Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "High School Debut" in English language version.
Kawahara also sneaks in a few laugh-out-loud moments that make fun of every half-baked dating or fashion tip you've ever read in teen magazines. Add in her likable artwork and well-paced story, and you have a shojo romantic comedy that's already on the short list of my favorite new manga for 2008.
All in all, an excellent second installment that's as consistently good as the first. I wish all shojo manga was this well-crafted and lovable.
Clean, well-drawn artwork that captures the emotional ups and downs of high school romance
Nice artwork – Expertly composed panels that never gets in the way of the story
Haruna proves to be a shojo manga heroine who is truly heroic. Despite being dealt a betrayal that would leave a lesser person angry and bitter, Haruna doesn't stoop to playing mind games or wallowing in self-pity. She is always willing to learn from her mistakes.
Absolutely wonderful, likeable teen characters that aren't cookie-cutter caricatures
In the hands of a lesser storyteller, High School Debut would have a lot of predictable, sexually-charged hijinks before Yoh and Haruna fall in love. But instead, Kawahara lets this mismatched pair develop a true friendship
Unlike some other makeover manga, Haruna's transformation doesn't happen overnight, and it's not about making her into something she's not. In fact, Kawahara lets Haruna's quirkiness, inner strength and good nature shine through, such that even pre-makeover, she comes across as someone who deserves true love.
Her main appeal has always been that she is too sweet and simple to make any attempts at being conniving ... Haruna's worrisome nature is always entertaining to watch.
Kawahara's art is very good – quite pretty, in fact, but her strength is in emotionally evocative faces. It seems as if she learned a 1001 ways to use delicate line work on facial features and tossed hair in order to suggest emotion and mood in her characters and in the story.
Although her manga seems like a one note concept, manga-ka Kazune Kawahara weaves the supporting characters of her small ensemble in out of the narrative while Haruna and Yoh shine. ... The supporting players have a pleasing way of getting things going – creating moments of comedy and conflict with nothing more than a few words or a mere appearance.
[T]his is my favorite shojo running, because it's entertaining and involving and funny and cute. Very well-done and always satisfying.
Even when tackling standard shojo situations — in this volume, boyfriend Yoh gets sick, and Haruna is left alone to care for him — High School Debut puts its own unique twist on them.
A typical shojo plot — young woman desperate to get a boyfriend as she starts high school — is made highly entertaining through dynamic characters and art ... Kawahara's art is impressive and emotional, with Haruna giving off a palpable air of desperation through the pages.
The art is in keeping with the season and the mood — snowy parks, seasonal decorations, and impressionistic backgrounds to capture overwhelming emotion.
And good-hearted Haruna takes even pain as a learning experience! I've known people like that, but they're few and don't come along very often. She's inspirational in her determination and her optimism. That makes her growth even more believable.
Haruna is just so enthusiastic a personality, she's a blast to read about.
Plus, the art supports all this well with authentic emotion on the characters' faces. Yoh, especially, is a tough challenge. In lesser hands, he'd seem like a stick or a brick, someone with no feelings — here, though, he seems reserved, as he should, someone with hidden emotion that he chooses not to share.
Yoh's sister Asami is a particularly nuanced character.
Plus, their role reversal — Haruna jumps into action to save Yoh — is refreshing, especially since it's not treated as a behavior pattern that has to be fixed. Instead, it's accepted as who they are.
High School Debut is standard fare for younger manga readers. With a clean plot and only the stereotypical female temper tantrum for added drama, it's a good purchase for schools and libraries.
Kawahara uses a pen-and-ink style similar to that in Yoko Kamio's Boys over Flowers
Kawahara also sneaks in a few laugh-out-loud moments that make fun of every half-baked dating or fashion tip you've ever read in teen magazines. Add in her likable artwork and well-paced story, and you have a shojo romantic comedy that's already on the short list of my favorite new manga for 2008.
All in all, an excellent second installment that's as consistently good as the first. I wish all shojo manga was this well-crafted and lovable.
There are some series you read that just make you happy, and High School Debut is one of those for me.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)High School Debut is standard fare for younger manga readers. With a clean plot and only the stereotypical female temper tantrum for added drama, it's a good purchase for schools and libraries.
[T]his is my favorite shojo running, because it's entertaining and involving and funny and cute. Very well-done and always satisfying.
Even when tackling standard shojo situations — in this volume, boyfriend Yoh gets sick, and Haruna is left alone to care for him — High School Debut puts its own unique twist on them.
The artwork, like the motherly advice, is another strength of High School Debut. The layout flows nicely, with Kazume Kawahara artfully varying the detail and density of her panels instead of cramming every inch of the page with super-deformed reaction shots and muttered asides.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)A typical shojo plot — young woman desperate to get a boyfriend as she starts high school — is made highly entertaining through dynamic characters and art ... Kawahara's art is impressive and emotional, with Haruna giving off a palpable air of desperation through the pages.
The art is in keeping with the season and the mood — snowy parks, seasonal decorations, and impressionistic backgrounds to capture overwhelming emotion.
Clean, well-drawn artwork that captures the emotional ups and downs of high school romance
Nice artwork – Expertly composed panels that never gets in the way of the story
Kawahara's art is very good – quite pretty, in fact, but her strength is in emotionally evocative faces. It seems as if she learned a 1001 ways to use delicate line work on facial features and tossed hair in order to suggest emotion and mood in her characters and in the story.
Haruna proves to be a shojo manga heroine who is truly heroic. Despite being dealt a betrayal that would leave a lesser person angry and bitter, Haruna doesn't stoop to playing mind games or wallowing in self-pity. She is always willing to learn from her mistakes.
And good-hearted Haruna takes even pain as a learning experience! I've known people like that, but they're few and don't come along very often. She's inspirational in her determination and her optimism. That makes her growth even more believable.
Haruna is just so enthusiastic a personality, she's a blast to read about.
Absolutely wonderful, likeable teen characters that aren't cookie-cutter caricatures
Although her manga seems like a one note concept, manga-ka Kazune Kawahara weaves the supporting characters of her small ensemble in out of the narrative while Haruna and Yoh shine. ... The supporting players have a pleasing way of getting things going – creating moments of comedy and conflict with nothing more than a few words or a mere appearance.
Plus, the art supports all this well with authentic emotion on the characters' faces. Yoh, especially, is a tough challenge. In lesser hands, he'd seem like a stick or a brick, someone with no feelings — here, though, he seems reserved, as he should, someone with hidden emotion that he chooses not to share.
Yoh's sister Asami is a particularly nuanced character.
In the hands of a lesser storyteller, High School Debut would have a lot of predictable, sexually-charged hijinks before Yoh and Haruna fall in love. But instead, Kawahara lets this mismatched pair develop a true friendship
It's kind of rare for me to like both members of a couple as much as I do Haruna and Yoh. Their interactions and discoveries in this volume contribute to make it the best of the series since they got together.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)I think the main thing I love is the open communication between Haruna and Yoh. He tells her what he likes about her, for instance, and they both immediately sense problems in the Asa/Fumi relationship and discuss what they ought to do about it. I really dislike it when a prolonged misunderstanding is used as a plot, so it's such a relief to me when characters actually talk about things with each other.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Plus, their role reversal — Haruna jumps into action to save Yoh — is refreshing, especially since it's not treated as a behavior pattern that has to be fixed. Instead, it's accepted as who they are.
Unlike some other makeover manga, Haruna's transformation doesn't happen overnight, and it's not about making her into something she's not. In fact, Kawahara lets Haruna's quirkiness, inner strength and good nature shine through, such that even pre-makeover, she comes across as someone who deserves true love.
Reading the jacket copy for High School Debut predisposed me to disliking this manga. Its powerful-boy-makes-over-hopeless-girl plot seemed retro and more than a little sexist, not to mention rather stale—She's All That, anyone? I was pleasantly surprised to discover, however, that the underlying message of the book is deeper and wiser than "Makeovers make everything better!"
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)I still have reservations about High School Debut. Any series with a Pygmalion-esque premise is bound to raise some uncomfortable questions about gender equality, no matter how smart or sporty the Galatea stand-in may be.
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