The storyline is a very modest reverse harem. Maybe it's a cross between Skip Beat and Fruits Basket? But way more laid back and fun than either of those.
Fujimaru is a dependable, good-natured everygirl. Ryou is a friendly, kind-hearted everyboy (well, bishounen). By typical shoujo plot devices (fateful coincidences) they meet and become caught up in an unusual and rapidly deepening friendship. From there it's a chronicle of their daily struggles to get through new situations which arise from dealing with other people, with their own personal ambitions and life goals, and with each other.
The other main characters are not only unannoying (that's all I usually hope for), but interesting and well-characterized. Ayaori is sort of a cross between Death Note's L (yep, he has that kind of moe workin' for him) and Ouran Koukou Host Club's Mori (but with no ironic self-referential humor to cheapen his depth--no offense there). The President of "Peacock" (the talent agency) is a lot like Skip Beat's LME President in that he's a tycoon/visionary with rugged looks who keeps everyone guessing, but possesses the mysterious wisdom of Fruits Basket's Shigure. Recent introduced (volume 2) is Narasaki, who's always in cosplay as a samurai (but his dress is metrosexual)--I'd say more, but since he's first introduced into the story as the object of the main characters' uncertainty, I shouldn't spoil what kind of person he is.
Anyway, what I love about the characters is that they seem real. In many shoujo, I care about the characters, but I don't love them. It's like they're works of art which the author develops with flashbacks, inner narrative, and various well-placed subtleties; although I'm drawn to their stories and their identities, there's a velvet rope barrier and a "Do Not Touch" plaque so I can't come in close. But in this story, Penguin Revolution, I can honestly say I sincerely love them. It's not lust--I don't identify with them, or envy them--it's love. I could just read this manga to hear the characters sit at the table eating dinner and talking to one another about how they felt about the day. I don't care about the plot, who cares about idols, or bishounen (I'm a straight male)? In plenty of shoujo, attention is paid to the characters, but it's the sort of attention which is like, "This character, being ultimately motivated by the mentality and personality which they developed in response to an emotional trauma, should say what or react how?" With PR, it's just better, that's all I can say. I can't figure out how the mangaka can compose the dialogue between characters such that each conversation builds up the depth of its participants and their relationship, in contrast to the usual developmental purposelessness of casual conversation in shoujo manga.
Mint Scans' forum requires 25 posts to have their scanlations. ;_; Fortunately, Dragon Voice has excellent HQ releases. Speaking of which, they've been putting out a lot of those recently. If the scanlations catch up to the manga and start coming out regularly as the chapters are serialized, that'll be quite awesome.