Who Is That Girl Manhwa The K-Pop Gender-Bender You Need to Read in 2025

Song Geukjang is the author and illustrator of Who’s That Girl? It is a manhwa that was published in Korean on WEBTOON and will be published in English from 2025. It is about a young man named Kim Sanghyeon, who has been grooming himself to become a K-pop star since he was a child. After being barred by a false school bullying charge, he’s shut down every avenue to him, but a secret proposition from a big-time entertainment mogul changes all of that. A supernatural bath bomb morphs him into his previous life, a surprisingly beautiful woman. As Han Yo-Il, Sanghyeon will fight to be selected into a new girl group, while maintaining his secret.

The series falls into multiple popular manhwa genres such as the idol training drama, the gender-bender comedy and the supernatural romance. It has consistently attracted a large audience since its debut and by mid-2026, it had reached more than 57 chapters, and still continues to be released regularly on WEBTOON.

Key Takeaways

Detail Information
Full Title Who’s That Girl? (Today’s Han Yo-Il Is a Woman)
Author Song Geukjang
Genre Comedy, Drama, Gender Bender, Romance, Supernatural
Platform WEBTOON (official English release)
Status Ongoing (launched 2025)
Rating Young Adult (16+)
Korean Title 오늘의 한요일은 여자다
Chapters Available 57+ as of mid-2026

Who’s that girl manhwa is a complete plot

The Setup: A Lifelong Dream Blocked by a False Accusation

Kim Sanghyeon has been singing and dancing since he was a child, fueled by his love for K-pop since watching a girl group performance on TV. From any perspective, his abilities are good enough to make it in the business. However, the entertainment industry is not a talent shortage and a false charge of school bullying has made him toxic to all the agencies that have reached out to him. Round after round of auditions and he is rejected, not because of what he does in the audition room, but because of what is said outside the audition room.

The arrangement is an accurate representation of the K-pop business. In South Korea, idol management firms have a history of doing extensive background checks on trainees, and even if it turns out to be a baseless accusation, a bad reputation can ruin a career before it starts. It is a reality in the industry that Song Geukjang uses as the pressure to make Sanghyeon willing to take an extraordinary risk when one is offered.

The Transformation: Past Life, New Body

Ploud, a big entertainment company’s director, comes to Sanghyeon with an unusual proposal. The bath bomb is a supernatural object that will reveal the appearance of the user’s past life; if the user is compatible, he will turn into his past life appearance. The downside: Ploud is forming its very first girl group, and the changes are irreversible during the process.

Sanghyeon’s former life is revealed to be a very beautiful woman. Once he has thought about it, he agrees. He adopts the name Han Yo-Il and joins Ploud’s trainee program where he faces some talented female trainees for the few debuting opportunities available.

There is a lot of tension in this premise. Sanghyeon has years of training as a male idol, and is now forced into a female body, different performance standards, and a completely new social environment. He has to learn to walk, talk, and act in ways he is not used to, while concealing the truth that he, by any standard measure, is not the person that everybody believes he is.

The Competition: Rivals, Allies, and Industry Pressure

The trainee program is not a pleasant one. The number of debut spots available is limited for each competitor, and the competition can be a bit tense and even competitive. For Yo-Il, the quest to build relationships with other trainees who have their own dreams, secrets, and agendas is an ever-present challenge, along with keeping her cover.

Now renamed Han Yo-Il, his next obstacle is to compete with a whole other class of talented girls against other contenders for a place in the coveted first lineup of Ploud’s new girl group. Some competitors turn into partners.Some competitors turn into allies. Others remain obstacles. As chapters go on, things change and the real characters of the characters that support the main characters are gradually brought to light.

The background of the K-pop industry is captured with sufficient detail, which gives it a sense of realism. Constant performance evaluation, evaluations, choreography sessions and vocal training are all prominent. The manhwa reduces the emphasis on comedy and fanservice by exploring Sanhyeon and Yo-Il’s relationship with their body and gender, adapting to their new form and figuring out how to make it in an industry they weren’t ready to face from.

Main Characters in Who’s That Girl Manhwa

Kim Sanghyeon / Han Yo-Il (Protagonist)

Sanghyeon is the emotional and story centre of the series. His aspiration to be an idol is sincere and deeply rooted and readers know what’s at stake before the supernatural aspect is added. Yo-Il is required to transfer skills he has developed in one body and one gender environment to another set of physical and social requirements. One of the more thought-provoking threads in the series is the internal conflict between who he is and how he needs to present himself.

The Trainee Rivals

The other trainees at Ploud are not one-dimensional obstacles. Each is sufficiently characterized so that readers know what they might win or lose. Some come from privileged backgrounds, with professional training histories. Others are self-taught and by personal need. The other trainees also get a fair amount of focus, with Yo-Il frequently having to collaborate with her competitors to work her way to the main group. The collaborative aspect keeps the competition from being strictly “adversarial.

Supporting Characters

Sanghyeon’s grandmother is like a spiritual pillar in the story. In the early episodes, she mentions past lives and identity in a way that hints at the supernatural plot without being explicit. The Ploud director who is the catalyst of Sanghyeon’s dream is in a limbo, as he is a facilitator and also a character whose motives are half revealed.

Who’s That Girl Manhwa is a series of themes

Identity and Authenticity

One of the most consistent themes in the series is the subject of identity in the absence of external signifiers and/or when they are altered. Sanghyeon is just as talented, hard-working and ambitious as Yo-Il. His persona as a performer, as a man who has the right to be taken seriously as an artist is completely intact. What does the context for that identity need to change?

This is a theme that is relevant to so much more than just the genre. As in all creative industries, image, presentation and management of public perception are of utmost importance in the K-pop industry. The manhwa simply wonders, under the artificial mask, whether there is anyone who can stand on their own feet under them.

The truth about gatekeeping in the industry

This false accusation of bullying that prevents Sanghyeon from starting his career isn’t a cheap plot. It’s a structural fact of competitive industries where reputation is controlled by intermediaries, where a single negative data point can counterbalance years of proven performance, and where the evaluation system is not very tolerant of complexity. This makes the story feel grounded, unlike lighter gender bending comedies.

Gender Performance and Physical Adaptation

The comedy and dramatic tension in much of the series stems from Sanghyeon’s discovery of a body and a social identity that he has never had before. In contrast to the genre, the manhwa is more nuanced in representing this. Instead of the female experience being a collection of inconveniences or humorous hurdles, it is an experience that is taken seriously and considers the physical, social and psychological adjustments.

Who’s That Girl is compared to other manhwa that has the Gender Bender element

The genre of gender bending in Korean and Japanese comics has a long history, from slapstick comedy to more intense psychological investigations into identity. Who’s That Girl? is in the middle ground. In some instances, it employs the premise of transformation for comic effect, especially in the early chapters, and its setting in the K-pop industry provides a level of realism that is rare for a comic.

It’s more serious than some of the lighter titles in the category, both in the way its protagonist pursues his goals and in the demands of the industry. It has the right amount of lightness and romance to appeal to a wide audience, in contrast to the heavier dramatic pieces. It’s a winning formula, and the series has kept the readers engaged in its first 57+ chapters.

The theme of identity that permeates the narrative relates to the broader themes of Korean society today regarding gender roles, pressures from the entertainment industry, and the expectations of entertainers. It is these discussions that have made the K-pop drama genre popular internationally, not just in manhwa, but in live-action, too.

Who’s That Girl Manhwa is a series that can be read anywhere

Who’s That Girl? is officially and recommended to be read in English on the platform WEBTOON, where the series is rated for Young Adult (16+) and is updated regularly. Access to the WEBTOON platform is free of charge, but some chapters may have to be unlocked for a fee, depending on the time of the release.

There are fan translations on aggregator sites, but the official WEBTOON releases are the most up-to-date and complete. As well as supporting official releases, supporting helps keep the creators alive.

If readers are fond of similar titles on WEBTOON, they can find dozens of similar ongoing series under the romance and drama genres in the gender bender, idol drama, and supernatural romance subgenres.

This is a Manhwa worth reading for its reason

Who’s That Girl? is a more meaty, less silly read than some of its peers, for those who appreciate a plot that’s as serious as it is funny. The setting of the idol industry is based on a sufficient amount of real knowledge to be authentic, rather than simply decorative. The protagonist’s problem is clear and meaningful. The supporting cast is not static, but develops throughout the chapters.

If you’ve been paying attention to the broader cultural discussion about K-pop, identity and the price of creative ambition, then the series provides a fictional context for considering concepts with real-world implications.

There is related coverage of Shani Levni‘s work in reading about identity, creative effort, and the meaning behind a name or persona, which one would enjoy. The article on who owns Benz explores how the name of one founder came to represent a globally recognised brand, owned by thousands of shareholders. An alternative identity narrative, but one that asks the same question: What is the meaning of a name? 

Conclusion

Song Geukjang’s Korean manhwa Who’s That Girl? is more worthy than a genre tag. The concept is a male K-pop trainee who has been reincarnated as his beautiful past-life female counterpart, and is being forced to audition for a girl group, and it’s a comedic premise. And it is, in part. The premise of the series, however, is one that is more enduring: what talent, identity and ambition look like when the world around them shifts dramatically.

There are more than 57 chapters published and a series is still currently being serialized on WEBTOON, giving us ample material to make a clear judgement on the series. It is a patient reader’s delight. The opening chapters set up the situation with a good sense of humour and pace. The supporting characters and the competitive nature with others are developed with authenticity in the middle chapters. The questions it poses regarding identity and industry are not easily answered, and they are still interesting for a long run of episodes.

If you are a K-pop drama enthusiast, a gender-bender story, or someone who just enjoys a manhwa that’s very well paced and has a unique premise, this is a series that keeps up.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the manhwa “who is that girl” tell about?

It stars Kim Sanghyeon, a male K-pop trainee who is reincarnated as his former life as a woman due to a supernatural bath bomb. Han Yo-Il is an idol trainee who is competing for a place in the girl group debut show, keeping his secret of who he is.

Who is the author of Who’s That Girl? manhwa?

The manhwa is created by Korean webtoon artist Song Geukjang, who has admitted that their favorite K-pop group is Twice.

Who’s That Girl is a manhwa that can be read at?

The official English version will be available on WEBTOON. The Korean title is 오늘의 한요일은 여자다 (Today’s Han Yo-Il Is a Woman).

Who’s That Girl has how many chapters?

 The series has already more than 57 chapters and continues with regular updates as of mid-2026.

Does Who’s That Girl manhwa have younger readers content?

Young Adult (16+) is WEBTOON’s rating for this series. No adult material, but with competitive drama, identity themes and some emotional intensity.

Who’s That Girl manhwa is a genre of what?

It is a cross between comedy, drama, gender bender, romance, and supernatural. It has a unique setting, as it takes place in the K-pop training environment.

Is there an anime adaptation of Who’s That Girl?

As of 2026, there has been no announcement of an anime adaptation. The series is still available only in webtoon format.

Why is Who’s That Girl different from other gender bending manhwa?

The K-pop environment, false accusations in the backstory and the show’s fascination with the real artist behind the character set it apart from its more innocuous counterparts. It’s more serious than most about its themes but not as serious as they are.

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