Miyamae Haruka, 22, is a soon-to-be graduate and at first glance a very unremarkable looking young woman. No one will even stop to help her up when she falls and each time she applies for a job, she's blithely passed over. Things are getting desperate and if Haruka cannot get a job soon, she may become known as a jobless university graduate -- a very unenviable title for any young graduate to bear.

So Haruka decides to lower her expectations. She goes to apply for a job she found on an ad and is shocked by how flippant the interview is. Little does she know, the job she really wanted is already taken and she is now interviewing for a spot as the newest idol... who is supposed to be 17 years old!

And so begins the birth of a new idol, Haruka 17, and follows the adventures and ordeals Haruka must go through as her star rises. She discovers that the world of an idol can be sleazy, terrifying, and a cruel competition. With the positive and negative relationships she develops with the other people around her, she begins to discover herself as well.