Manga Maniac Cafe For the Geek in all of us

Title:  Gakuen Prince Vol 2

Author:  Jun Yuzuki

Publisher: Del Rey

ISBN:  9780345508966

May Contain Spoilers

Azusa Mizutani and Rise Okitsu both attend Jyoshi High, a school that has recently become co-ed.  A large majority of the students are female, and the few young men brave enough to walk the halls of Jyoshi have to keep on their toes.  Why?  The girls are like a school of piranha,  eager to devour the helpless males.  In order to survive without being harassed, the boys must do one of three things; play the role of a prize beyond the reach of anyone, love all the girls equally, or bequeath one’s chastity to only one girl.   Mizutani just wants to graduate with as little fuss as possible.  Rise just wants to go unnoticed.  What happens with Mizutani declares his undying love for Rise, all so the other girls will just leave him alone?

I still think that Mizutani is a pathetic excuse for the representation of the male gender.  He’s a coward and all he wants is to be left alone.  When he picks out Rise for his protector, nobody can believe that he’s chosen the plainest girl in school to save him from the hoards of ravenous females swarming around him, unable to keep their hands to themselves. Being groped by strangers proved to be too much for him, and he quickly resorted to underhanded tactics to protect himself by hiding behind Rise’s skirt. 

Though the series continues to skate on the edge of sensibilities, I am enjoying it quite a bit.  It doesn’t hold back from mocking conventional shoujo titles, and Jun Yuzuki takes delight in pushing the behavior of the characters to the limit.  The rampaging student body, with the exception of the quiet Rise, are out to get whatever they can from the boys.  There is no subtlety as they jockey for sexual favors, and bullying takes on a life of its own.  While occasionally I wonder where the hell the teachers are, for the most part I just allow myself to get swept up by the absurdity of the plot. 

With their fake relationship causing a stir, Mizutani has to convince Rise to attend the Fiancailles with him, a faux wedding ceremony that culminates with a kiss between the loving couple, all of which is witnessed by the entire student body.  Rise is understandably reluctant to  join him in this endeavor; she has seen Mizutani at his worst, and knows that he’s only out to save his own skin.  I am having a hard time deciding whether or not I like Rise.  She has a powder keg of a temper, and the littlest of offenses will set her off.  For a quiet girl, she also carries around an awful lot of pride, and that gets her in trouble more than once.  She has a weird sense of justice that won’t allow her to just leave Mizutani and the great big headache he represents alone to face the music.  I wouldn’t have had the patience to deal with a guy who totally destroyed my peace of mind, so I have to admire Rise for constantly  backing him up.

Akamaru is turning out to be a rather interesting character.  Big, burly, and a man of few words, he has taken a curious interest in Rise.  He thinks that Mizutani is a worm, and the tension between the two of them is building up to what I hope is a nuclear confrontation.  The sullen quiet types pique my curiosity, so I’m looking forward to learning more about him.

Grade: B