![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Kawahara Kazune - High School Debut, vol. 09 (Eng. trans.)
Mon, May. 4th, 2009 03:40 pmMy sleep schedule is still messed up, I cannot wait for the semester to end, and I do not care about so much right now.
And yet, this manga still manages to cheer me up!
( Haruna encounters the sports festival )
And yet, this manga still manages to cheer me up!
( Haruna encounters the sports festival )
Kawahara Kazune - High School Debut, vol. 06-08 (Eng. trans.)
Sun, Apr. 12th, 2009 02:56 amBwahahaha! I love this series so much! As ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lnhammer says, it is so good at overturning high school shoujo tropes while remaining an awesome high school shoujo series.
( Haruna wins at life (spoilers) )
In conclusion: "But... I won!"
lnhammer says, it is so good at overturning high school shoujo tropes while remaining an awesome high school shoujo series.( Haruna wins at life (spoilers) )
In conclusion: "But... I won!"
Kawahara Kazune - High School Debut, vol. 02-05 (Eng. trans.)
Mon, Apr. 6th, 2009 11:00 pmSome of these are rereads that I never kept track of or logged, and it's been a few years, so I have forgotten everything that has happened.
Lately I have been so overwhelmed by school that I feel like I barely have time to breathe. Thankfully, this series is a great antidote to that; I spent time I probably shouldn't have blazing through these four volumes and scaring everyone in the cafe by giggling hysterically.
Possibly some of my reaction is due to stress, but much of it can be credited to the manga, which does a wonderful job of being a high school shoujo manga while poking at all its tropes at the same time. My very favorite part so far is that even though Haruna and Yoh slightly resemble your standard shoujo pairing of genki, irrepressibly upbeat heroine and taciturn, gruff hero, Haruna is the one who lacks any semblence of EQ and Yoh is the one who can be counted on to accurately read emotional undercurrent and act on them. It's refreshing having the hero be the expert at emotions while the heroine is busy attempting to beat people up, protect her boyfriend, or try way too hard at everything.
The art is also wonderful; I love Kawahara's portrayals of Haruna's assorted expressions of surprise. It's particularly great because like Yoh says, everything Haruna thinks and feels is immediately revealed on her face, and you can totally tell from the art.
Still, sometimes Kawahara gets carried away and bends characterization for plot, although usually it's the side characters and not Yoh and Haruna (ex. Asaoka in v. 5, Asami in v. 2). It feels as though she's trying to create the usual high school shoujo tension via misunderstanding and secrets, but because her main characters get along too well, she has to resort to using the secondary characters. Even so, the misunderstandings aren't the interesting part of the plot, which hopefully Kawahara will figure out soon. The best part is watching Yoh and Haruna figure out what it means to be dating each other, as Haruna has zero experience and Yoh's experience has in no way prepared him for dating Haruna.
( Spoilery stuff I liked )
Now I must go back to the bookstore, because I accidentally bought v. 5 twice instead of getting v. 6. Want my fix now!
Lately I have been so overwhelmed by school that I feel like I barely have time to breathe. Thankfully, this series is a great antidote to that; I spent time I probably shouldn't have blazing through these four volumes and scaring everyone in the cafe by giggling hysterically.
Possibly some of my reaction is due to stress, but much of it can be credited to the manga, which does a wonderful job of being a high school shoujo manga while poking at all its tropes at the same time. My very favorite part so far is that even though Haruna and Yoh slightly resemble your standard shoujo pairing of genki, irrepressibly upbeat heroine and taciturn, gruff hero, Haruna is the one who lacks any semblence of EQ and Yoh is the one who can be counted on to accurately read emotional undercurrent and act on them. It's refreshing having the hero be the expert at emotions while the heroine is busy attempting to beat people up, protect her boyfriend, or try way too hard at everything.
The art is also wonderful; I love Kawahara's portrayals of Haruna's assorted expressions of surprise. It's particularly great because like Yoh says, everything Haruna thinks and feels is immediately revealed on her face, and you can totally tell from the art.
Still, sometimes Kawahara gets carried away and bends characterization for plot, although usually it's the side characters and not Yoh and Haruna (ex. Asaoka in v. 5, Asami in v. 2). It feels as though she's trying to create the usual high school shoujo tension via misunderstanding and secrets, but because her main characters get along too well, she has to resort to using the secondary characters. Even so, the misunderstandings aren't the interesting part of the plot, which hopefully Kawahara will figure out soon. The best part is watching Yoh and Haruna figure out what it means to be dating each other, as Haruna has zero experience and Yoh's experience has in no way prepared him for dating Haruna.
( Spoilery stuff I liked )
Now I must go back to the bookstore, because I accidentally bought v. 5 twice instead of getting v. 6. Want my fix now!
Kawahara Kazune - High School Debut, vol. 01 (Eng. trans.)
Sun, Oct. 5th, 2008 04:00 pmI've actually read this before, but I forgot to write it up.
Nagashima Haruna's a bit of a tomboy; she dedicated herself to softball all through middle school, and now that she's in high school, she wants to dedicate herself to her other favorite thing, shoujo manga, by falling in love. Unfortinately, she has absolutely no idea how to do it. But she does have a lot of energy and enthusiasm! Eventually, she decides that she needs a coach, like in softball, and she manages to get hot classmate Komiyama Yoh to help her out. She just has to promise him that she won't fall for him.
Everyone knows where this is going, but it's how the manga does it that's the pleasure. Haruna's incredibly likeable; she's nearly immune to insults and generally cheerful and happy. Yoh is grumpy with a soft marshmallow center, and his Tragic Past is being thought of as cold by the people he likes. I just love Haruna and how completely enthusiastic she is, even as she goes from wearing evening clothes for a daytime date to going back to ratty old sweats since she has nothing in between. Even Yoh melts a teeny bit when confronted by her puppy-dog energy.
Fun and happy.
Nagashima Haruna's a bit of a tomboy; she dedicated herself to softball all through middle school, and now that she's in high school, she wants to dedicate herself to her other favorite thing, shoujo manga, by falling in love. Unfortinately, she has absolutely no idea how to do it. But she does have a lot of energy and enthusiasm! Eventually, she decides that she needs a coach, like in softball, and she manages to get hot classmate Komiyama Yoh to help her out. She just has to promise him that she won't fall for him.
Everyone knows where this is going, but it's how the manga does it that's the pleasure. Haruna's incredibly likeable; she's nearly immune to insults and generally cheerful and happy. Yoh is grumpy with a soft marshmallow center, and his Tragic Past is being thought of as cold by the people he likes. I just love Haruna and how completely enthusiastic she is, even as she goes from wearing evening clothes for a daytime date to going back to ratty old sweats since she has nothing in between. Even Yoh melts a teeny bit when confronted by her puppy-dog energy.
Fun and happy.