[DeepL Translation - needs review] Volume 1: A new story of brilliance spun in the popular game "THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS". Girls who have neither a producer nor a job, and are less than idols. But they dream. Lovely dresses, a lovely stage, and a lovely prince. A new Cinderella story by a small idol group and a small new producer is about to begin.
This work is a new edition of the same title. There are no changes in the story or characters.
(Translator: DeepL)
This series is a spinoff of the Idolmaster Cinderella Girls mobile game Starlight Stage. The title "U149" comes from the fact that all of the idols in this unit are under 149 centimeters. The U149 series recently got an anime adaption that was one of the best things I've seen recently so I decided to give the manga a try.
The manga and anime for the most part tell two different stories but follow the same themes more or less. The U149 girls have been waiting for a producer to come along as they've spent their days doing nothing but lessons. They're sick of being treated as nothing because they're kids so when they learn a producer has finally been assigned to them, they are ecstatic at the prospect of getting jobs and eventually making their debut. It is also the producer's first time producing a unit, so throughout the series both parties experience growth and hardships in their profession.
Even if you're not interested in idols, I think the series is worth checking out if you like character-focused stories (rather than plot heavy stuff). It has a lot of cute moments in it and the character development is well done.
Language wise it is relatively easy. There isn't that much furigana but the vocab is pretty straightforward. Since a majority of the cast are children, the grammar isn't complex either. Some characters have a more unique speech pattern due to their personality (there's an お嬢さま for example) but I didn't think any of it was difficult to pick up on.