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.