Seishun Bakusou!: A Brutal Look into Japanese High School Life

Promotional piece with protagonists Tabe (left), and Maruo (right).

*Disclaimer: This post will contain sensitive topics such as bullying, physical abuse, sexual abuse, manipulation, thoughts of suicide, and harassment.*

Modern Day High School Horrors

For some people, high school brings back memories of friends, class activities, field trips, dances, and mostly good memories. This group of people always have these ideal memories from their teenage years, perhaps blinded by nostalgia or maybe they were the types of students who were "cool kids, jocks, or popular rich kids", thus leading to a romanticization of the high school experience as a whole. This leads to the most terrifying sentence, that haunts the minds of the rest of the student body..."These are the best years of your life". The added pressure from family, teachers, peers, societal standards, and yourself leads to such a turbulent time, that at times high school feels like hell, and classmates feel like demons that only want to see who suffers more than the other. But sometimes, the truth is not as simple as one thinks. Every person is a complex universe existing alongside others at the same time. 

Seishun Bakusou! is the latest work by Mangaka and illustrator Ken Sogen. Focusing on the lives of four teenagers who will soon be tangled in a web of chaos and disaster:

The Cast

• Tabe: A young girl who is the constant victim of bullying and covered in bruises. Though none seem caused by classmates, it leads one to believe it may be from her parents. 
• Maruo: social outcast who made a name for himself among his male classmates for selling lewd photos of the girls in his class. Had great respect for his brother who made a living from the stock exchange, but was caught with illegal pornography and arrested. This leads to Maruo feeling resentment and worries that he may end up similar to his brother if he doesn't change his habits. 
• Kasumi: a popular girl who originally reached out to Tabe to comfort her when she saw her with so many bruises, but after Tabe lunged and bit her finger, she now bullies her by verbally berating her and spilling milk on her. 
• Takuto: Maruo's childhood friend who is well-liked by his fellow classmates. He seems to try his best to keep the peace between the social groups of his class, though it rarely ends successfully. 

The Plot

The story takes place in Akane High School. We get introduced to our protagonist, Maruo, a nervous introvert who has developed a side hustle by selling pictures of his female classmates while working out, swimming, or the accidental upskirt shot. But when tragedy hits his family when his older brother is arrested for the possession of illegal pornographic videos, he feels incredible guilt for what he's done with his business. One night he happens upon one of his classmates and constant crush, Tabe-san. She's the constant victim of bullying from her female peers and is covered in bandages and bruises. Tabe confronts Maruo for what he's done with his selling of classmate's pictures without their consent. 

However, Tabe quickly looks the other way and says that sometimes in our youth we do wrong things and make mistakes. Though society expects the youth to be perfect citizens, doing what's wrong is what youth is all about. This sparks an idea in Maruo of creating a Youth Club with Tabe, a Club where they can enjoy all the vices of youth such as drinking, partying, having sex, and fighting. This triggers Tabe to feel what looks like joy at the thought of being included in a potential group setting. And so both resolve to recruit more members and indulge in their youths as much as they can. 

Tabe smiling at the idea of a "Youth Club".

In Closing

Ken Soge's work is not for everybody, with their depiction of certain events that take place in the first chapter regarding Maruo's family tragedy, I knew that this was not a manga most people would gravitate towards. However, there is an interesting story that makes me want to learn more about these teenagers and how they end up coping with their lives. As of writing this post, there are only 4 chapters translated into english. Hopefully, later in the year, we get more chapters to better explore the cliffhanger of the last chapter. If you enjoy manga with a darker, unconventional story then give this manga a shot. Bear in mind, however, that the subject matter is not meant for younger readers. 

I know it's been a long while since my last post regarding manga. I'm working hard to push myself and better my writing. This year, I want to work harder on posting more frequently on different topics. I have an interview I conducted with a manga author, have some drafts that I really hope to edit and publish soon as well. 

Dear reader, I hope you've had a fantastic day, and thank you as always for taking your time and reading this post. It means a lot more than you think to see my work appreciated. Take care, and hope to have more posts for you soon!