AKB49: Renai Kinshi Jourei

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Story: (9)
The story center around a high school boy, Minoru Urayama, joining the Japanese idol group AKB48 in order to support his crush, Hiroko Yoshinaga. He enters the group under the name Minori Urakawa and tried his best to survive in the whole female idol group. During this mess he became more and more involved with the group as he also slowly began to change.
This isn't a classical gender swap or harem story as the plot rarely goes into that direction. Instead it focuses its romance as something more of a motivation and should be classified as more of a shounen trope filled with struggles ... in the idol world.
Art: (9)
I would like to give it a 10 if it wasn't for the early art style. Reiji Miyamura is an example of the evolution of a mangaka as time goes on. His early art style makes it difficult to tell each character from one another, but later on his art improved to a whole another level. The art is by far one of the best in a more modern manga art style and the later art is simply just a breathtaking. His incorporation of some of the chibi art style was perfect in providing comic relief within the story. His detail to the character needs to also be mentioned as there are many references to real life AKB48 members and he capture them perfectly.
Character: (10)
Minoru and Hiroko are the main protagonists of the story. They are very well developed as each of their motivations and dreams are clearly presented throughout the story. As the story progress they began to change and simply grew into characters that the fans love. There are many side characters that could use more development, but for a large cast of an idol group it is enough. The necessary characters are well developed for the story to progress and also for us to feel for them. The characters from the real life AKB48 also had their characteristics be flushed out in the story.
Enjoyment:(10)
I read chapter 200 something on Weekly Shonen Magazine and I was immediately hooked by the story. I had no idea of what AKB48 was but I immediately went on to check out the first chapter. I finished the 200 or so chapters within 2 days and longed each week for the new chapters. Each week I would even search for the raw version and translate them myself just to catch up to the story. (I read the chinese translations after the raw was translated)
Overall: (9)
This is by far not the perfect manga, but its enjoyment level is off the roof. Despite its early art being not the best, it transformed itself as the story progress. All in all, I would say that you don't need to be an AKB48 to enjoy this story. It is after you read the story that you will truly appreciate the idol group as we learn about the true hardship behind the spotlight.

Story -
This story revolves around a high-school student who pretends to be a female in order to support his love interest from within the audition, however what he did not expect was to be one of the candidates to pass, so he continues to support his love interest from within the group as Minori as well as from outside as Minoru. The synopsis, along with my short description, would lead you to believe that this story lacks an actual story and that it is just another one of those manga's that starts off interesting enough ... but quickly getting boring because the only thing they have going for them is the secret... HOWEVER I'm extremely happy to say that is not the case! The story starts off simple enough yes, but it quickly turns into something more as it depicts the life of an idol as well as the trials and tribulations of following your dream. There is very little if any perverted humor and the story focuses more on being an idol than the gender bender which I am happy about that. Stories like "Idol Pretender" start off with interesting premise but quickly lose the majority of the audience due to the lack of a story, while this on the other hand this is more of a "Birdy the mighty" since the gender bender is still present + the secret identity etc, it is not the entire story but rather, it is only a small fraction of it.

Art & Characters -
Art is fairly meh, you may struggle to tell characters apart from one another from time to time but as you get used to the art you are able to distinguish who is who, this by far is the weakest point of the manga imo.

Overall enjoyment -
I am really liking the story I've never read anything quite like this. The closest thing that I can think of is the Sun-ken Rock idol arc where it went into extreme details of life of a kpop idol, and managing a group...

Is your loved one struggling to reach her dreams? Well, man up! Dress up as a woman and help your darling to become part of the top idol group. At least that's what our main protagonist Urayama Minoru did. And is it working out? well.. that's for you to find out, or you can get a glimpse of hint by reading this review.

STORY 7 - Well there is this one girl Yoshinaga and her wish is to become a part of AKB idol group. The guy Minoru is her secret lover. Cute right? And then there were auditions or something along those lines. And because ... Yoshinaga is so insecure, Minoru went to help her out. But oh-my-couldn't-predict-it-at-all they both get accepted.
Surprisingly, Minoru himself is doing quite well. And maybe he is a better idol than the person he tries to help. Yet, there are always those ''but'' parts of the story...
He can't stay forever as a female.. Right.. so this is why the story intrigues me. I really want to see how this mess of hiding your own gender turns out in the end of this story. And for that i am ready to read it until the revealing happens, even if some arcs get too long and predictable at times.


ART 9 - Art is really great. I like the details, characters look nice and beautiful, amazing angles, etc. Nothing bad to say.

CHARACTER 7 - Characters are good. Minori is quite strong-willed and i quite like ''her'' and i think ''she'' is the best character of the story. In addition, Minori/Minoru's gender hiding dilemma makes him a very interesting character overall. Anyways, this manga has many female and some other weird characters in it and i guess they all fit into the plot. They haven't impressed me much though. But there might be characters that some of you might really like. There are a lot of cute girls.

ENJOYMENT 9 - So far this has been very enjoyable. I just really want to see how Minoru will end up after all that mess. The excitement got a new push at chapter 119 so lets see how it turns out. The story gets also very enjoyable around 200th + chapters.

Overall I'd rate it 8. It has its ups and downs but overall quite enjoyable gender-bender manga. The latest chapters are very enjoyable. Even if you do not know all that idol system you can understand what is going on.
Tip: if you happen to get bored just skip few chapters, but there might not be a need to do that. For now, this hasn't been a let-down and if you are interested, give this manga a try.

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Update: 6 years later I finally had the chance to finish reading this series. I must say I felt quite lonely after finishing it, because the atmosphere drew me in.

So even if some arcs felt a bit unrealistic in their solution, i didn't really mind it much. Because I find stories where main character has to hide who they really are really interesting and hiding your gender makes it a unique story that is hard to forget.

I don't write any reviews for most of the content I read and watch, but AKB49: Renai Kinshi Jourei has struck me very deeply. It has provided me with a new perspective of not only the idol scene in general, but towards life as well. I'll try my best to not spoil the story.

This story's protaganist is Urayama Minoru, who cross dresses as Urayama Minori. This is a start of a exhilarating story that shows the pure, raw effort that idols put everyday to their craft. Humble beginnings, modesty, rivalry, courage, determination, and the most important of all - dedication towards fans and members is ... presented in dynamic art and exciting pacing.
The art style is quite similar to Bakuman.

I initially did not care much about Idols, and what they were. I did not understand the fan battlions that wore robes and waved light sticks to the beat. Love Live and IdolM@ster, they did not mean anything to me other than something mediocore. But that all changed once I saw this manga.

There are a total of 263 (1 side story episode) chapters in this masterpiece, with a few major arcs in between. The pacing is very fast, and each and every main character is given sufficient character development. Each and every episode keeps me on my heels as tension is always sky high.

As I write this review, I am currently on fire after completed reading this work. My thoughts are still jumbled as I try to slowly compress my excited feelings down. I highly recommend you to read this manga, even after AKB48's golden era has ended. URAYAMA MINORI! The fire never dies, as long as there are fans, who love that idol - it will never die. 10/10.

When you love someone, you want to give the best effort to help her fulfill her dreams, especially in the entertainment world. If it's an all-female group, you might want to crossdress and help her, even if it means compromising your career with one wrong move. This is what Urayama Minoru did for his crush, Hiroko Yoshinaga.

Story (7)
• The story starts straightforward, bringing readers inside the world of AKB48, its members, then through processes, and later, characters forging their paths, and sacrificing even the best of friends along the way. Definitely a total meaning of being an idol in real life. Throughout the story, as ... they forge paths, they also develop as well, making the story not so stale and instead dynamic and interesting.

The ending might give mixed feelings, so read at your own risk.

Art (8)
• The art was really good, especially for a cute girl like Hiroko and a shounen/shoujo Minoru. For the real life people in the manga (Maeda Atsuko, Oshima Yuko, etc), most of them had been designed the way they style in real life (even had to research their photos for comparison!). Well done art, really love it, and carried it over to Kanojo, Okarishimasu.

Character (8)
• Character development was completely well-established, even though there were some liberties and extremities that cannot be done in real life. The favorite character style ofine was Hiroko, initially very shy and innocently cute, then becomes fiercely cute yet confident. Conflicts were also good to follow through as the characters face new enemies and friends on the way.

Enjoyment (9):
• If you are a fan of 48G and its members, you'll definitely enjoy this. If not, well, you'll still enjoy this, but prepare your search engines, as the real AKB48 and sister groups is very interesting. The storyline and the universe they created are very interesting that you'll be able to witness how they change AKB48 from 2010 onwards. For love comedy, you'd definitely enter plot holes and stuff, but still, overall enjoyed the entire manga.

AKB49: Renai Kinshi Jourei's a gender-bender manga about idols. I think that if you don't like the premise of the synopsis of a crossdressing male into female going into show business, then you won't like this manga. Once you get past this flashy synopsis, you realize that this manga is surprisingly pretty serious about the showcasing how idols operate. It's obviously a light hearted sort of manga, but it also is serious at a lot of parts, mainly showing the determination of the characters to become idols really shines through.
I like Urukawa Minori's journey towards the top of stardom. That being said, there's a lot ... of reasons why you don't necessarily want to read the manga. In the first place, there's a lot of melodrama moments that don't feel genuine other than to "create a conflict." This, and the many times where there's just a "do or die" situation of "selling X amount of CDs or I'll retire." These are just plot devices to drive tension with the other characters and create a sense of urgency. However, there are a few moments where the characters' feelings are genuine, and it shines through. Despite there being an obvious arbitrary goal of "making top 8," "getting this many ratings," etc, it's still enjoyable to watch Minori climb through and take over her adversaries. You get to see how she struggles, but also gather the determination to make the best use of the situation, how she never gives up to succeed. Characters alongside her share this determination and that's what makes this manga enjoyable to read. There's a decent cast of characters, but there's only a few main ones that you really need to be paying attention to, so there's not much of a need to be worried about there being a bland cast of characters that don't get a lot of screen time. The few characters that matter in the series get developed in the story so that they don't just feel like "rivals character A," or "supporting character B." since they get fleshed out decently enough for themself. That being said, a small pool of characters isn't always good. There are quite a few essential characters throughout the story that get thrown out like trash after their role in the manga is over. Seriously, what's with that? There was quite an emphasis on their characterization and personality, but they're literally never mentioned again. Why? Did you really need to have them step out of the spotlight like that?
The art also isn't that great, to be honest. I like how the characters are drawn, but some of the backgrounds, and mainly, the star of the series, the performances are rarely choreographed to a decent degree .There might be a few good body shots of the girls, but it was truly lacking. Bits and pieces of fanservice are present here and there of course, since Minori's actually a guy. I mean, for a story synopsis like this, it's basically mandatory for there to be fanservice here and there; it'd be weird for there to not have any. I am the first one to say that fanservice ruins some stories, but in this case, it's not obscenely frequent, and it's something that comes along with being a crossdressing guy, come on now.
Lastly, I just want to talk about the fact that the entire premise of the series is that idols are not supposed to love, but there's never any commentary on breaking that rule. In fact, you only see that the idea of idols having boyfriends as "taboo" for the entire series, spoken and enforced by many people. I wonder why there wasn't any effort or push for asking "why exactly do idols have to do this?" Other celebrities, don't right? And it's frequently mentioned in the manga how "love is powerful," and how "it's impossible for a girl to not be in love," yet the premise that "idols can only love fans" is also prevalent throughout the manga. How it's a sin, and how it's mandatory for you to maintain that "chastity" and "pureness" when becoming an idol.
I really don't like when people complain about lack symbolism in a series too, and I don't think the series becomes bad because of it, but the fact that the entire premise of a story is "loving an idol" and "wanting to date her," it just comes off as strange.

I said some bad things about this series, but I'd like to repeat how much I looked forward to seeing how Minori progresses as an idol. She was being led around by plot devices to make her more popular, yes, but it's still something that I enjoyed reading. What kind of bonds she makes, the characters she interacts with, and her attitude towards different things makes the series good. Her determination and actions that she makes to realize her goal to come true are expressed in the manga clearly. Did I mention? I have absolutely no interest in akb48 in real life. Yet, this series shone through to me anyway.

In my opinion, the series is a bit harem-oriented (then the shounen tag), the male main friend also accidentally dropped the girls, but you can rest assured, from the beginning to the end, the version only loves and pays attention to 1 person. the only daughter.

I highly appreciate the character of the main male (Minoru Urayama) in this series, patient enough, determined enough, steadfast enough, all for a goal he set from the beginning. Her great sacrifice for the female main character (Hiroko Yoshinaga), is truly admirable!
Special: In addition to the 2 male and female mains as well as the fictitious 12th generation Kenkyuusei, all ... the official members of the 48 sister teams are drawn based on real people! In addition, some real events such as the graduation of some key members are also included, becoming an important link in the story's content.

This is the story of how a man became the greatest AKB idol of all time, his journey beginning with merely wanting to support the dream of his crush.

AKB49: Renai Kinshi Jourei is a masterpiece, which is funny because it was written by the same author who wrote Rent a Girlfriend. While reading it may seem hectic and over-the-top at times, the concept of the story and how it is delivered to us readers is sensational. Never would I have thought that I would be enjoying reading a manga about a femboy for 263 chapters.

The story mostly revolves around Urayama Minoru, our manly protagonist who ... decided to crossdress and become part of AKB in order to support his crush who wants to be an AKB idol. While this may be the case, there were also some major focuses on other characters in the story that made a huge impact on how the plot progresses such as Okabe Ai, one of his greatest rivals.

This manga certainly does show some symptoms similar to Rent a Girlfriend ( e.g. pervy scenes, some characters having similar characteristics ), but it is truly its own gem. The only complaint I have regarding this manga is the fact that the ending was so-so but other than that I am speechless.

This was truly a journey. Many times have I laughed and even shed some tears. I don't usually feel as much enjoyment when I read manga as when I watch anime, but for once I can proudly say that there's a manga that is way better than the majority of the anime I have watched up until today. And that manga is this.

I highly recommend this manga to those who want to find something interesting, or those who are into crossdressing or idol-type manga.

Hi! I don’t usually write reviews, so the fact that I got an urge to write it for this manga says a lot. I’ll preface this with a bit of info, I had absulutely no interest in idols or the whole idol culture and to be fair I was trying to avoid it as best as I could for the last 10-ish years that I’ve been watching anime/reading manga. However, after trying to find a new manga to read, I randomly stumbled upon this manga and the premise just seemed too stupid for me to pass up on it. So I started reading it and ... I read the whole thing in 3 days, basically spending every bit of free time I had to read.
However it is not without its faults and I will get into that.

Story 8.5/10
To simplify the story, without spoiling much, the main character finds himself as part of one of the biggest idol groups at the time, AKB48. He did not expect it and the only reason he even joined the audition and crossdressed, was because of a girl he liked, as she wanted to join AKB and he decided that he will try to help her join, but even with bad makeup and manly mannerism he managed to get into the group and start of as a trainee beside his love interest. The story continues with his life as an idol and his advancement in ranks all while trying to hide the fact that he is in fact a guy.
The story premise seems unrealistic and stupid at first, however the story doesn’t focus on that part as much and gives the characters a lot more focus. There are multiple story arcs that are consistent in quality beside one that drags on a bit too long and gets confusing a few times from the perspective of someone that isn’t as well versed in japanese tv. But the story keeps being enjoyable throughout even with some hiccups in quality. The ending might be a bit of a controversial part of the story, but I didn’t mind it as much even though it was kinda mediocre.
Art 7/10 at the start 9/10 towards the end
The art in this series is okay at first, the characters are a bit hard to differentiate sometimes, but it looks okay. However, the art consistently gets better throughout the whole run of the manga, ending with very solid art. I wouldn’t say that art is anything special in the grand scope of things, however it is solid, the characters are cute and pleasant to look at.
Characters 10/10
Characters are probably my favorite part of this manga, I adored every single major character, I loved the way we can see them grow as people, the same way you would see your favorite idol grow in real life. What I enjoyed the most, was the fact that almost all characters are real people, real idols and managers that I could actually see in music videos and read about, and the author incorporated a lot of real events and real personalities into the characters. That made me get attached to them a lot more, seeing some events in the manga and then seeing the same events on youtube made me like a lot of characters so much more and made finding out about some graduations even more bittersweet.
Enjoyment 10/10
I usually read manga fast, but never this fast. I got into the story instantly and fell in love with the characters and I simply couldn’t stop reading. I had so much fun with the characters that I started checking real akb48 and I absolutely fell in love, even though it may not be their golden age anymore.

Overall 9/10
Even though it might be one of my favorite manga I’ve ever read it is not without it’s faults so I can’t give it 10/10. But I really really recommend it to anyone, idol fans or not!

This series is about a guy called Urayama Minoru crossdressing as a girl to participate in a female idol group audition (AKB48). The main objective is to help the girl he likes, Yoshinaga Hiroko, pass the audition. Yoshinaga Hiroko's dream is to become like her favourite idol who is in the AKB48 group. This audition happens to be her final try, so Minoru crossdresses as Urakawa Minori and takes part in the audition to make sure she realizes her dream. Hiroko got qualified eventually, however, the shocking news was Minoru was qualified as well. Thus, the road to becoming a female idol begins…
It was an ... intereting story, I ain't finish this yet but overall, it was worth giving a 7.5. You guys should give it a try.