New York Times Best Seller July 19-26

Fruits Basket stays at #1 and Kitchen Princess remains strong!

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Memorable Manga Moments - M³: High School Debut

This week's is from Kazune Kawahara's High School Debut. Forgive the amount of images, but it was difficult to condense without losing the imapct. ;)

Volume 1 Chapter 4

When coaching Haruna on how to interact with boys, Yoh tells her on several occasions not to cry because he finds it annoying. In this scene she's crying because she was frightened, and relieved when Yoh comes to her rescue. She was being kidnapped by a jerk and his friends with intent to harm her, and Yoh is annoyed because he tried to warn her and she ignored his advice and acted on her own anyway.

Volume 2 Chapter 6

Things change however, when Haruna's feelings have truly been hurt by a boy she cares for. She tries to act brave for Yoh, and put on a smile since she knows the crying annoys him. However, sensitive Yoh does understand how she feels, and tells her that this time it's okay to cry. I love the contrast of these scenes because it shows how Yoh's feelings for Haruna have developed, and the feelings that Haruna has for Yoh that she doesn't even realize yet. That's what makes this such a memorable moment.

Shōjo Sensei: Secondary School Class Structures

Undoubtedly, those who have read manga or watched anime for quite some time will have determined that Japanese school systems are organized somewhat different than in native English speaking countries. The most marked difference is the fact that upper secondary education (high school) is not mandatory in Japan. Public education can be completed at 15 years of age. Despite that, most students do choose to attend upper secondary, and it is a rigorous process to study and take entrance exams for schools in high demand. Their families must save the money to pay for the education as well, since it is not publicly funded like in America.

If you are familiar with Nakamura's Skip Beat!, main heroine Kyoko decides not to go to high school in order to work and support her best guy, Sho. She later resents him for depriving her of a "fun high school life", and treasures getting to wear a high school uniform for a commercial shoot.
Japanese upper secondary schools consist of three grade levels, equivalent to American grades 10-12. I've noticed in different translations terms such as freshman and senior are used, but more commonly the class translations have been changed to first, second or third years.

In the published translation of Hatori's Ouran High School Host Club, the character introductions include the students' year of school.


In comparison, most American and native English secondary schools are structured so that there are 4 to 5 years of upper secondary instruction, mandatory until students are 17 to 18 years of age.