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Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane After volume 9's single-minded focus on the upcoming school sports festival, vol. 10 of High School Debut is back to the series' more usual presentation of several shorter storylines. First up, we have the actual festival (it flies by remarkably quickly, given how much buildup there was) and the outcome of Asaoka's bet with Yoh. Later in the volume, Yoh finally meets Haruna's family, which I personally think is the highlight of the book. (I don't want to give anything away, but you can practically see the wheels turning in his brain: Wow, this explains so much...) And towards the end, Yoh's decision to sign up for summer prep classes leads to some time away from Haruna and exposure to new people. Getting back to the beginning of the book for a second, I'd like to note that I'm impressed that I don't actively dislike Asaoka. I'm not usually fond of characters whose primary MO seems to involve amusing themselves by manipulate others, and Asaoka has that in spades. I won't go so far as saying I like him, but he doesn't strike me as malicious, and that's something. I'm less fond of the storyline that begins in the second half of the book, as Yoh goes off to his prep class. It involves the small-world syndrome that's completely unavoidable in manga (which means it shouldn't bother me as much as it does when it appears in titles I really love, but...it always makes me sigh a little despite it being such a standard plot device). This part of the volume also introduces an antagonistic character who gets under my skin a bit, although I do like that it also gives Yoh a moment of reflection on how he's changed since getting involved with Haruna--one of my favorite things about High School Debut is how the two of them visibly affect each other in positive ways. Review copy provided by VIZ Media. Think you could have written a better review of High School Debut v10 ? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
12 March 2010 10 March 2010
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