A Last-Place Idol and the One Fan Who Never Left
Watashi o Center ni Suru to Chikaimasu ka? (私をセンターにすると誓いますか？, roughly "Do You Swear to Make Me Your Center?") is Jun Wakatsuki's idol rom-com, serialized on Magazine Pocket, Kodansha's manga app known in Japan as Magapoke. The series stars Mizuki Natsuno (夏野瑞希), the least popular member of the national idol group Melty Strawberry. She sits dead last in the rankings and is staring down "graduation," the idol-industry term for getting pushed out of a group.
Her one lifeline is Koichi Okuda (奥田幸一), the last truly devoted fan she has. The two should never have crossed paths, but circumstances land them under the same roof. From there they strike a secret pact: climb from last place all the way to center, the coveted front-and-middle spot in an idol formation. The announcement materials bill it as a "Japanese Dream" story about an idol and her fan chasing stardom as a two-person team.
The manga arrives with real momentum. Its first chapter blew up when it hit X in 2023, drawing roughly 40,000 reposts and 200,000 likes, and the series now has 200,000 copies in circulation.
A Teaser Visual and a Relieved Author
According to a report from Japanese entertainment news site Comic Natalie, the announcement came with a teaser visual showing Natsuno and Okuda in their two overlapping relationships: idol and fan on one side, unlikely housemates on the other. Wakatsuki also drew a celebratory illustration to mark the occasion.
In her comment, Wakatsuki admitted that when her editor first raised the possibility of an anime, anxiety outweighed excitement. Meeting the production team changed that. She said the staff's deep understanding of her characters put those worries to rest, and that she can't wait to watch them sing, dance, and wave penlights, the glow sticks fans swing at idol concerts.
Looking Ahead
No director, studio, voice cast, or broadcast window has been announced, and there is no trailer yet, just the teaser visual. The official site and the anime's X account (@watacen_anime) are now live, so staff and cast reveals will land there first.
Kodansha is running a launch campaign for new readers: volumes 1 and 2 of the manga are free to read on Magapoke from July 9 through July 15, and volume 6 hits Japanese shelves on July 9, 2026. No English edition of the manga has been announced, and international streaming plans for the anime haven't been mentioned yet.