Last time I posted about "Kimi ni Todoke," which I would place as an absolutely girly-girl comic. But this time, we're going to the opposite end of the shoujo genre as we take a look at "Oresama Teacher," a shoujo jam-packed with so much action and bromance I consider it a shounen for girls!
"Oresama Teacher" is a manga about a girl, Mafuyu, who used to be the leader of a band of high school delinquents in junior high but goes into high school hoping to become a girly girl and have lots of female friends. However, her facade quickly drops and she is once again thrown into a bunch of fights, making delinquent friends, all male, all over again. Oh, and did I mention that her homeroom teacher is her childhood friend, and a large influence on how she grew up to be a delinquent in the first place? This manga is chaotic, fun, and will bring you to tears with its funny and memorable scenes. What I really like about this manga is how the author focuses on developing the friendships between characters rather than the romantic complications that might result from a girl being surrounded by a bunch of guys, which would probably happen in a more conventional shoujo manga. It is this focus on "brotherhood," along with the large amount of fighting scenes, that really separates this manga from other shoujos and blurs the line between shounen and shoujo. In addition, the gender-bending that happens in this manga is absolutely hilarious, as Mafuyu often dresses up as a guy (a very convincing one I may add) to fight, and the girls that fall in love with her along with a couple guys who start getting confused about their sexualities always make such scenarios an amusing read. The role reversals that happen in this manga are notable as well: for example in one scene Mafuyu, in her masked fighting identity, proclaims to one of her close guy friends, Hayasaka, that she will be his hero, and we get a sense of her strong desire to protect him, a departure from the convention where girls are depicted as the ones that want to be protected. What makes this even more interesting is that her feminine side, little of it that there is, is revealed every once in a while as well: when Hayasaka, who doesn't know of Mafuyu's fighting abilities, always scolds her to be more careful and always insists on protecting her, Mafuyu always appears very happy. Also, at times we'll see manifestations of her desire to make female friends, a desire so strong she seems to be going gay for women (a sentiment I understand very well haha)!
At 13 volumes and ongoing, "Oresama Teacher" is still as enjoyable, if not more so, than it was at the beginning, and I hope the author can continue keeping up the pace. I do think romance will develop in the future, and I am interested in seeing how the author will handle this. While most fans are rooting for the teacher (yes, teacher/student relationships are very common in shoujo manga), I really hope the author decides to pursue the relationship between Mafuyu and Hayasaka. Whereas a relationship between the teacher and Mafuyu would develop along the more conventional lines of a romance story, a relationship between Hayasaka and Mafuyu could potentially explore new territory as both seem to stand on equal ground and will have to work things out in terms of who takes the lead in what arenas of life in order to make their relationship work. The author's insight into gender dynamics does seem to shine through every now and then, and if she really is as perceptive as these scenes display, then I think she will find developing a relationship between Hayasaka and Mafuyu much more engaging as well. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!
This manga is out in English, so please support it by buying here!
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