PS: Do not be perturbed by the mention of Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (GSN) and in no way I am comparing this manga to that.
STORY (8/10):
I randomly came across this manga a week back and the enjoyment eclipsed some of the vague and intermittent disappointments by a large margin while reading it. Oresama teacher is a manga which has a female mangaka drawing shoujo arts but has a good amount of shonen related stuffs including delinquents, action and some heart-warming comedies. The first dozen chapters or so moves in its own pace and undertakes a more episodic route rather than having arc based storyline. This probably was done to lay the foundations for the characters and their developments so that the readers get acquainted with their behaviorism. At some points, the story was dragged and you might start to wonder 'when this chapter is going to end?'. Some people, while reading this manga, will find it irksome about the myriad of flashbacks and how the manga suddenly jumps to the characters' pasts. Even though it will test the patience, the pasts will actually be funny but sweet and emotional at the same time.
ART (8/10):
A shoujo manga consisting of delinquents will necessarily consist of handsome guys that the female readers can fawn over countless amount of times and this manga, just like your typical shoujo manga does not shy away from doing just that; and the smiles, flowery backgrounds and screentones just accentuates the delinquents to a whole new level. The art is good and you can actually witness changes in the style with which the characters are drawn as you keep on reading the manga - meaning, the art kept on improving as the chapters kept on increasing. One vital point to note is the characters' facial expressions to express the emotions. It actually felt close to reality while witnessing those expressions and weirdly it was reminiscent of GSN (which coincidentally is another work of the mangaka) and was like watching it with only the settings and the premise differing. Since delinquency is involved, do not expect those over-the-top action sequences and fight scenes as this manga shies away from that big time.
CHARACTER (8/10):
A former yankee trying to live and strive to achieve a rose-colored high school life is what the synopsis points to, but with the amount of quirky characters and their weird and unique personalities (including Mafuyu) that is endemic only to them, she is thwarted almost every time from achieving her goal. Gekkan Shoujo's main + was its tremendous amount of exposure given to the characters and it seems it just harnessed that trait from Oresama Teacher just like that. Characterization is really great and when the art and story is compared to the characterization, the latter eventually prevails. The jokes and comedies put forth are filled with realism for the most part and the misunderstandings and the dense aura that some characters give off makes reading this manga even more merrier and worthwhile.
ENJOYMENT (8/10):
Like I said before, this manga sometimes takes the slow approach and almost certainly has a myriad of jumps to the characters' past. It might get irritable at many instances, but those moments will definitely not force you to put this manga on-hold or drop it. The timing of the jokes are so perfect that you will not see them coming albeit you will feel that at that situation, only a joke would have been a warrantable option. Considering this is a shoujo manga, it is an obligation that the girls must be beautiful and cute; with their cheery and gentle smile and the blushing and flustering. All these including action, comedy and delinquency are mashed up to provide us Oresama Teacher.
OVERALL (8/10):
At the moment, there is substantially only one major arc in the manga and it is still continuing. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, the romance and shoujo-ish scenes are very scarce. Do take note of the interactions between the characters. You will be pleasantly surprised to find that some of their interactions and conversations will be natural without any external forces acting. It was a delightful read to say the least.
One regret is; I watched and followed GSN on a weekly basis before reading Oresama Teacher. Many a times, you will reminisce about the characters from GSN while reading this manga if you had done what I did. I felt that the facial expressions of the characters from GSN was incorporated from Oresama. It is advisable that you read this and then follow it with GSN as this is purely golden.
