Thigh High: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy Vol. 1

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Putting that conundrum aside, Thigh High is trying to be more of a silly comedy than a pure fanservice title and that's to its detriment; it's not funny enough. I found the first chapter touching enough and it does well to establish Kiritani's good points, but the jokes usually fall flat. For example, there's a chapter dedicated to Kiritani's competition to reach things that are high up after a taller classmate tells him he isn't cute and demands somewhat demeaning behavior before he'll get the objects for him. Mr. Fanservice: Yumekawa and Kitahara, both have an extremely well-developed physique and the story is not shy about showing them. The manga ran from 2019 to 2020, finishing with 3 volumes. It is licensed in English by Seven Seas Entertainment.

The manga follows a class in the Reiwa Hanamaru Academy, a typical setting for a story about cute girls doing cute things. The exception is that all the girls doing cute things this time are men. I love the chapters have hashtags! That is so fun and creative and it fits so well with this over the top story!

Contents

Welcome to Hanamaru Academy, a beautiful place, filled to the brim with lovely ladies… who are actually muscled hunks! Nov 20 From the U.S. to Japan, You Can Control the Life-Size Moving Gundam from the Comfort of Your Own Home loving cute things to admiring the way each other dress. Of course irl guys can also do the same, but this manga goes further with the gag of how female characters are portrayed in manga and anime. I loved that there were many tropes that female characters experience that are shown in anime and manga portrayed onto the boys. Some of the tropes that were made in this story I liked were skirts being blown in the wind and the boys being worried about it, some of the boys being jealous about each other's chest size, or of course the well known tripping onto another person and accidentally touching their chest. There's a couple more, but everyone should certainly read the manga to see what other tropes were shown. Thigh High isn't terrible, but it also isn't anything too exciting. Its greatest sin is not being as funny as it desperately wants to be, but since comedy is the most subjective of all genres, this is likely a case of “your mileage may vary.”

This is such a bizarre manga. It’s intended as a comedy, ofc, an attempt to turn some of the typical tropes of the high school manga setting on its head. I think. Thigh High is a delightful slice of life where the boys wear skirts, bras and panties and its completely normal. If you transposed the same story onto girls it would be your standard male-gaze, inappropriate high school manga, but the deadpan delivery on the premise creates a level of absurdity that distances it from the worst of the creepiness. Then the manga’s playfulness and humour give the entire endeavour a tongue-in-cheek innocence; even when the main character walks into a class of boys changing for gym, or as they discuss what it takes to fill out a bikini, it’s just sort of normal. So again, I’m not sure what to think. On one hand, I’d love to view this as an attempt to subvert gender norms and show that anyone can wear or act however they want regardless of AGAB, but I suspect that wasn’t the intent here. And yet it also doesn’t come off as pure “haha don’t these men look and act ridiculous when they dress and act like women” either. Despite by punch lines, it seems to take itself fairly seriously. With “Thigh High: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy,” what you see is what you get. The manga delivers on its premise of “high school boys who dress and act like high school girls.” It’s short, silly, and entertaining, but never pushes itself further than that. Each chapter is something new. We see the boys wear sexy bras (yes, really) and talk about bras, we see how it is for them when it is hot outside and their bras show (one of them is even wearing a push-up bra), we see them discuss bathing suits vs bikinis, sunscreen/make-up is important!, see that Kiritani wants to be called cute, and much more. Each chapter made me giggle and laugh. It is as if you are reading your regular shoujo manga with girls doing girly things along with sparkles and glitters (so much of that at times)… but except for cute girls you get hunky and cute guys. I really love it! Thank you mangaka for thinking up something so glorious.

One-Gender School: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy appears to be an all-boys school, with the twist being that everyone still wears skirts as part of the uniform. Class Representative: Kiritani serves as this for his class and fits the character type pretty well. Unfortunately, his strict and no-nonsense demeanor makes him unpopular with his classmates, who often ignore his attempts to keep things in line. Reiwa is a secret paradise where precious young blossoms can bloom or some such (which is the tagline) Basically for no known reason all the boys here wear panties, bras and skirts and act out the worst stereotypes of teenaged girls (i.e. being fashioned obsessed and honestly that's all this is about). The blurb makes it sound like it's more than that "The hunks at Hanamaru Academy are putting the boot (and booty!) to gender norm uniforms" (I do see that it IS changed here on goodreads vs what's on the book) So I was expecting some social commentary....yeah not so much. Thigh High: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy, (令和はなまる学園, "Reiwa Hanamura Gakuen") is a gag comedy manga with story and art by Kotobuki. The cast is one of the best parts of the manga. Each character is unique, memorable, and brings something different to the story. They’re designed in a way that makes them feel distinct and interesting, with varied body types, facial features, and hairstyles. The characters are all very loveable and the dynamics between them are well-defined and consistent.