High School Debut Volume 3 (amazon)
High School Debut continues to be one of my favorite new shoujo series. Although most shoujo manga series often seem to blend into each other due to the reliance on recycled plots and character types, there are enough unique twists in High School Debut to keep me interested.
One of the things I think is amusing is the character design for the male lead, Yoh. I’m not sure what he’s doing to keep himself up late at night, but he perpetually has bags under his eyes.
I was expecting Haruna’s silent crush on Yoh to be spread out over several volumes, but the third one moves things right along. She eventually confesses her feelings to him and they embark on a unique kind of romance. Since neither of them have really dated before, they have no idea what to do now that they’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Although Yoh was perfectly capable of serving as a coach to improve Haruna’s outward appearance and mannerisms he never bothered to date much himself because he found girls so annoying.
Yoh and Haruna struggle a bit dealing with what the conventional expectations for a couple are. They try activities like going to the movies or visiting the seaside, but Haruna never acts like a conventional girlfriend. Yoh offers to read a bunch of Haruna’s manga in order to take notes on what a proper boyfriend would do, and Haruna rents some classic romance movies to see some examples of couples in love.
A shoujo staple plot line is used when girls start to bully Haruna at school, but she deals with the situation in such a forthright and confident manner that I didn’t mind reading again a storyline I’ve seen in plenty of other shoujo series. High School Debut continues to be an engaging read.
6:18 am on June 9th, 2008 1
[...] Reviews. James Fleenor takes a look at vol. 20 of Hunter X Hunter at Anime Sentinel. Tangognat reads vol. 3 of High School Debut. Vol. 9 of School Rumble earns only average grades from Carlo Santos at ANN. Lori Henderson checks [...]
4:42 pm on June 9th, 2008 2
Ah, I think I lost interest in this after the third volume I think. But since you seem to like it, I may pick it up again when I’m bored. It seemed to be like every other shojo mangas because they dated so quickly. ><;;
8:43 pm on June 9th, 2008 3
I guess I had the opposite reaction, because I thought it would be more like a conventional shojo manga if they took forever to date
It could just be a taste thing, for whatever reason I’m finding this series plenty entertaining.
7:54 pm on June 11th, 2008 4
@Diana-I agree. I think conventional shoujo draws it out to, “I like you, no, I don’t like you. Yes I do, but there’s a new guy and he’s cute! But I don’t like him…But wait, you’re dating another girl!” THIS shoujo manga is showing what it takes to bring a friendship to a romance, then how to SUSTAIN it, instead of making the romance forced by bringing in weird 3rd people. And they don’t date quickly, in my opinion. They date more quickly, but the way they grew in love was slower. They were friends, then crushes. No “love at first sight”. The reasons why the 2 love and care about each other are obvious. They’re open, they’re friends. That’s what makes a healthy relationship. The two go crazy about each other, is romantic, but brings out the best in each other and can communicate well (enough). It is shoujo after all, so there needs some angst.
It’s so refreshing to see straightforward Haruna and Yoh. And I love the “bullies”. They are like the typical shoujo heroines, who don’t act, and when their crushes are taken, bemoans the fact that they loved him first, and so much deeper. It makes me realize how much I liked Haruna. She takes chances, she struggles with their problems too, but rises over that, because she fears she’ll miss her chance. And Haruna and Yoh are adorable on the date! They struggle with being unique and unconventional, and try to do their best, but at the end, realizes their relationship is completely fine as it is. No matter what, they love each other. So what if the way they show it is strange?
Such clever, honest, funny, and heartfelt twists on cliches that remains interesting. Go Haruna!!
7:44 pm on June 27th, 2008 5
I luv tis book its soo cute
7:45 pm on June 27th, 2008 6
Yoh iz soo hot even though hes jus a drwin :3
8:51 pm on October 25th, 2008 7
omg lindsay i totally know waht u mean.
the world would be amamzing if there where more guys just like Yoh! lol cuz i love how he speaks his mind and everying.. not to mention if he was real he’d be hot haha