Kusunoki-san Failed to Debut in High School - Vol. 1 Ch. 1

Dex-chan lover
Joined
Jan 26, 2020
Messages
1,506
Kusunoki seems to be very honest with her intentions at least. And she's forward too. Despite knowing about Keisuke's condition, she doesn't laugh at him. I wish the two of them the best in their high school debut. Though it seems Keisuke won't be at the middle of the social hierarchy, like he wanted. Plus there's always his illness to make things more complicated. And now that trauma girl is back?

It seems everyone's rooting for the both of them to get together. That's something I expected, to be honest. Most people will shop people together in the first few days.
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Sep 30, 2018
Messages
1,373
I don't care with the previous people's comment. Predicting at chapter 1 is not good. Don't ignore the artist effort too. You can actually appreciate a bunch of similar manga if you yourself not projecting your experience in reading the story. You make your ownself hard to be pleased
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Apr 25, 2020
Messages
533
It's not even a guess anymore. It's a fact. They literally showed that in early pages :kek:


God I hope the dark haired girl won't be a love interest. She doesn't deserve any redemption arc
I looked into the tags. There's no harem tag. If there's ever gonna be romance, it'll definitely be with the dork girl who turns out to be pretty. So, I guess no problemo
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Apr 25, 2020
Messages
533
I had some hopes when I put it in my to-read pile, but this looks like predictable trash.

  • loser MMC is a loser only because he lacks confidence, which manifests in ridiculous ways
  • gorgeous FMC is shy and also lacks confidence in spite of the way everyone now fawns all over her
  • former tormentor shows up and will likely be interested in the MMC while potentially not even remembering him when he reveals his identity, setting her up as a shallow easy rival for main girl because complex characters are too much trouble for these stories
  • the two leads will be dense idiots as "friends" and push to the point of basically being in a relationship that everyone can see, but they won't becuase "no no no I can't be in a relationship because who would like someone like me?" and all that even though the solid basis of their friendship-to-not-relationship is the fact that each is the only person the other can be their usual self around is drowned out by the constant social pressure that their usual, real self is an unlikable loser who doesn't deserve happiness unless they follow the crowd.
  • while the story ultimately pushes a "find someone who accepts you for you" moral, which is good, it gets there by also pressing the positives and benefits of "if other people don't like you then it's your responsibility to change everything about yourself to fit in" which is hypocritical and backhanded
  • The story then drags this basic premise out until it gets axed, at which point the final 3 pages of the final chapter end with the MMC confessing his feelings, the FMC accepting, the rival girl swearing she won't be beaten, and the promise that their relationship will continue, by which the author means it will start because characters in actual relationships are kryptonite to manga authors everywhere.

Putting this on hold with no alerts to check back in a few months to see how far off the mark I end up.

I think I just got spoiled the entire story LMAO. Manga like this always ends up like that
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Aug 30, 2020
Messages
235
putting this on plan-to read. idk how i feel about this one yet. 10 chapters more then i decide to read it xd
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
May 18, 2019
Messages
3,735
Jesus the fucking typesetting. My eyes

MTL as expected. I already had an inkling from the group name. Incorrect character names lmao.
 
Contributor
Joined
Sep 6, 2019
Messages
303
I looked into the tags. There's no harem tag. If there's ever gonna be romance, it'll definitely be with the dork girl who turns out to be pretty. So, I guess no problemo
Harem doesn't mean single love rival. Harems have at least 3 girls liking mc. A lot of romance manga have unnecessary annoying love rival that no one wanted without going into harem route.
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
625
The trope of rigid high school castes, everyone being hyper aware of you, and people gossiping about your every move creating "misunderstandings" is really getting old.
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
1,339
Nahhh they can not get me to believe this guy has a literally dibilitating trauma for girls just because one girl called him ugly. That just makes me think mc is a sexist

The implications I got from snake eye's words is that she was pretending to be friends until she "moved up" the hierarchy.

So it's not just the insult, it's the betrayal. The feeling of being used and thinking somoene cared about you when in reality they didn't care if you got ground to dust after they accomplished their goals.

The trope of rigid high school castes, everyone being hyper aware of you, and people gossiping about your every move creating "misunderstandings" is really getting old.

It still happens in high school tho so... 🤷
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Jun 23, 2020
Messages
789
Better than nothing is right. Thanks for translating this. But.
There is a lot of grammar and translation issues.

But the main complaint might just be the font choice. It looks nice, but a better more uniform font would be good.

Please continue to work hard !☺️
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Jan 11, 2023
Messages
235
I had some hopes when I put it in my to-read pile, but this looks like predictable trash.

  • loser MMC is a loser only because he lacks confidence, which manifests in ridiculous ways
  • gorgeous FMC is shy and also lacks confidence in spite of the way everyone now fawns all over her
  • former tormentor shows up and will likely be interested in the MMC while potentially not even remembering him when he reveals his identity, setting her up as a shallow easy rival for main girl because complex characters are too much trouble for these stories
  • the two leads will be dense idiots as "friends" and push to the point of basically being in a relationship that everyone can see, but they won't becuase "no no no I can't be in a relationship because who would like someone like me?" and all that even though the solid basis of their friendship-to-not-relationship is the fact that each is the only person the other can be their usual self around is drowned out by the constant social pressure that their usual, real self is an unlikable loser who doesn't deserve happiness unless they follow the crowd.
  • while the story ultimately pushes a "find someone who accepts you for you" moral, which is good, it gets there by also pressing the positives and benefits of "if other people don't like you then it's your responsibility to change everything about yourself to fit in" which is hypocritical and backhanded
  • The story then drags this basic premise out until it gets axed, at which point the final 3 pages of the final chapter end with the MMC confessing his feelings, the FMC accepting, the rival girl swearing she won't be beaten, and the promise that their relationship will continue, by which the author means it will start because characters in actual relationships are kryptonite to manga authors everywhere.

Putting this on hold with no alerts to check back in a few months to see how far off the mark I end up.
My only gripe on making complex character when the author is having a hard time creating a complex character.
Its easy to make black and white character archetype. And I don't understand why you need complex character in the first place?
To make it as relatable? To root for the character? To make it as a grey area character?
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
625
The implications I got from snake eye's words is that she was pretending to be friends until she "moved up" the hierarchy.

So it's not just the insult, it's the betrayal. The feeling of being used and thinking somoene cared about you when in reality they didn't care if you got ground to dust after they accomplished their goals.



It still happens in high school tho so... 🤷
No it doesn't, nobody gives that much of a fuck about you. All that anxiety is in your head
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Feb 10, 2023
Messages
55
The implications I got from snake eye's words is that she was pretending to be friends until she "moved up" the hierarchy.

So it's not just the insult, it's the betrayal. The feeling of being used and thinking somoene cared about you when in reality they didn't care if you got ground to dust after they accomplished their goals.



It still happens in high school tho so... 🤷
Still they shouldve given a much better reason then that and at least show it properly. And what really annoys me is the specific popular 'girls' like giys couldnt do the same thing? Why isnt he traumatised by popular people in general?
 
Active member
Joined
Apr 3, 2018
Messages
358
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Dec 25, 2019
Messages
1,679
My only gripe on making complex character when the author is having a hard time creating a complex character.
Its easy to make black and white character archetype. And I don't understand why you need complex character in the first place?
To make it as relatable? To root for the character? To make it as a grey area character?

Complex characters don't need to be super complex, just more than a simple one-note cardboard cutout. It's fine to staff the background or secondary supporting cast with those types of characters because most of the time they only exist for minor use in a few scenes or maybe 1 storyline and then will rarely be important again. But for any character that's supposed to have a major stake in the story it should be important that there's enough depth to them to sustain the audience's interest for as long as the story goes on. They don't have to be relatable, just understandable. You don't have to be able to root for them (indeed a well crafted villain shouldn't be easy to root for. They should be bad enough to still be rooted against when the rationale behind their behavior makes some sort of sense) you just have to get the reaction the story requires. And they don't need to be morally gray because making everyone morally gray is rarely a sign of proper complexity since moral grayness is often portrayed as something more along the lines of apathy or indifference when really it should be that a character makes both good and bad decisions while being aware of the fact that they aren't straight-as-an-arrow good nor are they puppy-kicking-and-baby-seal-clubbing bad.

My issue here is that her character screams "plot device" more than character. She exists to likely be a jerk but also become interested in the male MC because she forgets about him from their younger days (or maybe because she does remember him and possibly ends up thinking her cruel behavior was justified because it made him better himself and fitting in and being 'normal' like everyone else is super important since this is a Japanese high school story) but then also to easily lose because her past as a bully/queen bee and possibly any continuing behaviors like that which she still exhibits make her an easy rejection for the MC compared to the nice, sweet, awkward-but-kindly female MC. She can't likely become a serious threat or evolve much as a character because it will threaten the dynamic of the two leads So she'll be stuck as a paper thin jerk/bully stereotype for as long as it's convenient for her to be the enemy or a weight on the male MC's sanity.

I'm making a lot of assumptions, yes. But I've also read enough manga to know that the chances of this story breaking out of the industry norms are slim. It's why I look at something like "A Bouquet for an Ugly Girl" with a lot more positivity because it is the rare story that avoids a lot of the typical cliches of the genre (the male MC is nice and popular but he's not a perfect bishonen pretty boy. He's ultimately a relatively average guy who's kind of handsome and nice. Tabata never has to change anything about herself except to gain confidence and we don't see her upgrade from ignored loser to person with friends by changing her hairstyle, ditching her glasses, losing weight, or anything else. She simply grows as a person. the main secondary girl who is sort of the rival (her name starts with an "U" and is quite long) is kind of a secret jerk at first, but she quickly realizes how terrible her behavior would be if she pushed it and genuinely gets over her hang-ups to become friends with Tabata and the growing circle of included students. Genuinely it's just refreshing to have the characters all have their own hangups and issues and characterizations that are more than the single loudest note in their individual proverbial symphonies.

"The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity" has a similar advantage. Largely because a major focus of the story is "everyone is more than they appear to be and nobody is defined by the single biggest trait others identify them with" And the series benefits from that because I don't hate anyone in the cast given that each of them has more going for them than their initial impression (delinquent jerk, sullen moody weirdo, cheerful hyperactive goof-off, ice queen, reserved "proper" girl, etc)
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Jan 11, 2023
Messages
235
Complex characters don't need to be super complex, just more than a simple one-note cardboard cutout. It's fine to staff the background or secondary supporting cast with those types of characters because most of the time they only exist for minor use in a few scenes or maybe 1 storyline and then will rarely be important again. But for any character that's supposed to have a major stake in the story it should be important that there's enough depth to them to sustain the audience's interest for as long as the story goes on. They don't have to be relatable, just understandable. You don't have to be able to root for them (indeed a well crafted villain shouldn't be easy to root for. They should be bad enough to still be rooted against when the rationale behind their behavior makes some sort of sense) you just have to get the reaction the story requires. And they don't need to be morally gray because making everyone morally gray is rarely a sign of proper complexity since moral grayness is often portrayed as something more along the lines of apathy or indifference when really it should be that a character makes both good and bad decisions while being aware of the fact that they aren't straight-as-an-arrow good nor are they puppy-kicking-and-baby-seal-clubbing bad.

My issue here is that her character screams "plot device" more than character. She exists to likely be a jerk but also become interested in the male MC because she forgets about him from their younger days (or maybe because she does remember him and possibly ends up thinking her cruel behavior was justified because it made him better himself and fitting in and being 'normal' like everyone else is super important since this is a Japanese high school story) but then also to easily lose because her past as a bully/queen bee and possibly any continuing behaviors like that which she still exhibits make her an easy rejection for the MC compared to the nice, sweet, awkward-but-kindly female MC. She can't likely become a serious threat or evolve much as a character because it will threaten the dynamic of the two leads So she'll be stuck as a paper thin jerk/bully stereotype for as long as it's convenient for her to be the enemy or a weight on the male MC's sanity.

I'm making a lot of assumptions, yes. But I've also read enough manga to know that the chances of this story breaking out of the industry norms are slim. It's why I look at something like "A Bouquet for an Ugly Girl" with a lot more positivity because it is the rare story that avoids a lot of the typical cliches of the genre (the male MC is nice and popular but he's not a perfect bishonen pretty boy. He's ultimately a relatively average guy who's kind of handsome and nice. Tabata never has to change anything about herself except to gain confidence and we don't see her upgrade from ignored loser to person with friends by changing her hairstyle, ditching her glasses, losing weight, or anything else. She simply grows as a person. the main secondary girl who is sort of the rival (her name starts with an "U" and is quite long) is kind of a secret jerk at first, but she quickly realizes how terrible her behavior would be if she pushed it and genuinely gets over her hang-ups to become friends with Tabata and the growing circle of included students. Genuinely it's just refreshing to have the characters all have their own hangups and issues and characterizations that are more than the single loudest note in their individual proverbial symphonies.

"The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity" has a similar advantage. Largely because a major focus of the story is "everyone is more than they appear to be and nobody is defined by the single biggest trait others identify them with" And the series benefits from that because I don't hate anyone in the cast given that each of them has more going for them than their initial impression (delinquent jerk, sullen moody weirdo, cheerful hyperactive goof-off, ice queen, reserved "proper" girl, etc)
All I can say is.
I agree with most of what you said.
Other than usual cliches.
Cliches are just a set of tools. It depends on which tools are suited for the story. And it entirely depends on the author's use of the cliches. It can be light, moderate or heavy use of cliches.
It IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to create without cliches. Its like how can you hammer a nail without a hammer? or how can you nail it without a nail. While yes it is rare to avoid typical cliches. Again we are dealing with a romance genre.
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
1,339
Still they shouldve given a much better reason then that and at least show it properly. And what really annoys me is the specific popular 'girls' like giys couldnt do the same thing? Why isnt he traumatised by popular people in general?

guys can do it, but guys tend to be much less passive aggressive. A popular dude will just say it to your face and not beat around the bush, because they are fine leading to a physical confrontation.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top