MANGA REVIEW: Onegai Teacher 1&2

Initial Impressions - 6/10

NOTE: As of this writing it appears that these two volumes are out of print commercially, if you want your own copies check Amazon.com or eBay

I first saw Onegai Teacher [Please Teacher for those of us here in the west] about 3 years ago and fell in love with the story and artwork, while it was far too brief I felt that if it was given a longer more detailed treatment it would be much more enjoyable.

So it was with great anticipation that I ordered volumes 1 and 2 of the Manga, only to find out when they arrived that they were an adaptation of the series, and there were only two volumes total. In addition the artwork looked far different from that of the show, but I was willing to give it a chance to live up to the shows, heartwarming, if flawed story.

Story – 6.5/10

“That... Day I met my new teacher. It completely changed everything.” That line just about sums up the story of a 18 year old boy, who looks 15 [due to an illness where he effectively stops in time] who ends up marrying his 20 something half Alien homeroom teacher to keep her secret, definitely a mouthful, and a lot of stress.

Kei’s and Mizuho’s relationship is one of humor, tenderness, triumph and tradgedy, two people who are brought together under the most trying of circumstances that come to fall in love with one another.

Like all love comedies, other characters fitting into tight Anime stereotypes, the tom boyish girl with the crush on our lead, the somewhat perverted in laws, the very sweet but clueless female friend, all come to play in the story. Sadly the Manga does very little to try and make the supporting cast any more than simply cardboard cut outs for our leads to work around, its an all to familiar problem with romantic comedies, and one that sadly crops its head up again here.

Onegai Teacher the Manga, is an adaptation of the Anime series, so the story doesn’t deviate too far from the show, there are some minor alterations for the sake of brevity, but they don’t hurt the plot in any fashion.

The Manga does have the same flaw that the Anime does however, at only two volumes long there really isn’t a ton of room to develop the characters, this becomes a real issue in the latter volume as they are rushing to tidy everything up quickly, it feels forced and jarring. I had the same issue with the Anime as well, and the problem is only magnified here.

I love the story concept for the series, but its brevity, especially in the Manga format prevents it from jumping into the upper echelons of Manga available.

Art - 6/10

I loved the art direction in the Anime, the characters were fully realized and our heroine Mizuho was a breathtaking sight to behold, sadly the Manga doesn’t live up to this.

The artwork by Shizuru Hayashiya is a mixed bag that falls somewhere between the elongated, pointy look of “Clamp” and the more traditional Anime lines. I found the character design to be very inconsistent and even jarring at points when it seemed like the character was someone completely different two panels later, simply based off of a lack of continuity in the artwork. Backgrounds fair little better, since they are almost non existent through the entire two volume series.

Does the artwork work to tell the story? Yes, but in comparison to the Anime its so crude that it makes it much harder to enjoy the story, and see its true potential.

Final Conclusions overall – 6.25/10

With its even briefer storyline and crude artwork its nearly impossible to recommend this slightly above average two volume adaptation to anyone but pure fans and collectors.

+ Story is still very sweet and tender
Likable main characters

- To brief a space to convey the nuances of the relationships
Artwork is very crude
Completely forgettable supporting cast

Publisher: Comics One*
Cost USD: $9.99
Rating: 13+

*Out of business as of 2005