Line #38 Manga/IdolPretender


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Idol_Pretender_Cover_1397.jpg]]
2
3	->''My name is Eita Chinami.\
4	I am a man among men.\
5	...Or at least I was supposed to be.''
6
7	Eita Chinami is a high-school delinquent who wants to become the most badass guy in school to win the chance to confess his love to school idol Yuika Kitano. He tries to achieve that by beating the crap out of every tough guy in and out of school. However, when he catches a cold and ends up taking the wrong pills, he wakes up the next day... as a girl. And an incredibly cute one, at that.
8
9	Now the only cure for his/her little predicament is to take the pills again. The catch -- (s)he is ''300 million yen'' short of a jar of it! With his/her metrosexual best friend Keisuke Oguri, Chinami vows to return into the true man (s)he always was... by having to take up an idol job -- and to his/her surprise, Yuika is also an aspiring idol.
10
11	''Idol Pretender'' is a {{Seinen}} manga series written and illustrated by Hiroki Haruse, which was serialized in ''Champion RED Ichigo'' from 2011 to 2013.
12	----
13	!!''Idol Pretender'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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15	* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:Chinami decides he loves Oguri more than Yuika, even if it's just because he's currently female. He gives Oguri a LoveConfession and a ShutUpKiss, but we don't see Oguri's response. If Chinami will ever become male again, and how this could affect his love life, is likewise an open question.]]
16	* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: After spending long enough with a female body and feminine persona, Chinami becomes conflicted about if he's even still ''able'' to see himself as a guy. [[spoiler:A resolute LoveEpihany toward Oguri gives Chinami the answer, but [[TheUnreveal we don't hear what exactly it is]]. Chinami may have decided [[TransEqualsGay loving a guy shows that she's a girl now]], that he's still a guy [[IfItsYouItsOkay but OK with dating a guy]], or just decides it's irrelevant.]]
17	* AmbiguouslyBi: Yuika believed she was only into guys, but quickly falls for Chinami's female identity. It's unclear if Yuika is generally attracted to girls, or acting on some subconscious awareness that Chinami identifies as male. Regardless, Yuika's anxiety over her attraction quickly fades, and she goes from thinking girls can't love each other to (semi-accurately) believing ''Chinami'' is bisexual, and admiring "her" for it. [[spoiler:Once Yuika discovers the truth, she's briefly conflicted whether it's a good or bad thing, but [[IfItsYouItsOkay she's definitely still in love with Chinami regardless]].]]
18	* ArcWords: "Gender doesn't matter."
19	* AttractiveBentGender: Chinami was transformed by medicine meant to make people more beautiful, and so seems to be almost superhumanly attractive.
20	* AwkwardlyGayDream: Chinami has {{Erotic Dream}}s about both Oguri and Yuika, and he's female in both. In the first, the pair are dressed like newlyweds, Oguri [[BridalCarry picks Chinami up]], and they almost kiss before the dream ends. In the latter, both are naked and Yuika [[MarshmallowHell buries her face in Chinami's breasts]]. It's debatable which is more "homoerotic", but the one about Oguri was definitely more distressing to Chinami.
21	* BerserkButton: His anger isn't expreseed in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge level, but threaten Chinami's honor and Oguri will ''not'' hold back any punches.
22	* BigDamnHeroes: Oguri pulls one in chapter 4 by saving Chinami and Yuika from a stalker.
23	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Aoi, before [[spoiler:[[WholesomeCrossdresser he]] falls in love with Chinami]].
24	* BisexualLoveTriangle: After turning female, Chinami quickly becomes conflicted over his pre-existing feelings for Yuika, and his [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody newly developed]] feelings [[JumpingTheGenderBarrier for Oguri]]. [[spoiler:Chinami ultimately rejects Yuika's confession and would rather be with Oguri, even accepting how his current body may be affecting his choice. Yuika is still open to a relationship in case Oguri rejects him.]]
25	* BoundAndGagged: Chinami and Yuika both get tied up after they get caught by a stalker.
26	* CantHoldHerLiquor: Yuika tends to get aggressive when drunk. And ANY amount of liquor seems to do the trick.
27	* ClingyJealousGirl: Chinami shows this (and (s)he couldn't explain why) whenever it is something related to Oguri.
28	* {{Chickification}}: Early on Chinami establishes himself as a bit of a badass even in female, with some pretty powerful kicks to people/equipment. Then Chinami fails to defend himself from the stalker in chapter 4. As the series progresses, Chinami continuous to become more dependent on Oguri to defend him.
29	* ChivalrousPervert: Oguri, through and through. He may be shameless enough to strip in the middle of a crowd and even doesn't mind getting too close with female Chinami for comfort, but he's always ready to defend his/her honor.
30	* CuteBruiser: Even when turned into a pretty girl, Chinami is quite strong.
31	* DoubleMeaning: The medicine that transformed Chinami was called "Godlike Beauty DX". "DX" is short for "deluxe", but also an emoticon that could mean either horror, disgust, sadness or great dismay -- the very spectrum of emotions Chinami felt when he woke up as a girl for the first time.
32	* {{Ecchi}}
33	* EveryoneIsBi: Whether those involved are aware of it or not, the LoveDodecahedron is certainly a sexuality-confounding affair.
34	* FalseReassurance: Oguri brushes off most of Chinami's GenderBenderAngst by saying his concerns will be irrelevant once he's male again, ignoring the high probability that will never happen.
35	* FirstLawOfGenderBending:
36	** The only ''hypothetical'' way for Chinami to become male again is to buy more of the same medicine that changed him, which costs more money than most people earn in a lifetime. [[spoiler:The manga ends with Chinami not notably closer to doing so, nominally still trying to change back, but considering it unimportant enough to not even bring up in the last chapter.]]
37	** Aoi and Rin play the trope straight as far as crossdressing goes. Aoi is a boy with a career as a female idol, who continues to dress like a girl and keep his identity secret through the series. Rin is a girl who initially has a male idol persona, but ends up going public with her actual gender, completely abandoning her male persona, and dressing like a girl from then on to become more attractive to Oguri.
38	* FountainOfYouth: [[spoiler:Happens to Chinami at the end of Chapter 12.]]
39	* GenderBenderAngst: Being turned into a girl massively distresses Chinami, as he sought to be the pinnacle of masculinity to impress Yuika. ([[DramaticIrony Ironically]], Yuika ''very'' quickly [[LovesMyAlterEgo falls in love with his female identity]].) Equally frustrating to Chinami is that he cannot stop acting in such a stereotypically girly manner.
40	* GenderBender: Godlike Beauty DX was a drug meant to make people more beautiful, but for some reason turned Chinami into a beautiful ''girl''. Oguri theorizes it was an adverse reaction to taking it with a cold, though it's also possible the pills turn ''anyone'' into a pretty girl, regardless of their original sex. Chinami and Oguri still assume another dose would somehow change him back.
41	* GenderReveal: So far, this has happened [[spoiler:thrice -- in Chapter 3, where Aoi revealed to Chinami that she is actually [[WholesomeCrossdresser a he]], in Chapter 7, when Chinami and Oguri finds out that Rintarou is [[WholesomeCrossdresser a she]], at at the end of Chapter 13, when Yuika overhears Chinami summarizing his/her problems to him/herself]].
42	* GoodAngelBadAngel: Yuika has them in chapter 11 as she questions whether she should [[spoiler: look up Chinami's skirt while she's unconscious to confirm his/her gender]].
43	* HandsomeLech: Oguri, Chinami's best friend. He's also borderline CampStraight.
44	* HotSpringsEpisode: Chapter 5 takes place at a hot springs located somewhere in the Hokkaido prefecture.
45	* HystericalWoman: As time goes on, Chinami becomes more and more prone to becoming weepy over his romantic woes.
46	* IAmWhatIAm: [[spoiler:By the manga's end, Chinami may or may being trying to make his body male again. In either case, he is at peace with how it changed his behavior and feelings for Oguri, even hoping to start a relationship with him.]]
47	* InformedAttractiveness: Godlike Beauty DX is treated as making Chinami possibly the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman; enough to get by as an idol before developing any grace or performing skill. As far as the reader can see, there's no much setting Chinami apart but [[BuxomBeautyStandard especially large breasts]]--and even ''those'' aren't consistently larger than Yuika's.
48	* IncrediblyObviousTail: Chinami, Yuika, and Aoi tail Oguri in chapter 6 after Chinami suspects that he has a girlfriend. They can be seen looking around a corner several times.
49	* IWantToBeARealMan: Chinami's original plan to win over Yuika. Unfortunately for him, one bad cold and the wrong pills later, he ends up being quite the GirlyGirl.
50	* KickChick: Chinami as a girl, in contrast with preferring to throw punches as a guy. At least [[{{Chickification}} early on, anyways.]]
51	* LiteralMinded: Oguri warns Chinami not to punch anybody after he debuts as an idol, so when an armed thug breaks onto the stage and takes Yuika hostage, Chinami takes him out by kicking him.
52	* LossOfIdentity: Chinami's transformation doesn't just change his body, but have an almost as drastic affect on his personality. Within a few chapters, his desire to be a man is practically his only recognizable trait. The ensuing angst is PlayedForLaughs, usually by having Chinami do something girly, then rage over how he did it so naturally.
53	* LoveDodecahedron: Chinami has a crush on Yuika, who [[spoiler:eventually declares her love for his/her female persona]]. Also, Chinami is {{Tsundere}} around Oguri (to the point that [[spoiler:(s)he wonders whether (s)he's actually going gay for him]]), and [[spoiler:both of them have crossdressers crushing on them, male Aoi Subaru and female Takizawa Rintarou, respectively.]]
54	* ManIFeelLikeAWoman: One of the first things Chinami does post-gender-flip is to grab his/her breasts and see how it feels... much to his/her dismay, (s)he actually gets aroused.
55	* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: It doesn't take long until Chinami is acting feminine even without trying. When he tells Oguri he's afraid he won't be able to go back to being a man, Oguri flat out says his body has changed his behavior, so he'll be fine as soon as he makes himself male again.
56	* TheKlutz: Rin
57	* NoRomanticResolution: [[spoiler:After Chinami discovers Oguri reciprocates his feelings (but refuses to act on them out of professionalism), he chooses him over Yuika. However, Rin and Chinami both confess love to Oguri one after the other, and we never learn precisely how Oguri responded to either, leaving the question of the final romantic pairs unexplained.]]
58	* PhlebotinumPills: The magic pills Chinami accidentally takes at the beginning, Godlike Beauty DX.
59	* PinballProtagonist: Chinami basically just goes with whatever zany antics the other characters lead him into at a given moment.
60	* PlotHole: One of the founding elements of the SeriesGoal is that, for Chinami to become male again, he and Oguri have to earn 300 million yen for another dose of the medicine that changed him in the first place. Considering the medicine is meant to make people beautiful, and apparently designed for use on girls to begin with, there's no reason to expect it to make Chinami male again.
61	* SecondLawOfGenderBending: {{Discussed\|Trope}}. After [[spoiler:finding out that Yuika is in love with his female form]], Chinami starts thinking that it might be better to just stay as a girl... right before he chews himself out for thinking that. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Chinami seems content to indefinitely live as a feminine girl who loves a guy, and if he even still wants to change back is unspecified.]]
62	* {{Seinen}}: The manga is serialized in Champion RED Ichigo magazine.
63	* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Initially, Chinami was a hyper-masculine tough guy, contrast with Oguri, a CampStraight fellow who's more of a lover than a fighter. Both end up reversed to some degree, as Chinami's transformation made him constantly anxious and Oguri showed a violently protective side as Chinami's manager.
64	* ShoutOut: A [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Mami]] cosplayer can be clearly seen in chapter 6 at the cosplay event.
65	* SkinshipGrope: By Rin to Chinami in a bath tub scene.
66	* StupidSexyFlanders: Despite still thinking of himself as a guy after switching genders, Chinami starts developing feelings for Oguri.
67	* ThanksForTheMammary: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Yuika in chapter 11 [[spoiler: to confirm Chinami's gender]].
68	* ThirdLawOfGenderBending: Much to Chinami's dismay, he's forced to take up an incredibly feminine, public profession for any chance at making the money to change back to being male. Even beyond advancing his career, Chinami's behavior becomes incredibly girly, even when he's actively ''trying'' to maintain his masculinity. Oguri claims that it's natural [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody for a female body to affect his mind]], but biology really does not explain most of them:
69	** Every piece of clothing Chinami wears, even in complete privacy, is cute, girly, and often quite frilly. Evidently, Oguri's [[WholesomeCrossdresser cross-dressing wardrobe]] couldn't go to waste. His body language is also quite demure, to the point of smiling at himself to admire putting on makeup properly.
70	** Emotionally, Chinami goes from being very confident and stoic to a HystericalWoman who breaks down into tears more than once. He even admits he likes being called cute--albeit in the context of telling a boy it's OK to crossdress.
71	** Chinami doesn't only become attracted to Oguri, he handles it like a textbook SmittenTeenageGirl: he [[RescueRomance swoons over being protected by him]], [[ClingyJealousGirl is prone to jealousy]], has fantasies where he's sexually submissive toward Oguri, and is constantly flustered and embarrassed by the thought of his own feeling. However, [[NoBisexuals unlike in a lot of these stories]], Chinami's attraction to Yuika never dies down.
72	** As a man, Chinami was a OneManArmy. Though he often shows he's still very strong as a girl, he still ends up as a DamselInDistress, quaking in fear and dependent on Oguri to save him.
73	* TrackingDevice: Aoi apparently has plenty of them on Chinami.
74	* {{Tsundere}}: Chinami towards Oguri. It comes to the point that he questioned whether he's already becoming gay for him.
75	* WardrobeMalfunction: After knocking out the man holding Yuika hostage with a kick, Chinami's string-bikini bottom comes undone while he's still on the audition stage.
76	* WholesomeCrossdresser: As of present, we have Oguri, [[spoiler:Aoi and Rintarou]].
77	* WomenPreferStrongMen: Chinami wants to be a "man among men" (again) because Yuika expresses a fondness for strong, courageous men. Thanks to Chinami's female persona saving her life, among other feats of strength, Yuika learns [[AmazonChaser it's not just strong MEN that she's fond of]].

Context Manga / IdolPretender