Personally, I'm a guy and I loved this manga. I read through the Megatokyo forums and noticed that much of the criticism came from people who hadn't even read the book. And the author (who kept a pretty level-headed attitude), claimed slander only once, saying it was bordering on, if not delving into the realm of slander, based on the fact that people hadn't read it yet and were bashing it incessantly.

I am a huge shojo fan and Dramacon piled that on by the ton. The attempted rape scene actually shocked me and the plot, while being standard fare, kept me entertained. I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. I think I liked it because it was nice to see a OEL manga that actually went into the North American con aspect of it all. Even though it wasn't all true (took a slightly idealistic view of it all), I loved it.

So I learned a couple of things today: (1) NEVER go to the MT forums for reccomendations and (2) Use your own judgement. If it looks like you'll like it (or the genre in general), give it a shot.