...And so I did. Damn, what a manga marathon. I read the almost 20 scanlated volumes of
Yankee-kun to Megane-chan (by Yoshikawa Miki) practically in one sitting, over ~18 hours.
No, it's not really
that addicting, I simply had nothing better to do, for some reason I didn't even get tired enough to feel like going to sleep. The first few volumes are actually pretty meh, I contemplated dropping the manga many times over the first few vols. The characters were difficult to like and the story didn't seem to go anywhere, the comedy alone couldn't really keep my interest. However, eventually it did start getting better, and after a certain point it became so good that I was well and truly hooked. I'm glad I patiently stuck with it (I'm sure wouldn't have done it if I hadn't read Yamada-kun first, this one took a much longer time to get good), because in the end it was an experience I think I will truly appreciate later on. Actually, I already do.
Like Yamada, the "Yankee-kun", Shinagawa Daichi, is a feared delinquent who's absolutely bored with school but has a good heart and a strong sense of justice. He was sort of likeable from the start, but not really. It's a real pleasure to see how he matures and changes during his three high school years, becoming a truly likeable and respectable person. "Megane-chan", Adachi Hana, differs from the female lead of Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo in that she's only
pretending to be a smart honour student - in reality she's a former delinquent and dumb as a doornail. I never really liked her, she seems a bit like a bitch from the start and only develops to a moderately likeable level during the story. On the plus side, her past explains her personality in the beginning well, and the rare times that we see her fight, she kicks ass. But still, I kinda wish some of the other girls who end up with a crush on Daichi had a chance.
The other characters are, again, a hilarious (and occasionally badass) bunch with important roles in the story, good character development and a good balance of genders. I really like this mangaka for her excellent use of supporting characters in both of her series.
This is a long story with several phases to it. First there is the introduction phase, where the two main characters get to know each other and later some supporting characters are introduced. Then there is the student council phase, where the story finally gets interesting, many new supporting characters are introduced and various problems are solved. The final phase is where they start taking studying seriously in order to get the whole gang, even the hopelessly stupid Hana, to the same college - however, this phase also contains a lot of character development for everyone, and wraps up several side plots. Alongside it all there is delinquent stuff, some good fights. This story covers pretty much the whole scale of school life manga, from slice of life and romance to student council and delinquent stuff. I've missed this kind of long school life manga, where you really have the time to get attached to the characters, over a large number of volumes, and many years in the story. It's been a while since I've read anything this long. I think this will eventually be one seriously nostalgic story to me, like for example Love Hina came to be.
All in all, a truly memorable experience worth at least
4 stars. Could easily be more, if the boring phase in the beginning hadn't lasted so long. Could still be more, if the story wraps up in a satifying manner, giving the romances and everything proper conclusions.
Music: I listened to a lot of different songs during this long session, but mainly heidi. (they did the Kaichou wa Maid-sama EDs) and certain Abingdon Boys School songs. In the best fights I listened either Show Me What You Got by Powerman 5000, JAP by ABS, or Reckless Youth by Pillar. In emotional scenes ABS's Desert Rose served well. Pineapple Army - also by ABS - was good for normal comedy and slice of life, some fights as well. In the beginning I mainly listened to heidi.'s Ikkoku, Mugen Loop and Pain, until I got bored of them and switched to ABS.
As usual with these kind of stories, it made me feel pathetic for never taking studying seriously. So, I think I'll take a little break from manga and such, and finally get to writing that essay I've been pushing off. >.<
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