manga: High School Debut Vol 1

[meganbmoore]

All through Junior High, Haruna ignored boys and lived her life for softball, though she became a shoujo addict in the process. In high school, she decided to set that aside, be a “normal girl,” and get a boyfriend. Apparently, she thought you automatically got a boyfriend as soon as you got to high school. I UNDERSTAND! FICTION LIED TO US BOTH!

Except she’s never talked to a guy before in that context, has no idea what kind of guy she likes, and her sole experience with m/f relationships is schmoopy shoujo. She’s also tan, buff, and tomboyish. She likes frilly clothes, pale colors, see-through fabric, and anything she vaguely associates with girly clothing. Realizing that the reason one deals with one’s weaknesses and gets ahead in sports is because one has a coach. So she decides she needs a coach to get a boyfriend. She settles on Yoh, an upperclassman who seems to have good fashion sense, and can tell what will and won’t work for a girl. Yoh is unable to resist the full force of a cute little puppy begging for a bone in human form, so he agrees to be her coach, teach her how to act and dress, etc., as long as she promises to never fall in love with him. This is difficult, as Yoh tends to make girls fall for him without even trying, and Haruna has to force herself to not turn into a cloud of shoujo sparkles anytime he does or says anything cool.

Did I mention that Haruna is manlier than Yoh? At one point, a boy Yoh thinks is bad news asks Haruna out. She ignores his advice and goes out with the guy anyway, only to learn Yoh was right. Yoh still shows up to rescue her, but I’m pretty sure she didn’t need it. She also made him read shoujo manga. And beat him at arm wrestling. And opened the mayonnaise jar. And this is done without ever making her seem unfeminine (just awkward and tomboyish, with an extreme girly streak) or him seem feminine, or weak.

It reminds me of Pearl pink, only without him being a closet pervert. Or her climbing all over him. Or the monkey love. Or the childhood love. Or the badass actress mother who climbs through ceilings. Ok, there’s a long list. But it still reminds me of Pearl Pink. At the very least, it makes me want to bounce off the walls and squee over straightforward shoujo romance.

Comments

[logically.livejournal.com]

This sounds adorable! I think I'll pick it up. :3

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

IT IS! IT IS IT IS!!!

And this is from someone who tends to be fairly critical of straightforward shoujo romance.

[logically.livejournal.com]

ARGH! I can't seem to find it. Is it being published or scanlations only?

I'm pretty rough on the genre myself, but sometimes I need a romance to keep my cold heart thawed. I just try to choose good ones. (So the reviews are always appreciated XD) :P

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

It's released by Viz.

At this point, I almost never pick up shoujo blind. Only if I read a few chapters in scans to make sure it won't obviously annoy me, or if it gets highly recommended by people who tend to get annoyed bythe same things I do.

[logically.livejournal.com]

Thank you. ♥

Shoujo is a surprisingly dangerous genre. >>;;

[calixa.livejournal.com]

YAY!

[vivacious-dan.livejournal.com]

This is my absolute favorite manga. I'm up to Volume 4. Haruna and Yoh ftw ♥

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

It is love. I think I have vol 2-4 waiting at home.

[cassiopeajelly.livejournal.com]

I love this series. I've been following the scanlations and need to pick up the legal versions next time I go to the bookstore. I love how straight forward and sensible Haruna remains through out the series. She never goes in for or creates drama. She might be easily excited, but she always works things out in a reasonable way. I really love her. And Haruna's best friend is awesome too. The only thing I don't like about the series is Yoh's sister who I think is manipulative.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Haruna's friend id pretty cool, but I have no opinion on Yoh's sister yet.

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

I UNDERSTAND! FICTION LIED TO US BOTH!

OH, THE REMEMBERED PAIN.


This sounds so awesome!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

YES! I mean, we grow up with Disney fiction telling us that we will meet our True Love by our 16th birthday...AND IT DOESN'T HAPPEN!!! There were no villains I could help a cute guy vanquish, either.

It is awesome.

[paperclipchains.livejournal.com]

It wasn't even the boyfriend thing that was the worst lie. I was so depressed that I didn't look 25 when I was 16.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yes. I was suddenly supposed to be pretty and elegant and mature looking and have a perfect complexion and figure. Instead I was a bookish 16 year old allergic to makeup and almost any clothing that didn't involve pants. All that's really changed is the 16 part.

[estara.livejournal.com]

wohoo, nice to see you've discovered Kokou Debut and liked it *the European import shop's delivery just came yesterday so is reading KD 5 right now, but has read up to volume 9 in scanlations*.
The mangaka had a long running series before, but I hope she can keep the series were it is (with the occasional weaker spot in later volumes, which is expected).
I like her other series Sensei!, too, but the squick-factor is higher as it's teacher-student romance. Her work on the ensemble around the main heroes is impeccable, though.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I loved Sensei! It was one of my favorite series for years. She has a lot of cute one-offs, too. I'm definitely going to have to look into this one.

[estara.livejournal.com]

Are those scanlated somewhere by any chance? The one-offs? I don't know (even though it's not a smut shoujo) if they'll ever license Sensei! in the west. Considering the heroine is the high school girl and the hero is the teacher.

Ah well, maybe if this sells well. If they can publish Kaikan Phrase and a lot of those Teacher-student yaoi books, maybe this could be published, too?

Megan, it's really not that bad for its kind and all the characters and the plot work (it's much like KD in the way that the portrayal of a situation like that and the likely repercussions are realistic). It does have HEA, though.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I don't read scanlations, so I don't know. I kind of doubt it, but then I'm continually surprised by what oddball stuff is available in English that I would have thought no one knew about outside of Japan.

And yeah, even though Sensei! is a student/teacher relationship, it's very sweet and chaste compared to so much other manga. That's one thing I like about her stuff. I mean, I like manga with a lot of sex (graphic or not), too, but she always does these sort of sweet romances that just make me go n'awwww.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

...

Do the Japanese just have an obsession with student/teacher romance or something?

I have through vol 4 waiting for me, and eill likel get through it faiely quickly.

[barnabascousins.livejournal.com]

Oh! I love this series too! It's nice to read a shoujo that, so far, is a simple slice of life without OMG! DRAMA!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

You might try W Juliet. It never really descends into OMG! DRAMA! When it gets close, it pops right back out.

[no1-antielitist.livejournal.com]

I've been planning to start High School Debut for ages, so I'm glad to hear you liked it. I think I may just pick up the first couple volumes this weekend. :D

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

DO!

[octopedingenue]

I love Haruna and Yoh like I love Christmas. Their awesomely disastrous Pygmalion courtship needs to be immortalized in a musical.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yes! As does Pearl Pink!

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

I think it's sympathizing with the lie of fiction that really sells me on this . . . I never gained awesome powers, either, and my one attempt at flirting with a guy ended when he asked if it was true I was a lesbian.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

...

I got the lesbian question, too. I'm still not entirely convinced that my mother doesn't think that...

Yeah, it's the lie about fiction that really sells you.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

My brother keeps offering to set me up with a nice girl. I wish I'd gotten a tutor in social skills and acquiring boyfriends.

Definitely picking this one up.

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

This really sounds cute! How's the artwork? I like the pretty type drawing & bad drawing can ruin a good manga.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Not my preferred style (so much blushing...), but most seem to really like it. (I admit, I don't place anywhere near the importance others do-with rare exception- on how pretty the art is, as I'm more concerned with story and characters, and I place storytelling ability over prettiness when it comes to art.)

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

It has to be a really good story for me to overcome bad art. Hana Yori Dango? I only stuck with it through the manga becuase I loved the drama.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The HYD manga art and story both turned me off. It seems the only way I can really enjoy the story is the TWDrama. I watched all of MG, and while I liked parts, it mostly left me a bit uncomfortable.

A lot of the rime, though, I see people praise a manga for it's art, and I look and it's pretty pictures slapped on a page with no storytelling, or overly cluttered. The point of manga and comics is visual storytelling. If you aren't telling the story with your pictures, then you aren't doing it right, no matter how pretty the pictures are.

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

Matsuri Hino wins!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Matsuri Hino and I don't really "get along" as it were. I read MeruPuri in a mixture of squees and "uhm...no." and I like some part of Vampire Knight but in the end, the parts that bothered me won out. Her art is nice, but does absolutely nothing for me, and strikes me as very cluttered. (She and Yuu Watase both are artists who get praised for amazing art and I look at the manga and go "maybe if you took about 1/4 of the "detail" out...")

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

That's a shame. I've heard other people complain about Yuu Watase & Arina Tanemura's artwork being busy. For some reason, I love the intricacy of the artwork that Arnia Tanemura & Matsuri Hino do.

[croaky.livejournal.com]

OH YES I love that manga it is hilarious~ I had totally forgot catching up on it though. THANKS FOR REMINDING ME ♥

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

It is love and I swear I have vol 2-4 somewhere to read soon.

[genarti]

Oh man, that sounds fabulous.

It's the "fiction lied to me!" part that gets me, too. IT IS SO TRUE. I think I must look for this series next time I'm at the bookstore.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

That one bit in the first chapter seems to grab everyone.