(Untitled)

[bookelfe]

"So Becca, what did you do this weekend?"
"I read all fifteen volumes of Gokusen!"
"What else did you do this weekend?"
". . . reread some of my favorite bits of the fifteen volumes of Gokusen?"

There is a reason that I try to limit the amount of manga I read online. The reason is this: once I start, if it's good, I CAN'T STOP. And then all of a

Comments

[bookelfe]

I was forewarned about the shipping from reading various people's pimp posts, but I did not expect it to start quite so early! I was like "dang, it's the second or third chapter and he is ALREADY obviously eyehearting! NOT THAT I CAN BLAME HIM, YANKUMI IS AWESOME."

Yeah, I agree - teacher/student is problematic in general. I like the way the balance of power is handled here, though - Yankumi is always the one in charge, obviously, because she is THE MOST awesome, but in general it's more hero/sidekick than teacher/student, and Shin holds his own due to basically being the smartest person in the manga world. (Though I also like that you can tell he still has a lot of maturing to do over the course of the series - every time he slumps into a seventeen-year-old sulk I LAUGH FOREVER.)

I loved Fujiyama from the whole "FUJIYAMA"S DRAMATIC PAST" storyline, and also I really like how she was a completely different kind of woman from Yankumi, and openly sexual but not demonized or slut-shamed at all by the storyline. (And at the same time, the story acknowledges that slut-shaming is a problem in this kind of atmosphere, which I also respect.)

HAHAHA what I love the most about the Shinohara thing: that SHINOHARA SHIPS IT. He's like "you like Yankumi? Great, I think it'll work out for you two crazy kids, why don't you go cheer her up after we're tragically parted? :D"

[izilen]

Yeaaah. I remember issuing one such warning. I REALLY LIKE SEEING DUDES IN FICTION BEING VERY IN LOVE WITH AWESOME LADIES. It's great!

Hero/Sidekick, yes, but also Hero/Damsel! Where the damsel is not as awesome as the hero, I guess, but can still do things for himself! (You don't even have to tell, they SAY AS MUCH)

Ah, yes. The story allows different kinds of women to have their own strength! <33

Hahahaha, I know, right? Althouuugh he was a bit of jerk there for a while because it was obvious that he would not be involved with both Yankumi AND her family and whatever it was he might or might not have felt for her...he just let her continue pining after him and did nothing. Which, really, is why I truly do love that bit you pointed out!

[bookelfe]

I AM TOTALLY OKAY WITH THIS ALSO. I really love how Shin just kind of calmly accepts midway through that he is in complete and utter thrall to Yankumi's awesome - as everyone should be - and just rolls with it!

*giggling* EXACTLY. The damseling will never fail to crack me up. Though I also love those moments where you can tell they actually have grown into a partnership - like that time they disarm the student with the suicide bomb, and Yankumi is like "SHIN, VAGUE ORDER!" and Shin is like "OKAY, ON IT" and the vice-principal is like @__@ HOW DID YOU DO THAT. Or the time they start yelling at Kuma about disappointing his mom in hilarious unison.

Yeah, I suspect Shinohara kind of liked being the Enigmatic Attractive One. And was flattered by her being into him! But obviously was not nearly as into her as she was into him, or as Shin was into her.

[izilen]

He really is very calm about the whole thing, isn't he? His nerdy-looking idiot teacher is yakuza? Okay. She is THE GRANDAUGHTER of their boss? Fine! She is starting to ask him for advice and opinions? Alright! She is really sort of awesome and he likes her? Probably!

I knooow. Twi things suprised me about that pairing: 1) That it was even there. The series could have lived without a romance. 2) THAT IT WORKED, since, uh, it really really does! AND STOP TELLING ME ABOUT COOL THINGS. IT MAKES ME WANT TO REREAD AND I NEED TO FINISH MY LADYFEST PIC AND DO HOMEWORK. (Sorry about ladyfest, so, so, so sorry)

That TV Tropes-like capitalization is making me want to check out the TV Troped page for this. (a very bad idea!)

[bookelfe]

Well, I mean. He's ~Sawada Shin~, the YOUNG RED LION MASTER. He is far too cool to be startled by little things like this.

AND I AM THUS REVEALED AS THE WORST MODLY INFLUENCE EVER, uh. You can reread as your reward for finishing ladyfest pic and homework . . .? (*laughing* It's cool! Hey, as long as we know we're going to have it by the time we'll start posting things, it's ALL GOOD. We made shiny eyes at the preview!)

I may have already done that. >.> And was SEVERELY DISAPPOINTED to see that nobody remembered to list 'Shipper On Deck,' because a series with more passionate shipping by the minor characters I have honestly never seen!

[izilen]

I'LL GO WORK ON IT NOW! I made a couple of unwise decisions there...like trying to draw things I find very challenging, ON A DEADLINE! I didn't think it would take so long, and for that I apologise (again!) I am glad you made shiny eyes at it! Nobody hates it yet, wooo! That sounds like an excellent reward too!

Also, can I jsut say how much I'm glad to be able to DISCUSS this with somebody else who recently read it? *____*

Whaaaat, they didn't?!?! Next time I go there I might just have to add it in myself.

[bookelfe]

I do not think they were unwise decisions, considering the resulting excellence! (At least, I will only end up thinking they were unwise if you send us a frantic email tonight saying that your submission got destroyed in a fire and your computer was eaten by zombies and we need to find a pinch-hitter NOW NOW NOW. OTHERWISE WE'RE GOOD.)

And ME TOO. *___* This kind of dorky geekout discussion is exactly what I have been craving since I finished it and maybe one of the reasons I made this post??? so THANK YOU FOR FULFILLING THE WISH OF MY HEART.

Do it do it! - not right now obviously. Sometime when you have a week to spare to get eaten by TVTropes.

[ojuzu]

I don't remember if I mentioned it to you, but I always thought Shin was so obviously her lieutenant. :D Like that one time when she made the boxing club and put his name down as president and his reaction was basically *sigh* okay then. What next? as it continues to be every time she does something like that.

aaaahhhh I ship them so much. Mostly for hilarious tag-teaming purposes!

[bookelfe]

THIS WAS EXACTLY MY THOUGHT. *giggling* I think when I realized that was when I decided I could feel okay about shipping them (post-graduation) - it's not teacher-student, it's commanding officer-lieutenant!

. . . . which okay can also often be sketchy with the power dynamics, BUT I ALREADY KNOW I have at least two ships that fit that model, so . . . apparently I am weak to it anyways.

[izilen]

P.S. YOUR ICOOOON. That is one of my favourite things. They ship it, fine, BUT THEY DON'T NEED TO SEE IT. Their teacher/their group leader? TERRIFYING!

[bookelfe]

I LOVE THAT PANEL SO MUCH and was so sad I couldn't figure out a way to include it in this picspam without being super spoilery. *dying* So I had to make an icon for it instead! I see myself using it: ALL THE TIME. Obviously other people are free to steal it too if they wish! (UCCHI IS VERY CONCERNED FOR HIS CLASSMATES' INNOCENT EYES. SAVE IT FOR THE NEXT TIME THEY LOCK YOU IN A CLOSET, TOGETHER, GUYS.)

[izilen]

THEY LOCKED THEM IN A CLOSET!!! I am still not over that, hahaha. The go to such lengths to 'help' Shin and YANKUMI DOESN'T EVEN NOTICE. It takes a ROMANTIC ATMOSPHERE, him saying it's A DATE and being all over her for her to even notice something's going on, and yet, she is STILL surprised when he confesses. Hahahaha.

[bookelfe]

I WILL NEVER BE OVER THAT.

Nor will I ever be over the one-page conversational break between Shin's confession and Yankumi actually registering what he said.