If you are a frequent reader of this funky subgenre some may call Genderbender Romantic Comedy then you might have noticed some features events patterns and clichs or tropes such as random usually hilarious causes that suddenly turns the protagonist into a girl attempting absurd measures to turn back getting flustered over wearing a skirt and many other feminine things exhim worrying that sooner or later she cant turn back and fully becomes a girl mind and body conflicted feelings and confusions galore heck even a love morethantwoangle. Idol Pretender have all of them mostly 220https://ur.com/gWiYcyb.png A bit of small tangent before I start might be a bit too late I love this manga and it has been one of the greatest influence in my taste as one of the manga that opened the rabbit hole of Genderbender stories years ago. But hopefully this fact wont hinder my ability to judge it fairly as a work. A Quintessential Genderbender Romcom story As mentioned before Idol Pretender contains Genderbender comedy clichs and tropes aplenty and it utilize them on surgery precision level perfectly to deliver what I call Juicy moments to the reader. Its effectiveness is relative from person to person but in summation Juicy moments are those moments where you feel hhhnnnnnnngggg so sweet/wholesome/funny/awkward. Although I was exaggerating this manga have many satisfying Juicy moments that works in tandem with the tropes and wouldnt be as impactful or memorable without it. although in the near future I will review even more series that does exactly this The characters are a blast the dynamics they have with each other are hilarious and sweet at the same time might be bittersweet depending on the person reading. The two main characters Chinami and Oguri could easily carry the whole series by themselves akin to most of Yamamoto Souichirousenseis works but the supporting characters are no slouch either. Now on to the not so good parts. First Chinamis personality change is for my current standard after comparing to even more Genderbender stories a bit too sudden and drastic by the second chapter shes practically a girl in spirit soul and body with violent tendencies. Second the love pentagon gets messy especially in the latter half of the story. Third it probably went a bit too far with the sleazy guy threatening girls cliche Ive seen worst from other manga god forbid Josei Danshi to have decent side male character but in almost every arc they are the main villain/obstacle. Heavily recommend if youd like a laugh reading a mostly lighthearted romcom which utilizes Genderbender tropes to enhance it rather than to purely rely on the usual romcom or other unrelated aspect alone. It captures the essence of the appeal of this niche subgenre and it even wraps up nicely at the end which is a rarity for Genderbender romcom manga genderswap or otherwise. My ratings might seem weird at a glance but basically 60 is fine. Story: 5.5 Setting: 2 Art: 5 Character: 6 Enjoyment: 8 Overall: 6.6