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.

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Haruka is about to graduate from a first-rate college and is looking for work but no one wants to hire her. Faced with the prospect of becoming a "shuushoku rounin" she finally lowers her expectations and decides to apply at a tiny talent agency for a job as an agent. When she shows up for the interview however, it's like no interview she's ever had before. She's asked all sorts of embarrasing questions and asked to say lines in front of a camera.

Later she finds out that they thought she was interviewing to become a talent, and the agent position she wanted has already been given away. However, they think she has that special quality that can make someone a star. She refuses at first, but finally gives in. Thus starts Haruka's career in the entertainment industry.