Idol Pretender

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Okay, so. I'll start by saying that this was for the most part a very enjoyable manga to read. I'm a fan of gender-bender stories, and especially ones where the gender-bent character comes to realize that the way they end up isn't so bad after all. (Having that certainly ends up approximating closer to being transgender, which I'll take as close to as I can get, lmao.) This manga is really funny too. And it did have some actually pretty wholesome things to say, such as the occasionally repeated "gender doesn't matter" (initially "as long as you're beautiful", which really ends up saying something about ... the speaking character's shallowness, but later mentioned again without that qualification in regards to love). But... the ending really soured a lot of that. Without getting too spoilery, I didn't like how they spent the whole story developing a relationship that I ended up getting really invested in only to yeet it out the window at the last second. If the ending had been handled better I could probably feel much less conflicted about Idol Pretender, but as it stands, welp.

CONTENT WARNING: This is a genderbend manga, so think twice before reading if you are made uncomfortable by this genre of manga, and please refrain from posting anything rude about the series beyond simple criticism in order to make the community as non-toxic as possible for people who just want to enjoy the series. Thank you in advance.

Idol Pretender had potential. If you're remotely familiar with any sort of competitive sport or game you'll know that saying something has 'potential' is just an insult in disguise. In this case, though, I mean it. Idol Pretender could have been something great. Incredible, even. Instead, all it ... is is an 'incredible' flop. Of course, I'll have to justify this stance for all of you, since I assume a review is what you came for.

Story - 7/10 (Synopsis in case the MAL one wasn't enough for you)

To be completely honest, I absolutely love the premise. A man - and not just any man, but the most ideally masculine man alive, is just minding his own business, beating the crap out of several other men. Let boys be boys. The man - Eita Chinami - decided on being masculine after finding out that his crush likes that kind of guy, so as you can imagine he's pretty gung-ho about it. A little later, his best friend Oguri realizes Chinami caught a cold and so Chinami goes over to his house to grab it. And, not at all fearing an overdose, Chinami decides to chug down every single pill. He suddenly feels a sharp pain and passes out, but it's all okay because he's all better! Only problem is, now he's completely opposite his macho ideals - he's a short, busty girl! And all his clothes are gone for some reason! Turns out, he drank the wrong medicine (which is probably a good thing, since he probably would have actually died of an overdose if he drank the actual cold medicine)! Oguri briefs Chinami on the situation, informing him that the medicine is insanely expensive. The pair soon realizes that the quickest way to earn back all of the money and order more medicine to turn back is for Chinami to err even farther from even the most remote signs of masculinity - Chinami needs to become an idol! And thus begins his quest to get as far away from masculinity, run into some crossdressers on the way, and earn back millions of yen! The premise is unique to the genderbend genre, and it's enough to hook in most viewers, There are some really good messages like 'gender doesn't matter' that also stick Idol Pretender apart from the rest, and it doesn't rely much on fanservice, though the fanservice that is included is very tasteful. So, dear reader, will all of this in mind, you may be wondering why on earth I would give the story a 7/10? I'll be brief on this one: The ending is one of the worst in manga history. And I don't say that lightly. No matter who you ship together with Chinami, the ending is absolutely abysmal. If I say anything else I'll be far into spoiler territory, so I'll stop here.

Art: 7/10

The art compliments the series well, as it restricts itself to strictly moe and absolutely nothing else. Every single character is cute, although it sometimes looks a bit odd that Chinami has a developed hourglass figure and yet her face looks like a ten-year-old's. And when certain events happen and you actually see Chinami as a little kid (with a significantly less developed body), she has the exact same face and yet it looks more, uh, convincing that way. All in all, though, the art's passable and then some.

Character: 4/10

The weakest point of Idol Pretender byfar. Chinami is your run-of-the-mill genderbend protagonist, desperately trying to maintain her masculinity as it slips through her significantly smaller fingers. This is entertaining to watch for the first three chapters before Chinami seems to stop caring and becomes more preoccupied with her love life. Oguri is annoyingly dense and unrelatable, and all of the other characters are utterly forgettable. Additionally, there is absolutely no character development outside of Chinami deciding who she's in love with, a process that progresses at a snail's pace over the course of fifteen chapters.

Enjoyment - 7

Like I said before, the premise is new and innovative. Additionally, it's actually pretty funny, and can definitely keep your attention for all fifteen chapters (before all of your hopes and dreams are destroyed in chapter fifteen). In the end, though, Idol Pretender was never really anything special. In the genderbend manga community, Idol Pretender has been and will be remembered, not as a particularly good title, but as the manga that had potential. And that's all it ever will be.

Overall - 6/10

If you have any questions or concerns about this review, want to recommend a fringe manga to me, or even simply want to chat about this title, please DM me or contact me at thefringereviewer@gmail.com for any and all inquiries. My door is always open.

It's truly mind-boggling.

Idol Pretender goes from 0 to 60 in 3.5 pages. It's short, it's fast, the love is furious, and there are more overlapping love triangles that go nowhere than you can shake a stick at.

Okay, so, the decision to leave his life behind in order to live as a woman trying to become an idol for "easy" money is one thing...but when you add a new character and each new character is a new love rival but you're not going to flesh out the love that well...it's frustrating.

I'm not too happy with the ending and I was disappointed to see the characters only ... caring about their love lives than being themselves. I wish there was more conflict with the main character and understanding what he is after his gender transition, but it always boils down to "Gah?! I'm supposed to be a guy!?!" Which gets old even after a short series such as this.

There are genuinely good moments and interesting character turns that I wish were plotted out better. Part of the reason I didn't like the ending is that I didn't feel like the author put in the work to make the romance feel natural.

It's weird. By all accounts, this is a very average gender bender story, and yet it's missing just enough parts and sense that it makes it frustrating and disappointing, but not bad.

Sigh.

It was a roller coaster of "?!?"