|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||
|
|
Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane High School Debut may be an exceptionally awesome specimen of the high school romance genre, but it's still in that genre, and as such there are certain things it pretty much has to do--such as follow the Japanese school year. Happily, Kawahara has opted to shake things up a little bit by having Haruna and Yoh's school have a cultural festival one year and a sports festival the next. Apparently this isn't really conveyed to incoming students, though: Haruna, now an eleventh-grader, doesn't seem to be the only student who's not really familiar with the upcoming sports festival, which gives Kawahara a convenient reason for breaking it down for the readers. The festival is a huge event, with students dividing up responsibilities and being part of teams that cross grade lines, which means that Haruna and Yoh are able to be on a team together despite being in different grades. (In fact, it's such a huge event that the entire volume is devoted to it, which makes the book less episodic than usual.) Our leads respond to the festival in their usual fashion: Haruna throws herself into it, overflowing with excitement, and because of her enthusiasm Yoh finds himself taking more of an interest in it than he usually would. This is one of the things I really like about their relationship: the give and take between them is very well done. When Yoh winds up with extra responsibilities and less time to spend with Haruna during the festival preparations, it's clear that he's partly putting so much energy into what he's doing because the festival matters to Haruna. They each have plenty of great moments in this volume. As many other readers have noted, what Haruna's years of reading shoujo manga have actually taught her is how to be a good shoujo hero, giving us a starry-eyed heroine who's more than happy to defend her boyfriend's honor with her fists. Meanwhile, although Yoh is easily embarrassed when Haruna occasionally notices just how much he cares about her, his affection is really endearing. Volume 9, like the rest of the series so far, is a lot of fun and well worth checking out. Review copy provided by VIZ Media. Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
|
||||
 |
| home | reviews | news | features | about us | advertise | privacy policy | contact us |
