Friday, May 30, 2008

Great Place High School

Let me start off by explaining the format of this book. Basically, the book is divided into four sections in this order: 4-panel comics, manga-style story, more 4-panel comics, and then a manga-style story. As a bonus, and this is rare for a June publication, there are 9 full-colour pages for you to enjoy! On the downside, the paper quality is noticeably lower than other books from this publisher.

There are many characters in this book and all the stories take place at this GP High School. The first couple introduced to us, is Ryouichi and Minami. Minami is the cutest little Uke I have ever seen and he is a beloved character in this book. This couples' story is told through the 4-panel comics and as such, the characterization and jokes are above average.

After the 4-panel comics end, and the manga-style story is introduced, the book loses me. These manga pages are devoted to an entirely new couple named Rin and Eichi, the heads of the student council. While they do interact with the members of the computer club, the story mostly centers on their strange behaviour and bizarre romance. This is a story I did not care for. Why would Koujima want to devote a manga-style story to two, totally undeserving characters?

However, when the 4-panel comics start up again, the book falls back to its hilarity and awesome characterization *within the computer club*.

Now, the Rin x Eichi stories aren't painful to read, the book just forces you away too quickly from the cute antics of Minami x Ryouichi and the other members of the Computer Club. In the back of the book, Koujima says that she loves to draw Rin x Ryouichi the most, so that's why they get special treatment.

If you want to sample Naduki Koujima's style, but you don't want to commit to her longer series, "Our Kingdom", you should get this book. It has a lot to offer the reader in terms of variety. There is only one or two soft sex scenes because this book mainly focuses on the characters' exploits.

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