Sensei!

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Sensei! is a beautifully written manga from the author of Koukou Debut and despite difference in the artistic style both art and story compliment each other nicely. And it adds to the manga's charm and, dare I say, allure. I started reading this after reading Koukou Debut and despite the initial confusion (due to the art - at one point I thought that a different illustrator was involved, I'm assured there isn't) I found myself really enjoying this particular manga.

As the title suggests the manga is about a teacher, or more specifically, a student-teacher relationship. This is an excellent ... example of a story which is not afraid to explore rather taboo subject matter. Rather than being too intense the story progresses at an easy pace that isn't too heavy for the reader to digest. If anything it's rather compelling. At it's current pace, it just makes you want to read more and more.

I'm not usually one to actually read teacher/student romance manga, because quite often they aren't done all that well and slightly on the unrealistic side, but this one's a rare gem that doesn't magnify the necessary melodrama that comes with such a relationship, and keeps things very sweet and real.

So far I'm on chapter 8 and I gotta say that the characters here are BRILLIANT. Literally everyone is likeable and admirable in character and dialogue. Also, they're all "in character" and are justified in everything they say and do. They're also consistent.

There's the matter of the teacher x student "relationship". To give you a very light spoiler, no, the male teacher (so far) hasn't fallen for the cute student, but there's a quite remarkable reason for that: The teacher hates females. Gives you the idea that there's a dark backstory for him. Also, the girl (so far) hasn't done anything foul. Her monologues show ... that she's mindful of everything she does and says, but at the same time, it's clear that she's just a kid in how she thinks. Everything so far has been tasteful and the dialogue has been beautifully written that it's at an artsy level, but so much as to detract from the whole situation being "simple". It's great!

The artwork is literally rough around the edges, and yet, it works somehow. The mangaka uses a lot of heavy and fuzzy lines for our FL student, and yet, she "twinkles" and she's very cute and pretty despite her depictions never being clear-cut like the typical beautiful manga girls.

I don't usually go for drawn-out mangas that have a lot of chapters. In romance, it usually means multiple contrived conflicts just to keep things interested. It may be the same for this manga, but so far, it's been a very pleasant read. It doesn't overwhelm with a lot of text and dialogue. It is spice of life through and through, but the whole thing is "driven" by the characters themselves and not just circumstances.