicide: After losing the position of F/ACE's center to Keito, Tamon tries to jump off a building. Fortunately, Utage arrives in time to stop him.
- Love Triangle: Utage is in the center of one, with both Tamon and Ouri pining for her.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Keito is the eldest of six siblings.
- Normie Dates a Celebrity: One of the main focuses of the series is the growing romantic relationship between the high school student Utage and Tamon, the member of a popular Boy Band. Utage tries to keep a professional distance from Tamon, both as a fan and his housekeeper, but she eventually realizes she has romantic feelings for him.
- Real-Place Background: Utage's high school is implied to be in Kichijoji, with Episode 11 of the anime featuring several scenes set around the station.
- Stylized for the Viewer: Tamon's eyes change color depending on which side of himself he's portraying; in public as the "sexy and wild" member of F/ACE, he has shiny blue eyes, while in private his eyes are completely black with no highlights to reflect how his real self is gloomy and pessimistic. Since no one ever comments on this, it's implied to be a stylistic choice to reflect how differently he acts in public versus in private.
- Your Head A-Splode: This happens (non-lethally) to Utage and various other girls whenever Tamon is a bit too charming, complete with pink "blood" flying everywhere and their head being censored afterwards.