High School Debut, Vol. 5: Volume 5

Volume 5 of "High School Debut" starts off when a new girl, Leona, transfers to Haruna's class. She stares Haruna down and follows her around everywhere. It's obvious to everyone that Leona's got it in for her. Well, obvious to everyone except Haruna, who thinks Leona's a fan until she declares her true intentions. I liked this part. Leona is a great character. She's intense to the point of being obsessive, but she's kind of clueless. She comes up with what has got to be the most ill-conceived revenge plot in the history of shojo manga. Leona was funny, and I hope to see more of her. Also, Haruna and Yoh's interactions are great during this part, especially with Haruna's off the wall fantasies. In the next part of the manga, Haruna worries that Mami might feel awkward hanging out with her and Yoh, so she decides to set her up with Asaoka. This doesn't go as well as planned, though, and Yoh gets mad when Haruna praises Asaoka too much. To help Haruna, Asaoka invites Haruna on a fake date to make Yoh jealous enough to apologize. This is Haruna and Yoh's first real fight, and the differences in their personalities really stand out. Haruna's very energetic and outspoken, while Yoh is reserved and shy. His embarrassed reactions can be really funny. Also, Asaoka gets a lot of attention in this volume, which is great. He actually shows signs that he might actually like Haruna... but that's for a later volume!