I read the first chapter of this as a scanlation and was instantly hooked! That month, it was available on the pre-order sheet from my Local Comic Shop, so I added it.

First up ~ I found it hilarious that this manga about how sex-ed is not taught and that people deserve to have access to quality information was in a cellophane wrapper and some decidedly more graphic content (Sunstone v7 ~ aka: We See a LOT of Alan) was not. It was a nice juxtaposition that kind of highlights the point that the Mangaka was trying to make. Respect, Sensei!

Elephant in the room before we get started: It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I built a new PC and have been having significant issues with my scanner. This post is a trial run to see if those kinks are worked out.

MCs & Set Up: Naoko Tsuji: a blunt, honest, (really fun) Phys Ed teacher at an all-girls school is our intrepid guide on this journey of discovery. As is revealed in the bonus chapter, Tsuji was known as the “Queen of Sex Talk” by her classmates, until she started at a new school full of over-achievers that iced her out over her blunt introduction (and distributing condoms as part of her ice-breaker to them).

Her chief antagonist / pseudo-partner-in-crime is the School Nurse: Nakazawa. Nakazawa and the school principal are frequently on the offensive against Naoko to try to get her to teach the (flimsy) contents of the health textbook as they’re written and not add in additional (valuable) information.

That said, the relationship between Nakazawa and Naoko is, umm, different. Naoko propositions Nakazawa, who is having none of it, and seems to be a bit antagonistic towards her. And yet, there’s an entire chapter dedicated to the two randomly running into each other, going out for drinks, and prowling the “Hotel District” together. I’m looking forward to seeing where this possible Yuri goes.

The students of the cast are interesting, diverse in their starting point on the subject, and pretty mature in their approach to the topic. Matsuda is super into BL. Kashiwa is really into cats (no, literally… actual cats, not “Nekos” in the sense of “Lesbian Bottoms”). Moriya (Hikari) is a lesbian with a girlfriend (Sumire Aikawa ~ we meet her later in the volume as opposed to the introduction of the other three).

The Art: The art is what I’m starting to call ‘my standard fare’ as it’s in-line with the styles I generally pursue. Backgrounds vary from simple to involved, though few have the high levels of detail from some of my other reviews. A nice change of pace with the backgrounds is the way that Kikiki uses charts and graphics from the scientific literature to illustrate points and the current ‘lesson’ that Naoko is diving into.

Naoko and Nakazawa are both very cute and sweet looking, which gives them some latitude in the frankness of their discussions. The students are all youthful and typically illustrated, but their conversations convey a fair bit of agency and maturity that doesn’t make the discussions feel inappropriate.

Overall: Sort of like Cells at Work (I’ve only watched the anime, haven’t read the manga), the author uses their medium to address a serious, health-related topic interspersing facts, data, and useful information while keeping the general environment fairly light, humorous, and engaging.

Rating Time! I’m going with a solid 7 on this one. The serious topic is handled well and with far more grace than sex education normally receives. While certainly not a master class in how to appropriately address things in a classroom, it provides better information than some of the more ‘common’ ways people learn about the topic. It’s worth supporting based on its utility on that front and keeping it going to get it into more hands that can benefit from the information, if nothing else. However, the cute artwork and the potential for some quality Yuri between Naoko-Sensei and Nakazawa-Sensei will keep me tuning in for a while.

• Strengths:
  • Super-cute characters portrayed in a mature and relatable way
  • Naoko’s zealous attempts to impart knowledge and fact-based education while not so subtly taking shots at the nature of educational materials normally available
  • Potential for some awesome Naoko / Nakazawa stories
  • The Biology Club’s presentation on animal sex facts is surprisingly interesting
  • Sources cited! (Seriously, there’s actual citations to a number of the claims made)
• Weaknesses:
  • The topic can be a bit of a turn off for some people (I’m inclined to say that’s on them, though)
  • Still a lot of set up / getting to know the cast
  • While I found some humor in the chapter of the two teachers in the love-hotel district, it’s hard to really suss out what their actual relationship is. It adds something to the will they / won’t they dynamic, but without knowing how they actually view /relate to one another, some of Naoko’s more aggressive antics become more than antics and can be a little disconcerting
  • Depending on how people react to it, the topic increases the likelihood of it being a short run or cancelled

I encourage you to support the author and purchase from your Local Comic Shop or an authorized retailer for Yen Press. (Official Yen Press series page HERE.)