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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.

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.

At first, Majo no Geboku to Maou no Tsuno, or Witch's Servant and Demon Lord's Horns in English, seems like a pretty normal fantasy manga to the average reader. Soon enough, though, said reader is thrown into a completely unfamiliar world unknown to even the story itself, and ... that is only a small part of the beauty of this title.

Story - 10/10 (Including a synopsis as the MAL synopsis hardly says anything)

The plot of Witch's Servant centers around the herbal witch Betty, whose teacher (also a witch) has come down with an unknown disease that can only be cured by procuring the horns of the infamous Demon King, the most powerful monster in the nation. Thus Betty sends her faithful servant Arsenio out to defeat him, eventually running into Rei, a young girl who was the heir of the most powerful hunter clan in this fantasy world's equivalent of Denmark. But she now cannot become the heir, as she was in fact originally a man, turned into a woman by magic! She then comes to live with Arsenio and Betty, and they soon run into conflict with other members of the hunter clan (some of which end up joining the group of protagonists), as well as other nations with different religious faiths (which is surprisingly relevant in this series). The beauty of the world of Witch's Servant is found in its openness, as our heroes frequently go out and about to interact with other people and monsters. What makes the story a 10/10, though, is the mangaka's willingness to take risks. There are many pitfalls that authors find themselves stuck in when it comes to genderbend manga, and this is the reasoning behind very few of them managing anything beyond simply mediocre. Because of all of these potential problems, many of these mangaka neglect taking risks with their stories, sticking to a more conservative plot and character-base. Mochi, though, does not bother to stay conservative, taking insane risks with their story, some completely unprecedented in the genre's history. The even more insane part is, every one of these risks pays off. The mangaka goes as far as to directly address themes pertinent to the LGBT community, equality and even religion, and yet absolutely none of it feels like it's being shoehorned in. Enough on that, though, I'll let you experience the rest yourself.

Art - 8/10

The art of Witch's Servant is very hit-or-miss, as a lot of it is rather rigidly drawn. This particular artstyle might please some viewers, but none can doubt the fact that it interferes with the series's fight scenes, as it harshly restricts motion. If this series ever gets animated this problem can easily be solved, so I won't nitpick about this one. As character design goes, though, every character is fresh and easily distinguishable. The mangaka gives each character a unique pair of eyes making them recognizable and giving them each their own sense of individuality. One of the appealing parts of the mangaka's artwork, though, are the hilarious reaction faces that never fail to make me laugh out loud.

Character - 9/10

Like their eyes and other features, every character in Witch's Servant has a perfectly distinguishable personality. And the mangaka doesn't slack off at all here, giving just about every character a complex personality that makes total sense based on their past experiences. The personality, of course, is not where the character ends, as the interactions between said characters are just as important. As each of these personalities intermingle, they become even more fleshed out, as the manga expertly clashes ideology against ideology and upbringing against upbringing. Each character is somehow relatable in their own unique way, and every character, even the annoying ones (Yes, you, Lloyd) are completely loveable. Every little character trait or transformation, physical or emotional, is fully fleshed out and pertinent to the plot.

Enjoyment - 9/10

Like I say for all genderbend manga, enjoyability is completely subjective. Because of that I'll be looking at it on a 'manga' standpoint and throw the 'genderbend' part aside for now. The early chapters aren't the most interesting, I'll admit, and I was very close to dropping it pretty early on before being encouraged to continue reading by a friend. The manga only really starts picking up during the Land of the North arc, but as soon as it does it never stops picking up, constantly improving with every passing story arc. Even still, you can't ignore those first chapters, and you always have to take even this enjoyability rating with a grain of salt, for how genderbend manga are read and enjoyed it almost entirely subjective to the reader. That being said, though, genderbend is not an entirely predominant aspect of the plot, though it still does have plenty of importance. Let the record state that the series is pretty funny, at least to me.

Overall - 9/10

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.

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.

Magitora, or Magical Trans, is likely one of the closest examples of the 'pure genderbend manga' that you can find. It's a cute example of everything a story in that genre can do on the surface level, wrapped up in a nice, organized package.

Story - 8/10 (Including a ... synopsis as the MAL synopsis hardly says anything)

The plot of Magical Trans is one that manages to be both unique and not unique at the same time. It follows the story of Minami, a high-school guy who stumbles upon a flier for a 'Magical Girl Club' and for some odd reason immediately thinks it would be funny to join the club and crossdress, so he pressures his childhood friend into going with him and enters the clubroom on the justification that the flier says 'boys welcome' in small handwriting in the corner of the paper. He soon realizes, though, that the president of the club has such a large obsession with magical girls that she develops an app to actually turn people into magical girls. Minami is naturally hesitant to join the club at this point since all he wanted to do was crossdress and make fun of people who took the club seriously. In the end he ends up using the app to turn himself into a girl and is naturally shocked, causing him to become more reluctant to join, as instead of crossplaying, he actually became a female (which isn't as funny). After putting his hand on his 'chest' and thinking it over, though, he has a change of heart and joins the club. Minami then continues to explore womanhood, slowly spending more and more time as a female until eventually he can't go more than a day without turning into a girl. Eventually an 'antagonist' shows up, but she's only really there for occasional comic relief and doesn't actually matter much plotwise. Essentially, nothing that actually happens in the story is very relevant in the grand scheme of things, as the emphasis is on Minami becoming more and more feminine as the story goes on.

Art - 6/10

While there isn't much about the art that is inherently wrong, I can't help but be picky and say the proportions are a little bit off, the facial expressions sometimes don't fit the situation well and look weird, and a few action scenes aren't handled well. It's not bad to the point that the series is anywhere close to unreadable, though, and the art works well with the plot on occasion. The mangaka is definitely going for a cuter artstyle and often succeeds, but there are still times that it feels out of place.

Character: 7/10

Magical Trans's characters are good but nothing special, outside of our protagonist Minami, whose constant desire for feminine experience, contrasted by his massive ego and the fact that he constantly jokes about being attracted to himself, is utterly hilarious. Many of the other characters are funny or gimmick characters (such as a puppet with an afro who turns into a naked loli on occasion) and the obsessed club president who bawls her eyes out whenever she watches a magical girl anime. Then again, some characters are completely useless, like the childhood friend who does very little other than be mad at the protagonist for being a girl all the time. Although there are characters like these, they are all nevertheless cute and charming, complimenting the franchise in the end.

Enjoyment: 7/10

Enjoyment, as genderbend manga goes, varies greatly from person to person. I personally enjoy reading genderbend manga, but I'll try my best to be unbiased. Magical Trans fulfills all of the tropes common in the genre, as well as introduces some new ones. In the end, though, many points are somewhat bland, and there isn't much to be seen beyond face value. Even still, appeal can still be found in the cuteness of the arstyle and, frankly, the series as a whole.

Overall: 7/10

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.

CONTENT WARNING: This is an ecchi manga, meaning that there are many lewd situations and implications in this title. Don't read Tensei Pandemic if you're not comfortable with lewd material. Additionally, this manga portrays the LGBTQ community in a controversial light, so if you are put off by manga that touches on that subject in the way that this title does, I don't recommend reading this series. If you do read it, though, please keep in mind that this may not reflect the author's own political views. Thus, please put your political views aside as you read and possibly post about the series in order ... to make the community as enjoyable and non-toxic for as many people as possible.

Tensei Pandemic is an ecchi. And this manga tries its damndest to make sure you don't forget. The thing that separates it from the rest is the fact that the way this piece tries to prove itself to the reader time and time again is so ridiculous that it actually becomes hilarious.

Story - 7/10

The plot of Tensei Pandemic is essentially a more lewd rendition of Boku Girl, as it has just about the same general outline: A boy who wants to be manlier but is only seen as a woman has a crush, but she only sees him as a female friend. Then, through supernatural means, 'he' becomes a 'she' and tries to hide it from as many people as humanly possible, ultimately failing at even that. The story then tells the tale of the protagonist's reluctant journey to womanhood. There are only a couple of real differences between Tensei Pandemic and Boku Girl, the first being, as I said, that Pandemic is much, much more ecchi compared to Boku Girl's occasional suggestive scene. As for the second reason, Tensei Pandemic is, of course, about a pandemic, and thus there become more and more genderbent characters appearing as the series goes on. More about that when we get to 'Character'

Art - 7/10

Fuyuno Nabe's artwork is somewhat solid, with its only weakness being its frequent inconsistency. Fuyuno frequently forgets the breast sizes of his more *ahem* developed characters, though, with many varying anywhere from a C-cup to an F-cup. I have to admit, though, that the mangaka gets better at this as the series goes on; at the writing of this review the series is on chapter 58, and I noticed a good amount of consistency during the 'running around naked with the primary male love interest' chapter.

Character - 9/10

The thing that makes Tensei Pandemic's character-base great is the variety and sheer ridiculousness of its members. While the protagonist is essentially just Mizuki from Boku Girl with bigger breasts, the rest of the cast is incredibly diverse. Just to mention a few, a shy girl who grew a giant penis and constantly gets boners, an incesty guy who works at a maid cafe after turning into a girl and tries to look like his older sister (somehow becoming a tsundere in the process), the incredibly lewd class president, a french guy who made an incredibly realistic virtual-reality game just because he wanted to become a woman, and a closeted fashion designer who looks like a hentai protagonist. Through the interactions between these hilariously bizarre characters, anything goes, and often does.

Enjoyment - 9/10

Probably the strongest point of Tensei Pandemic, the series is incredibly enjoyable due to the fact that although it does not even begin to attempt to deny the fact that it's an ecchi (as its predecessor Boku Girl did) and instead embraces this notion wholeheartedly, the series does not hesitate to make countless stupid jokes, many that aren't even sex-related. Additionally, although Tensei Pandemic does have some (or many) dumb plots and weak points, it somehow manages to make those dumb points even funnier than the points that would likely be considered 'strong' in any other manga through the ingenuity of its characters. This is a manga that will make you laugh both out of genuine comedy as well as out of sheer stupidity, and sometimes you might even temporarily forget that this even is an ecchi, and then get instantly reminded two or three panels later when Hinata's clothes fly off.

Overall - 8/10

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.

CONTENT WARNING: This manga, first off, portrays the LGBTQ community in a controversial light, and thus I do not recommend reading this title if you are prone to these kinds of opinions. There are already so many posts calling Boku Girl "transphobic", "homophobic" and "bigoted" and this needs to stop being the basis of the series. While people are allowed to have their own tastes the toxicity I've seen in these reviews is in a league of its own. I'm not going to talk about any of that stuff in my review, because honestly I don't really care and like to enjoy things without involving ... about my political agenda, and I ask you to do the same if you can.

Story: 9/10
Boku Girl starts out as a seemingly cliché genderbender, but soon proves to be anything but. The story emphasizes the psychological aftereffects of having your Y chromosome replaced with an X very convincingly from the perspectives of Mizuki, the supposed "victim" whose fundamental values make the gender change ever more uncomfortable, and Takeru, the childhood friend who undergoes a constant struggle, attempting to decide whether to respect his friend's wish to be viewed as masculine or trust in his newfound feelings for Mizuki. In my opinion, the story of Boku Girl is incredibly well-thought-out, with its only weakness being its emphasis on the main four characters, with little development for the side characters who often serve as no more than "observers" to the events in the main plot, becoming plot devices when needed. I'll continue on this point in the Character section.

Art: 10/10
Akira Sugito's artwork is incredibly refined and clean. Again, the emphasis here is on the characters, so it's made pretty clear that a lot more effort was put into them compared to the backdrops, although Sugito manages to create vivid environments when they're needed. Good examples of this are seen mostly when plot is taking center stage, almost to tell you that what happens next is important. The thing that I admire most about Sugito's art, though, is the choice he made with Mizuki's character design. In most genderbend fantasies, the main character is obviously male, and when he becomes a woman you can easily tell, as the character spontaneously grows giant breasts, shrinks at least half a foot and sometimes even grows long hair. With Mizuki, though, his design at the start was androgynous, leaning towards female, and there is no actually visible change when he becomes female, besides the fact that his "willy" disappears. This is an extremely daring move, as later in the series when he begins to switch back and forth more erratically the only way you can tell what gender Mizuki is at the moment is through implication and/or internal monologue. This attribute, though, works in the series' favor, as it shows that the mere implication of Mizuki being male or female can change the reader's perception; when Mizuki is male, your brain somehow perceives him as more male, and the same tends to happen the other way around, even though there are no changes to the actual base design. This decision on the author's part really brings Mizuki as a character to another level, as implication and speech patterns are the only way to discern one gender from another.

Character: 10/10
As I was saying earlier, the characters are really the selling point of the series, and this is made clear time and time again across all 107 chapters. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing. While the side characters do only serve as observers to the main story, this can actually serve to the benefit of the series, adding more viewpoints to the events transpiring in Mizuki's life. The best-written character in the series, though, actually isn't Mizuki; it's Takeru by a long shot. The struggle he undergoes over the course of Boku Girl takes center stage at some points, and this struggle is about as realistic as you can get in a gender-bender fantasy like this one.

Enjoyment: 10/10
When it comes to enjoyability, it should have been made clear by now that I very much enjoy this series. Out of the almost 100 anime or manga I've watched or read, Boku Girl would be somewhere in my top 20. One of the biggest factors of enjoyability that has given the series many controversial opinions is the ending of the series. This ending has been shown to be extremely hit or miss, with some saying it was excellent and others saying it was abysmal. While I won't delve into the specifics about the ending for spoiler reasons I will say I loved the ending. It was exactly what I was looking for and hoping for, and it did what similar series like Idol Pretender could not. While I know I don't speak for everyone in the community, this is simply my take so you may read the series and hate the ending yourself. It is completely based on your personal interests and as much as I'd like to try to sway everyone into loving every part of this series I am incapable of doing that. I can encourage you, though, to try the series out for everything it's worth and form your own opinions of the show, and I also ask you to please put your political opinions aside while reading for the reasons I discussed in the disclaimer.

Overall Score: 10/10

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 contact me at thefringereviewer@gmail.com for any and all inquiries. My door is always open.