| Title | : | High School Debut, Vol. 02 (High School Debut, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1421514826 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781421514826 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 184 |
| Publication | : | First published July 23, 2004 |
Haruna begins to develop feelings for Fumiya, Yoh's friend. Yoh talks her through her first-date jitters, but is Fumiya the right guy for Haruna? Especially when they walk in on Fuyima and Yoh's sister Asami...kissing?!
High School Debut, Vol. 02 (High School Debut, #2) Reviews
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So, I've decided that Asa (Yoh's younger sister) has all the makings of a future sociopath. I may be a little harsh, the translation might be causing some problems, but there are some moments in this volume that just make Asa look like this crazy girl. Such a crazy girl. It was weird to see her all of a sudden develop these ticks that leave even the characters in the book a little confused. She has some issues, but at least it was still entertaining to read about!
As for Yoh and Haruna, they are just so cute. You know where this is all heading, but it's fun to just watch it all play out. It reminds me of
Love*Com (Lovely*Complex), Volume 1 in that way. The situation and characters are different, but if you really squint you can see quite a few more similarities between these two series then you might expect to see. hmmmmmm cough
As soon as I put this one down I didn't even try to stop myself from grabbing the next one. I know when I'm really enjoying something when that instant read reflex starts to kick in! -
Ahhh this was so so so cute!! I loved the love triangle that was going on and now we finallllly get to the good stuff !!
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Well, I am quite pissed at Fumi and Asami. :| Plus it was all so rushed with how that part ended. :| Not liking this one as much, I just wanted to smack Fumi (for being so oblivious and stupid) and hit Asami (for stealing and being a big *insert mean words*). But eh, I guess we have to feel sorry for Asami, because her big brother has something else to do than watch and play with her. *rolls eyes* I am definitely going for shipping Haruna x Yoh. They are so cute together. Argh, hopefully they will realise it soon and not make a big fuss over it.
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I'll have to go for overview here, because I read all of the volumes in one go again, so the details become a bit mushy.
"The heroine, our middle-school baseball obsessed shounen, Haruna has always loved romance shoujo manga apart from baseball. She put her all into her sport in middle school and now that she's in high school she has vowed to go after a boyfriend just as much as she ever did sports. And because she knows how to go after her goals in sport she uses the EXACT SAME WAY of researching and doing her utmost best and being totally focussed (and therefore intimidating) in trying to reach her goal - and scares the boys off.
By chance she overhears some boys saying that the girl-avoiding (he actually has a believable reason for that) Yoh has a lot of savy about which girl is popular and why. He also has great style himself. When the two bump into each other the second time after she has realised that her feel for the "game" of "getting a boyfriend" just isn't up to par and she badly needs advice, she forthrightly asks him to be her teacher in becoming attractive to boys!
Yoh not being an idiot, says no. He does take note of her determination, though. Yoh's sister Asami thinks the whole situation too funny and promises to help Haruna, but since she's fairly self-centered and only does it to amuse herself, Yoh realizes that the grateful Haruna is unlikely to succeed (and he feels a bit guilty, because he actually has a conscience, unlike his flighty beauty of a younger sister). On a video that Asami is watching, Yoh sees Haruna's last, lost baseball game - how she did her best, how she cried her heart out when it wasn't enough - and that makes him change his mind. She's not like the girls he's had the bad experiences with before, and he wants her to succeed.
But one thing is made absolutely clear: She had better not fall in love with HIM!"
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In this second volume (with a very untypical Yoh backcover and a very typical busy front cover - typical for this series, Sensei! looks a lot different. One thing the incredible emphasis on cool "current" outfits for girls and boys in this series means is that the chapter intros look incredibly dated or weird in some way, heh) Haruna isn't quite sure yet if what she feels for Fumi is love (after all, she's never been in love before) but Yoh encourages her exploration of this (he knows that Fumi is a kind and forthright guy and can be trusted with Haruna, and he hasn't had a girlfriend yet either).
There's a lovely bit of Yoh coaching Haruna on their first date (Fumi isn't aware that it is a first date, as Haruna hasn't confessed yet but he cheerfully has fun with her at an amusement park, because she's fun and he likes her as such and Yoh asked him to go) via text messages (yup, it's a series after the 2000s for sure, actually uses mobiles quite a bit).
Both Fumi and Haruna are honest, cheeful, direct and emotional - and they have the time of their lives, but Asami who is starting to resent the time that Yoh spends on coaching Haruna (a) she's selfish, b) she has a brother complex which will rear its ugly head whenever Kawahara-sensei deems it good to remind us, c) she's envious of Haruna's direct and kind nature, I think) - even though she was the one who started it (because it would be "amusing") - doesn't like how well everything is developing and that Yoh tells her she can't take part in the scheme because she would screw it up (Mr. Diplomatic Yoh isn't, especially not when dealing with Asami).
I REALLY like this part, although I cry my eyes out when I read it: the clear indication that Fumi and Haruna would be totally great for each other, even if their relationship would develop really slowly because they are both not about the subtleties at all. You can almost taste that Fumi would be surprised and happy to be confessed to by Haruna and would swear to do his best by her, and she would swear it back and they would do their best by each other never feeling any pressure from outside, because both would never conceive of either of them being tempted by anyone else cause that is not how they work....
So the first date is a success with Fumi and Haruna making their small step of exchanging phone numbers to start building their own connections outside of Yoh & friends. But when Fumi drops by Yoh's that day to hang out and he isn't there (he's still doing a play-by-play review with Haruna of how it worked and Haruna is sure now that she's in love with Fumi), well Asami is there...
And uses her very well-honed powers to seduce an astonhised Fumi into becoming her boyfriend, so that when Haruna and Yoh show up (Haruna wanting to share her happiness with her "encouraging new friend Asa") they find Asami on Fumi's lap. And Haruna's world basically crumbles. At that age, after such a high and with her nature, totally understandable.
Haruna cries a lot in this series, but she never comes across as a crybaby to me, because she's so intensely emotional about the things and people that interest her (also, I cry for relief from emotional tension and in sympathy easily, too ^^).
And you know, because Fumi is so oblivious and didn't realise he was Haruna's object of interest, he's just totally happy that Asami confessed to him, which makes the situation doubly horrible for Haruna. But while she is very direct, Haruna is not stupid - she knows that she told Asami that she liked Fumi, she knows that Asami said she had no interest in him, so why this?
I think the betrayal from Asami's side is far more cutting and effective than losing the small blossom of possible love interest. I do resent that Kawahara-sensei keeps using (of the two important recurring female characters in this series) Asami as the selfish, beautiful, spoiled b*tch. Not every pretty girl is that.
And Mami? Haruna's old friend whom she looks up to? Only ever shows up to give her tips when her love life goes wrong. That's another thing that KnT gets right - female friendship is not ALL about boys, there are other interests in a girls' life.
Yoh who totally sees through both Asami and Fumi now can't help but want to make Haruna feel better - he calls them both out, by the way - one is clueless and Asami doesn't care. And when he does go to the trouble to comfort Haruna in turmoil the seeds for her feelings for Yoh to go from coach to wished-for love interest are laid. And, personally, I've also managed to move forward from a crushing situation by having an extended good cry ^^.
There's an interesting coda to the Fumi/Asami situation that while Asa is all that I said above, she also has a conscience. She just usually manages to ignore it handily - so she maneuvers Fumi into waiting for her outside in the snow for hours and then contacts Haruna (who has no idea why) - most probably in her oblique way to give Haruna the opportunity to save a frozen Fumi from his fate - totally ignoring the fact that Fumi (like Haruna) is as faithful as a dog and would not - now that he has decided to be her boyfriend - develop any feelings for Haruna (he might appreciate being saved from the cold, though ^^).
Or maybe she hopes (more likely) that Haruna will explicitly give her blessing to Asa/Fumi, so she won't have to feel guilty anymore. Haruna has no idea why she should think that Asa is a bad person (she's just not built that way) but she CAN point out to Asa that Fumi isn't Yoh, so you can't treat him with subtlety so Asa better had go to Fumi now. Whatever it is, Fumi sees the two girls in the restaurant and comes in from the cold himself.
Neither he nor Haruna blame Asa (*grrr* but consistent with their personalities) and so she can now be happy with Fumi.
The rest of the volume is concerned with Haruna realising she has fallen for Yoh and dealing with the fact that a) she wasn't supposed to and b) she is nowhere the type of girl he used to fall for. Meanwhile Yoh gets to see a sporty Haruna in her element and both learn to appreciate each other more. -
Yaaaaaaaaaas
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I read this book a while ago . . . and I'm just writing this review now.
(Which is horrible on my part because usually when I forget to review something, or when I procrastinate (which is . . . sort of what I did), I totally forget what the book is about and it's totally difficult to review!)
One thing I remember in this book is . . .
ASAMIIIIIIIIII . . .
What she did to Haruna was (BLEEEEEEEEEP*)ed UP!
Even though if she didn't do that, volume 3 wouldn't be the way it is, and the story wouldn't move along like it's supposed to and such . . . THAT WAS STILL REALLY . . . really . . . BUTT MONSTER-Y!
I guess this is going to be a rant on how I really . . . really . . . really loathe people who try to steal someone away from someone who already loves them!
I have a few friends who like a person who already like someone else. And they won't sit back and say, "Aw, I'll just be happy with that person because they're with someone who really loves them."
They'll be all like, "THEY'RE GOING TO BE MIIIIIIINE!" and there's going to be this whole war.
Look. Unless you're SURE that you'll make that person happy way more than that other person, and unless you're SURE that they're not happy with the person they're with now, LEAVE. THEM. ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!
I mean, sure, it hurts to sit there and go, "Sigh . . . they love that other person. And they'll probably never be happier, especially with me." But YOU WANT TO CHOOSE A PERSON WHO LOVES YOU THE MOST.
Then again, maybe . . . if you pursue them, they'll be yours. YOU NEVER KNOW THE FUTURE FOR SURE. (Ah. C'est la vie.)
But yeah.
I mean there was this one guy I knew that liked a girl that already had a boyfriend, and HE TRIED TO GET HER TO BE HIS GIRLFRIEND.
And she actually fell for it. I mean, she didn't go out with him, but she liked him back.
So then I asked him, "Dude . . . do you even care about the guy you're stealing from?"
And you know what he answered with?
"No. Not really."
SELFISH PUNK!!!!!
(*POW!)
I murdered him . . . in my MIND.
In reality, I just sat back making this scrunched up, wrinkly face at him.
I mean if I had a boyfriend and someone tried to steal him away, I'd BEAT THEM UP. That'd be way too much trouble. I'd HATE THAT.
That's why I hate people who try to steal them away. They're not even concerned about other people's happiness! JUST THEIR OWN!
I mean there are cases where it's for those other people's own good, but . . . but still . . .
Yeah, this rant happened because I forgot what happened in this book so I couldn't really . . . review this book . . . -
I think the story picked up a little. She was betrayed by Yoh's sister a bit and I did feel bad for that. What a jerk. She fell "in love" with Fumiya, but it ended awkwardly.
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Vol 2 finds Haruna falling hard for one of Yoh's nicest but also most clueless friends. Unfortunately for Haruna, she's no match for Yoh's scheming and jealous little sister, Asami, a girl who struggles with taking a back seat to anyone. As Haruna slowly recovers from her first heartbreak, Yoh's support encourages her. It's like a punch in the gut when Haruna realizes she likes Yoh because that was his one condition upon agreeing to be her love coach, to never fall in love with him. Yoh is still determined to help Haruna find a boyfriend little realizing that Haruna's ideal match is actually him, and not just because of his looks, but because of his personality quirks and the little things he does that make him Yoh.
It's fun watching Haruna start figuring out that liking a guy isn't just about looks. Yes, Yoh is hot, but he's also extremely nuanced. So liking Yoh means a girl has to seriously consider whether she can take his brutal honesty and his occasional bouts of frustrated temper along with the little acts of kindness and compassion (like letting Haruna ugly cry on his shoulder after her first heartbreak). Haruna likes Yoh for who he is, not what he looks like, and it's awesome once she realizes that.
As for Yoh, he also makes some pretty impressive strides. Haruna is someone he likes (not like likes yet) when she's doing her best, so when she has a bout of weakness and stops pitching her best in the softball game because guys in the stands mock her for being a jock, well, he's not happy. Because he knows she's an incredible pitcher and he's furious that she lets what others think influence her to do less than her best. He got over his whole "girls shouldn't have muscles" thing from Vol 1 which might mean the mangaka didn't have his character fully fleshed out yet. It's possible. Anyway, it's Yoh's frustration with Haruna that gets her back on track and she ends the softball game pitching her hardest and best regardless of what anyone else might say.
And we get to watch Yoh play basketball. So he's a little athletic. But he's also a wimp in the cold, falls asleep in the heat, and tires easily around too many people. A delicate flower to Haruna's bouncing puppy dog. Hilarious. So ends Vol 2, on to Vol 3. -
VIDEO REVIEW HERE:
https://youtu.be/DjMEvKUZ0iM
Another great volume in this series! I really enjoyed seeing more of Fumi because him and Haruna bring almost a literal sunshine on page. Seriously, they would be the power couple who showers everyone with smiles, love, and encouragement! It was great seeing them on a date, but really sucked to see a certain character ruin it.
I have to say. I really admired Haruna and how she wanted to address the situation that follows after that epic opening chapter. She's a brave one and I feel that I started rooting for her even more then I already was. She's got so much heart and was bummed to see what happen, happened. She definitely is inspiring in how she gives out so much grace to that one character.
I LOVED the sports aspect a lot in this one! I'm really digging this new direction and how Yoh "redeemed" himself concerning the comment he made in the previous volume of saying Haruna shouldn't work out. He deserves a nice round of applause for not only getting mad at Haruna when she wasn't being her true self, but also encouraging her TO be her true self.
That ending makes me really excited for the next volume. I'm fairly sure I'm not just imaging that a certain character has loosened up! ;) -
Stop this is so cute
4 out of 5 stars. -
Hopeless Haruna needs help finding a boyfriend! After failing to win the eye of any guy in high school, Haruna enlists the help of cute upperclassman Yoh to coach her on how to make herself more appealing to the male species. Yoh agrees, with one catch: Haruna had better not fall for him!
Haruna begins to develop feelings for Fumiya, Yoh's friend. Yoh talks her through her first-date jitters, but is Fumiya the right guy for Haruna? Especially when they walk in on Fuyima and Yoh's sister Asami...kissing?!
Ooh, finally some conflict! Asami comes across as selfish, while Haruna tries to stand up for herself. Can I say I was proud of her for at least confronting Asami for not following girl code? And Yoh telling her later on that she doesn't need to change herself or hide her qualities just to find a guy? I love how this story is shaping up. Yoh is still oblivious to his feelings and hers - but just a matter or time, right? I think Asaoka is more perceptive than Yoh. Oh well, at least Haruna realized it, and now doesn't think that she should be girly just to be feminine. -
Rating: 3 stars
Okay, we're starting to see a change in Yoh's advice in that he's encouraging Haruna to be herself instead of changing for everyone else. My dream for this series was You falling for her first and Haruna being like ??? what he likes me...wait...I actually do love you too!! But okay this is good too, I'm intrigued! -
I love how earnestly and ardently she pursues, feels, and forgives! A great main character! And can we just talk about Yoh? <~Shojo crush material right there! ;))
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The first volume of this was really enjoyable and fascinating, this one showed some moral lessons as well as girl hate. For a high schooler like this main character this can help them discover what the real world can be like or skew it into a soap opera. For someone not in high school such as an adult this can be a mindless soap opera with morally lessons manga series for you or you might think it's over the top (both are valid). Though I still recommend it for these reasons, there were some predictablility points that would make this be more for a novice manga readers rather than seasoned ones. Because of these points I have to give this volume of manga a 3.5 out of 5 stars
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3.5 stars. Okay, but a bit cringy. Not a huge fan of most of the characters in this volume. Especially Asa. Yoh was alright though. Meh. I have the next one checked out, so I'll read it.
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The final panel in this one is one I remember perfectly it's what I always think about when my own characters recognize their feelings. I also love how self aware she is to know "if I don't admit it I'll only get more upset"
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I like this volume more than the first one!
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See first volume for general review of the series
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Cute all around. Predictable all around too. The most interesting thing so far is that Asami is a patoot.
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I liked this book but maybe not as much the first book. This volume was kind of bitter sweet.
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This series follows the main character, Haruna Nagashima, and her quest to find a boyfriend in high school. In junior high, Haruna was the star pitcher of her school's softball team and spent her time outside of practice reading romantic comics. Now that she's in high school, she devotes her time to finding herself a boyfriend ("her high school debut" as she calls it). However, she is completely clueless when it comes to fashion, dating, and boys, so she asks upperclassmen Yoh Komiyama to become her "coach" in these areas. He agrees on one condition: she must not by any circumstances fall for him.
The books consist of Haruna's comical adventures at high school and outside of school with Yoh, his sister, and they're group of friends, along with various other characters who appear throughout the series.
Age: Young Adult Reader (Ages 15-18)
Rating 4 out of 5 stars for:
Art:
The artist has a very defined, unique style that sets her drawing apart from others (you can easily pick out her drawings out of a selection of artists). Not my favorite type of art, as sometimes proportions and anatomy are lacking. However, the artist has an incredibly talent for drawing clothing/accessories and this makes up for it!
Writing:
The story's pacing is straight-forward and plot development is consistent throughout series. Each chapter consists of a smaller stories that seam together to create Haruna's high school experience. The characters Kawahara writes are interesting - they are distinct from one another and personalities interact with one another in a realistic way. Haruna is portrayed as a juxtaposition - loud, hyper, pure, gullible and easily fooled at times, yet also resilient, wise, thoughtful, caring and steadfast loyal. (Most of the characters have these ups and downs to their personalities making them more dimensional). Great, laugh out loud comedy throughout the book, too!
Recommended to mostly older teens who enjoy reading teen romantic-comedy manga. -
Lots of very cute moments between Yoh and Haruna as he helps her through her first heartbreak. Always sucks to see someone you like be with someone else, which I think is a common high school experience. And it’s very obvious Yoh cares about Haruna in more than a mentor-student-friendship way.
I also really like how healthy Haruna’s perspective in the broken heart is. She takes the time to be sad and mourn it, but quickly focuses on realizing that he is happy and that’s more important!! Super cool.
I still really dislike Asami’s choices, which I can tell is the whole point of it. She’s the narrative foil to Haruna, knowing she can get pretty much any guy she wants and uses that power manipulatively. But I’m hoping my memory serves me correct that she shifts to be better later on.
Also? Thinking about how she constantly puts her own brother down is so weird. Saying he’s mean or overly rude when he’s just blunt. A level of codependency? Idk. She’s acting very petty but she’s also a teenager. But I can’t ever imagine saying shit like that about my own sibling.
Anyway, still loving my reread of this series and the way it makes me smile to myself. So adorable!!
(Also, I kind of wish it were still normal for authors to put little notes like this in their volumes! It’s so sweet to see what Kawahara wrote back in 2004 and think about how much time has passed since then.) -
iba a ponerle 4 estrellas PERO me hizo llorar, así que se merece las 5 estrellas ~
se me hizo muy feo lo de asami y el amigo de yoh (el cual no me acuerdo el nombre lol, peeero me gusto ver que este acontecimiento hizo que yoh y haruna pudieran unirse más??? voy dos volúmenes y yo ya quiero que estos dos sean felices wtf 😐
edit: el amigo se llama fuyimi(? pero igual equis con él.
edit pt2: aún no me puedo aprender los nombres de los personajes lol 🤡 -
The second volume of High School Debut.
I'm still surprised they don't have an anime for this manga. I was hooked. Loved this volume even better than the first and really enjoyed Haruna and Yoh's character development. Also got to learn a bit about Yoh's erm "interesting" sister (-_-)
I'm liking how the story is not going as I expected. Onto the next! -
Oh no it became slightly more generic.
The first volume was pretty good, so I quickly read the second volume.
I was enjoying Yoh and Haruna just being super supportive friends but I guess they're going to fall in love with each other now.
I'll still probably read volume 3 at some point, but volume 2 wasn't as enjoyable as volume 1. -
Yoh yells at Asami for wanting to go to Fumiya's and Haruna's date. Yoh coaches Haruna on her date at the zoo with Fumiya by text. Asami sits on Fumiya's lap and confesses that she likes him. Haruna sees them together and runs off. Fumiya and Asami start going out together after Asami's confession. Haruna gets over Fumiya and falls for Yoh.
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I liked volume two even better than volume one. There were more emotional moments. The characters are growing on me and this one really gave them more flaws... but also made them a lot more human. I am in love with this series. I can't wait to continue into book three. The whole world just stops when I'm reading and I get sucked in.
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It turns out Asa is not actually a girl's girl. :(
She is a deeply insecure person who doesn't have the appropriate tools to handle her feelings of loneliness and jealousy. I am hoping to see some growth from her as the series progresses.
Fumi is hella dense though, even though he is a good guy. (Although it's as Yoh says - "all [his] friends are good guys.")
