Young men’s fancies turn to thoughts of love and lust, and the line where they both meet.
Creative Staff
Art/Story: Kaneyoshi Izumi
Translation: Katherine Schilling
Adaptation: Ysabet MacFarlane
What They Say
With the annual school festival coming up, the boys of Seiho High try to devise the best plan for not scaring off the female attendees. But when Nogami suggests that they put on frilly clothes and run a cross-dressing café, the boys start taking things a little too seriously…
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The time honored tradition of the Japanese school festival. Anyone who’s read a manga that takes place in a Japanese high school has come across this event at least once. I’ve read enough series that I’ve even seen the same class projects done over and over again. For maximum funny the author always chooses some form of a cross-dressing cafe, and that’s exactly how this volume starts out.
I’m new to this series, but luckily like many shoujo magazine serializations this series is designed in a way for new readers to jump in at any time. They give you the simple setting explanation at the beginning of the volume and tell you who the main players are. Players being a choice term here, as these are all horny young men trapped in an all male high school with few outlets for their desires. Six volumes in is far past the halfway point for the series, and the leads are now Juniors dealing with their developing romantic relationships.
The first few chapters of this volume focus on Nogami’s burgeoning relationship with the school nurse. The last time I saw the line ’26 year old teacher dating 16 year old student’ it was followed by the word ‘arrested.’ Ten years isn’t that big a deal once you’re older, but the professional and ethical problems of a school nurse dating a student are… yikes. This doesn’t deter the two as much as it should, although it’s clear that they’ve already considered the issues. Putting aside the ethics, their current problems all stem from the typical communication mistakes a young couple might have. Each expects to automatically know what the other is thinking and vice-versa, but neither discuss or share their fears and concerns until they’re both in a tizzy over it. All this while a good deal of cross-dressing occurs around them.
Once the festival is over the rest of the volume focuses on the other end of love, the lust part. A mysterious box makes the rounds around the dorm, just ahead of an RA room check. The contents of the box and who originally owned it aren’t so much a mystery as they are an amusing problem of how to return it to it’s sender without getting caught. Right after that we have Maki’s friends discovering the condom in his wallet and confirming shortly after that he is the lone virgin among them. The story of who gave him the condom is hilarious and horrifying, and provides the funniest moments in the whole volume. Maki tries to solicit advice from his friends and classmates, and even smutty shoujo manga, and eventually decides to just let things progress naturally between him and his no-nonsense, surfer girl, love interest.
In Summary:
Seiho Boys High School isn’t out to blaze new trails. It has it’s feet firmly on the ground and while it’s leads navigate the road to adulthood. The art is fine lined and very typical of modern shoujo, and Maki is your typical good guy lead. Even though the setting and characters are rote, the author still manages to create a very funny and sometimes touching story. It’s good light entertainment for those who enjoy high school drama and romance, and the stupid things that young men will do for love.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B +
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Released Date: June 7th, 2011
MSRP: $9.99
