S.S. Astro, Vol. 1: Asashio Sogo Teachers' ROom (v. 1)
Grade 10 Up—In both appearance and antics, the new homeroom teachers of Asashio High, all graduates of the school, are barely recognizable from their students. The physical education teacher, Izumi Maki, cannot seem to stay awake or remember the teens' names. Her cohorts include a competitive school nurse, a seriously formal Japanese teacher with a ravenous appetite, and a smitten foreign-language teacher. The artwork is sharp (the overly expressive eyes common to shojo manga serve the characters well) but constricted to uniform, square panels throughout most of the book. This format, coupled with a lack of fluidity between each episode, makes for a confusing read. Although notes are provided, they are at the end of the volume, so cultural references about food, video games, and gender-bending practices often get lost in translation. Still, this is altogether a fluffy, at times funny, romp, with some risqué poses and a bout of drunkenness that make the story best suited for older readers.—Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public LibraryCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.