*High School Debut Book 4 — Recommended
Posted in Manga Reviews on August 20, 2008 by Johannaby Kazune Kawahara; adapted by Gemma Collinge
published by Viz; $8.99 US
Yoh and Haruna are finally dating, but neither one of them is very good at it, having had little practice. Haruna’s competitive nature makes this very funny, since once she gets an idea in her head, she’s determined to do it to the best of her ability.
Take, for example, Christmas, a romantic holiday to spend with your sweetie. Haruna wants to be the Best Girlfriend Ever, only she doesn’t realize that that’s determined only by what’s best for her and Yoh. Instead, she gets caught up in making the whole thing a production, pulling everyone into her schemes.
She’s obsessing over what should be, which makes you miss the wonder of what is, but Yoh is so understanding and appreciative of her unique qualities that it should all work out ok. Even when there’s a typical shojo misunderstanding to keep the two apart for a while, the reason behind it is different, in keeping with these two unusual personalities.
Haruna’s enthusiasm makes me root for her even when she’s being silly. She’s so happy, and she wants to share it with those she cares about. That’s a wonderful motive. Her passion overwhelms her, and reading it is a wonderful reminder of when teenage love was the most important thing in the world.
The art is in keeping with the season and the mood — snowy parks, seasonal decorations, and impressionistic backgrounds to capture overwhelming emotion. I previously reviewed Book 3.
Similar Posts: *High School Debut Book 8 — Recommended § *High School Debut Book 5 — Recommended § *High School Debut Book 2 — Recommended § *High School Debut Book 6 — Recommended § *High School Debut Book 3 — Recommended
08/21/2008 at 8:28 AM
[...] Mode, and Honeydew Syndrome. Johanna Draper Carlson checks out vols. 6, 7, and 8 of Love*Com and vol. 4 of High School Debut at Comics Worth Reading. Lori Henderson reads vol. 1 of The Mysterians online at the Tokyopop site. [...]
08/22/2008 at 8:14 AM
[...] up my week of covering Viz high school shojo manga titles (well, Honey and Clover is art college, but same difference), [...]
10/20/2008 at 2:08 PM
[...] reason I enjoy this series so much is that, even in its most dramatic relationship moments, there’s a good amount of [...]
07/14/2009 at 5:32 PM
wow what’s up with that I love this series and it seems the more I read about them the more I fall in love with yoh as well I am a big manga reader but this and hana-kimi are by far the best. I can truely understand Haruna I also play softball and have no idea how to be attractive to guys and that’s just torture. But until I read these books I had no hope at all I thought these were funny and inspirational
07/14/2009 at 5:33 PM
well actually I play baseball
12/22/2009 at 6:46 PM
OMG! They should let us read the books for FREE! online!!!
More people would do it(read online!) and save money $$
12/22/2009 at 7:13 PM
And how would the publishers make any money if manga was all free online?