Customer Reviews

High School Debut, Vol. 1

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first read this manga through online scanslations as "Koukou Debut" (a far better title, if you ask me), and instantly fell in love with it. Of course, I was very excited when I heard that Viz had licenced it under its Shojo Beat line.

The story is about a high school freshman named Haruna Nagashima. She devoted herself to playing softball in middle school, but in high school, she decides that she wants to get a boyfriend like the characters in the shojo manga she's so fond of. It may sound shallow of her, but Haruna's wish comes from a purehearted desire to really connect with someone. Unfortunately, Haruna has a hard time attracting a guy despite, or more likely, because of, her determination. So she decides that, like in softball, she needs a coach to point out her weak spots and help her along. Enter Yoh Komiyama, an attractive upperclassman who seems to know what guys like in a girl. Haruna decides that he's the one she needs to help her become attractive...

The romance here is pretty predictable. However, even though you know where you're going to arrive, the ride is a lot of fun. "High School Debut" kept me laughing throughout, especially Haruna. She's a simple, strait-forward girl, and her enthusiasm for finding a boyfriend is often hilarious. She excites easily and says a lot of unintentionally funny things. Yoh is a more stereotypical character, but he's interesting too. He dislikes being attractive because it's given him trouble in the past and he hates the attention, but he seems to admire Haruna's effort and the willingness she has to take both the tears and the laughs that come with a relationship. The romance between them is sweet and innocent, and it moves along at a good pace. The other characters have personality too and add to the story a lot.

The art is not as sparkly as in most shojo manga, but it fits the tone. It's nice to look at and brings out the characters' personalities extremely well. This manga is also well translated, a relief after being a little disappointed with "Love Com."

All in all, I'd say that "High School Debut" is one of the best shojo titles Viz has picked up. I've read through volume four, and it deals with some interesting themes, such as akwardness and differences in maturity between couples. I especially recommend it to fans of "Love Com" since it has a similar tone and sense of humor (and if you haven't read "Love Com," I highly suggest it). "High School Debut" is definitely a title to look out for.

This manga is new to the US (came out in 2003 in Japan) and is brought to you by Viz. This is the story of Haruna a high school freshman who after being a softball "jock" in Junior High, wants to find love in High School. Her obsession is driven by delusions created after reading too many shoujo mangas (let this be a lesson to us all). After miserable failure at "self study," Haruna's friend suggests that she find a love coach. Haruna does just that, seeking the services of the popular but wary, Yoh, a boy that has lived on the disadvantageous side of being a bishonen. Yoh's only condition for his help is that they must not complicate the relationship with love -- although you can tell he doesn't really mean it. And so this version of "Pygmalion" begins ... will Yoh expose Haruna's true beauty to herself and others? (Of course he will). Has Yoh already fallen in love with Haruna? (Of course he has). Oh, but here's the rub: Haruna is already in love with somebody else. How will this story continue? Will Yoh end up with the girl in the end? Well, a quick check of YesAsia, says at 10-volumes, and still going, "not any time soon." I guess we'll have to see if the mangaka can keep up the momentum, but overall it's a good start.

High School Debut by Kazune Kawahara is a great manga to read. What I like about it is that it is refreshing in comparison to other romance manga. For one thing, the main heroine is actually likable. She is honest and not your typical (girly, shy, emotional, etc.) character that you see a lot in girls manga. The hero too is likable and so they make a good pair or couple. Usually for me, I am left wishing that the guy or girl was with someone else, but this couple is pretty good together. The other thing I like is that while most other romance manga's spend volumes about how the girl or guy try to hook up with one or more individuals they like, this manga actually is about what happens after a guy and girl are bf/gf. And how they get there is so interesting!
Usually manga even ones for girls concern stories, scenarios or situations that are not realistic at all. However, High School Debut does have a realistic story. The characters seem real, they act real, and realistic things happen to them. It's great how the author puts the time and effort to set up these scenarios that make sense (unlike let's say in 'For you in Full Blossom', where the things that happen just are ridiculous at times)! What I am trying to say is that the author does not use the typical cliche' gimmicks to make the story flow (if you have read a lot of shojo manga you know what I am talking about). If such common scenarios are used by the author such as when Haruna is confronted by bullies, or rumors, etc, the way she deals with it is interesting (that's why I like her so much as a character!). The story is a really good read and I can't wait for more volumes to come out. If the initial idea in the story where Haruna gets tips from a guy to get a bf sounds interesting it gets even more interesting and complicated but, with good results! Enjoy!

This manga series is about a girl whose overall talent is in the sports area, but she decides she wants more to her life thanks to her reading the girly romantic manga. However, she realizes that even if you go to high school, you don't get hit on right away, in fact, you have to work your way to getting a boyfriend. She then begins to study from magazines about what boys like and what fashions she should try.

But everything changes when she meets Yoh, a teen who is the "eye candy" of all the girls in high school. She eventually asks him to coach her on how to get boys to like her and ask her out. After much convincing, he eventually decides to help her, and takes her out shopping for clothing that she would look good in.

That's basically the beginning of the manga in a nutshell, but I'll put my two cents on this story so far now.

Basically, I believe this series is very generic, predictable, and way too fast paced. I don't feel the connection with the lead character,Haruna, at all, and she becomes best friends basically with like four people within the first fifty pages it seems. I recently purchased this, thanks to judging books by their covers like I seem to do a lot, and really wished I hadn't. I'd suggest borrowing it first before deciding to buy it, because it really depends on what your tastes are. It's a cute story, but too predictable for me. The art is very lovely though, its just a shame I couldn't get into the storyline.

I gave it three stars for the art, and the small amount of entertaining plot that had me at least read the entire volume, but overall, it's a try before you buy type of thing.

Every girl wants to fall in love, but not as much as Haruna Nagashima. Haruna, loves to read her comics, and thinks that every girl is suppose to suddenly have a boyfriend when they enter high school; however, Haruna is doing it all wrong!

Dressed in unflattering outfits she tries her hardest to get hit on while out and about, only to go home defeated. While walking she falls, and like Cinderella loses her shoe. Enter Yoh; a popular high school student who hands her, her shoe.

This is one of the best series I've picked up in a while. It's almost as good as Love*Com. Be prepared to laugh out loud at the efforts poor Haruna makes in order to get a boyfriend.

So, you're an older (ahem) proffesional woman, at work in your fancy suit and you can't stop giggling over Kazune Kawahara's 'High School Debut'. What do you do? Keep reading! And stop everyone that looks at you funny and show them how great this little pink book is. The art is simply lovely, the lead characters are so cute and funny and the writting is totally endearing. I can't wait for #2 and 3 to come out. Shojo Manga is my guilty pleasure but HGD is a real treat! I you liked Lovely Complex you'll definetly love this one.

This was such a great series. It does have that typical shojo-style, but, unlike many of them, there are situations that can easily occur in real life. It is believable as opposed to many series that just are not.

Haruna is a slightly awkward girl, with a strong personality that makes her very unique. Her dream is to find a boyfriend, like all the romance mangas that she reads. Used to being coached when she played softball, she realizes that she needs a coach to help her find a guy. So she finds Yoh, a reserved upperclassman who finally gives in to Haruna's persistence, but gives her one condition: she cannot fall in love with him. Haruna happily agrees and so their adventures begin.

What happens is slightly predictable, but cute and funny nevertheless. It is comical and lighthearted and shows growth of the characters at the same time. The situations are believable and make the story interesting.

I really enjoyed the art too. It was different from a lot of series, but fit the story well.
One of my favorite series. Definitely recommend it.

This is one of the sweetest shojo manga I have read, with characters that are genuinely likeable. Haruna is hard-working, persistent, optimistic and very open about her emotions. Yoh seems very "cool" at first and is critical of Haruna (but never crosses the line into being mean as in some other shojo) and you find out as their romance progresses that he really does have strong emotions, but he has been hurt in the past and isn't very good at expressing himself. They are both an unlikely couple, and a perfect couple, and the charm and sweetness of their relationship kept me reading through the series. I especially like that this is a "clean" series that might be a good way for younger girls to start reading shojo manga. Although there is one chapter that discusses the pressure to "do it" near the end of the series (Yoh is a senior in high school at this point), the physical never goes beyond chaste kisses and there's no nudity. Although there is a brief bullying incident early on that Haruna handles confidently, otherwise this series is fairly free of the darker themes that crop up in shojo manga for older teens like Hot Gimmick, Vol. 1 (VIZBIG Edition) and MARS Volume 1 (Mars (Tokyopop)) (v. 1). In short, this is highly recommended for shojo fans!

High School Debut is about a girl named Haruna who was a manga reading softball player in junior high. But now that she's in high school she wants that to change. She wants a boyfriend and the romance of her dreams that all of those manga have given her. Only thing is, she's never really been fashionable or good at knowing what guys like. So she enlists the help of Yoh, a handsome, popular, upperclassman. He agrees under the condition that she doesn't fall for him and she agrees.

That's the basic overview of the first chapter of High School Debut, but it's so much more than that. It has real emotion in it. As someone who just started high school a year ago and have the same luck with guys that Haruna has had I can really sympathize with how she feels through a lot of the series.

I came across the series by accident. Best accident I ever had though. My friend found out I used to be into mangas but hadn't been reading them recently. All I'd really ever read was Ouran High School Host Club and I'd loved it, I'd just gotten so busy that I'd fallen out of the habit of reading them. So my friend lent me the first issues of Vampire Knight and Ottomen. Both got me hooked on mangas again. So I was looking on my library's site to put some books on hold and accidentally clicked on one of the High school debut books instead of what I'd meant to click on. I read the description, thought it sounded interesting and put the first issue on hold for myself. I'm up to issue six now, well I would be if my library had it, and am in love with the series.

It's gotten a lot of genuine laughs from me and anything that can do that is something I will recommend to others. I've also felt genuinely mad or sad about different occurring in the storyline. It's very entertaining and interesting. If you're still on the fence about it, pick up the first few copies from your library and read them that way. The only thing you'll lose from that is a some time from reading it. If you don't read it you'll lose a chance at finding a really great series. Hope you give it a try and really enjoy it!

This was the first manga I read (ever) and it was the best decision that March.
A fun and exciting take on life in general with lol moments. My review isn't only on the first volume but of all the volumes and their awesomeness.

Summary:
Haruna Nagashima wants what (almost) every high school girl wants, a boyfriend. Ex baseball player with an optimism to match no other, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that.She does everything the magazine and manga tell her to do, makeup, clothes, hair, "what am I doing wrong?"In a Cinderella style fashion she meets, Yoh Kamiyama, not exaggerating there really was a shoe involved. He helps her and walks away, leaving Haruna wondering who he is.After trying and failing at getting guys to approach her, her friend gives her an idea. To look at it from a sports perspective, what does every team need? A coach. Who better to coach her at becoming the best girl out there than, the school's top guy, Yoh?
[SPOILER] I don't think it's a real spoiler since they are on the cover of every manga together but, Yoh agrees (you would too if Haruna stalked you) as long as she promises not to fall in love with him. "Okay"

Now, if you're thinking that this is just like a regular shojo manga where they get together and live happily ever after...that's not the case at all.They are too mismatched for that to happen, Yoh is a serious , aloof, popular guy who 'hates girls'. Haruna is a honest, tomboy of a girl, who wants to fall in love. Koukou Debut is their spiral into knowing each other and accepting someone for who they are.
End of Summary.

Characters: None of them are perfect and they each have qualities they wish they didn't.
Haruna- Though she is the protagonist and automatically she sounds like a stereotype, she isn't. What's amazing is her thought process and actions. She is gullible and sweet but she is also strong and will stand up what she think is right.
Yoh- Underneath his cold demeanor is the sweetest smile you have ever seen. Though he dislikes girls because they 'randomly get depressed and cry' he does decide to coach her and that shows that deep inside he wants to help.
Asami- Yoh's younger sister, has a real brother complex. you don't notice right away but her character was the one that seemed the realest from the manga, maybe because underneath the pretty exterior she was as human and scared as the rest of us.
There are other characters like, Asaoka and Fumiya who are Yoh's friends and play parts in this manga, but they don't really give them back stories but their present lives were the ones that gave this manga light. And let's not forget Mami, Haruna's best friend, she is the best, best friend anyone could have, why? because she supports you, even when she thinks what you're doing is COMPLETELY insane.

The Art in the manga was great. Their expressions were unique and believable, just because you know their characters doesn't mean they shouldn't feel human. And if I'm being honest, just watching how Haruna dresses herself made laugh.
At the end though, it teaches you the best lesson you could learn. Who you are is amazing and you shouldn't change.
With that in mind I'll leave you with a quote from no one other than Haruna,

"I'd rather strike out by swinging than just watching it pass by."