Tenka Momose has it all, she can dance, she can sing, and she looks flawlessly perfect, dancing like a pro for the school's dance team. Not like Erian Sato, an upbeat loner who dreams of crossing the channel from Japan and becoming a K-Pop idol, but is sloppy in her execution. So why does Tenka's crush Harumi like Erian? Tenka decides to go with Erian to Korea to steal her audition out of jealousy.

However, since Tenka's always excelled, she doesn't know how to express her heart, something Erian is good at even though she lacks Tenka's inate skill. When they arrive in Korea, neither Tenka's skill, nor Erian's enthusiasm, is enough by itself, and they get shown up in an early audition. However, they're offered a private audition after giving an impromptu performance on the street. Can they make it work somehow?

That about sums up the events of Girl Crush Vol. 1. But it's more the vibe that's interesting. Tenka is a fascinating but unsympathetic protagonist, she goes along with Erian seemingly out of spite, but can't help but be drawn to her. Erian's bubbly and unflinching optimism and drive are so thoroughly in your face, it's hard not to see them as a mask. Girl Crush is setting these girls up to need each other for success, though volume 1 ends before it gets there.

Art wise it has the look of a lot of contemporary web manga, a slightly thicker line than I'm used to seeing in print, but not an unwelcome one. Characters are expressive, but the choice to focus on Tenka, as a seemingly capricious or even cruel protagonist (instead of Erian, who would be the more traditional choice for a shoujo protagonist) may turn off some readers.