AoD Review: S.S. ASTRO #1

[JustThisGuy]

S.S. ASTRO Vol. #1
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
MSRP: 10.99
Pages: 192
ISBN: 978-0-7595-2898-7
Size: A5
Orientation: Right to Left

S.S. ASTRO is funny enough in spots to make me wish it could be consistently funny.

[Herron]

I left my comment on the review page, but I was wondering if this is going to have more volumes? On Yen's page this is(or was when I checked in Sept) the only volume listed. I'm assuming it's still being made in Japan and the next collection hasn't come out there yet...

I wouldn't mind reading more.

[Hayate Kurogane]

It seems like most people feel lukewarm at best towards this book, so I felt like I was missing something when I realized I enjoyed it immensely after finishing.

Is it consistently funny? No, not really, but it's highly entertaining. Maybe Negi Banno and I are on kind of the same mental wavelength, so the characters, the amusing situations, the otaku-type references (9video games!), the use of the old (and newer) cliches, the slight ecchi factor... they all work for me.

Maki's personality, and her tendency to whang her knee into doorframes and the sides of desks, remind me very much of myself (uh, for better or worse). Nagumo's perhaps a little too indistinct from her particular cliches, but Arai gets away with it a little better because of her interesting relationship with brother-Maki and her sarcasm. Karasuma, unfortunately, is the weakest of the four for me, probably because (and I kind of hate to say it) her secret crush on Maki is really the only thing that constitutes her character, and it's neither as over-the-top or as let-me-get-your-clothes-off as that sort of archetype needs to be in order to work, especially in four-panel manga situations. But put them all together, along with brother-Maki and the other named (but as-of-yet largely unexplored) other teachers, and it's a cast whose escapades I find to be lots of fun.

The book reads really well, which is pretty cool considering some of the space restrictions and all that. I too had the "eating it in an epic way" line jump out at me, though not in a bad way, even if it is skewing a bit more colloquial than it needed to. (But hey, what do I know; I'm partly to blame for letting a "Bring it!" sneak into volume 2 of .hack//XXXX, because I thought it worked. So... )

I love the character designs. The art style is indeed a bit rough, but I wouldn't call saying so a knock against the artwork as a whole. The cover shot of Maki is what really got me to pay attention to the book in the first place. And Yen Press deserves major kudos for including all the color plates from the original magazine printings (and I want that Arai dakimakura, dammit!).

Want more! Want more now!

[Herron]

Originally Posted by Sakura Shinguji

It seems like most people feel lukewarm at best towards this book, so I felt like I was missing something when I realized I enjoyed it immensely after finishing.

Hm, I'm wondering if my lukewarmness comes from it being a while since I read it. I swear I thought I liked it more while I was reading it and after I had finished... hence why I'm actually interested if more will be coming out. I may read through again. I know I've forgotten a lot of it, just because I can fly through these 4 komi strips.

I really think I enjoyed the characters and their archetypes but I just don't remember it well enough. I actually liked the art work too... I thought it was cute.
And yes much KUDOS for Yen Press for including the color pages!

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Herron

Hm, I'm wondering if my lukewarmness comes from it being a while since I read it. I swear I thought I liked it more while I was reading it and after I had finished... hence why I'm actually interested if more will be coming out. I may read through again. I know I've forgotten a lot of it, just because I can fly through these 4 komi strips.

I really think I enjoyed the characters and their archetypes but I just don't remember it well enough. I actually liked the art work too... I thought it was cute.
And yes much KUDOS for Yen Press for including the color pages!

I thought the artwork was pretty good. I just didn't really get into the story or jokes. There were parts that were funny, but most of it was just meh.

[populuxe]

The best way to describe this title is "Azumanga Daioh for teachers." It's a four-panel comic strip that focuses on a group of female teachers at Asashio High School (ASTRO stands for Asashio Sogo Teachers ROom). Izumi Maki is the tomboyish PE teacher who would rather play video games and nap than teach. Yuko Nagumo is the same age and was a student with Izumi at Asashio before they went to college. Yuko wears kimonos, eats constantly and loves anything yaoi. Setsuna Arai is the school's nursing teacher and is also a former student at Asashio. She also loves her video games. She yearns for students to get seriously injured so she'll have something to do, and has a rather frightening personality. Her one weakness is that she used to date Izumi's older brother. He's also a part-time teacher at the school and continues to pursue Setsuna with varying degrees of success. Finally, there is Kaname Karasuma. She's a few years older than the other three, though still in her 20s. She favors skirted business suits, rectangular glasses and a pageboy haircut that suits her well. She also has a raging unrequited crush on Izumi which everyone seems to know about except Izumi.

A few other teachers are slowly added into the story as it unfolds, but it's mostly just about the four of them and how they interact with each other. It's a very funny book, but the lion's share of humor comes from Karasuma's girl-crush on Izumi. A lot of the jokes had me laughing out loud, but a few of them had me scratching my head and thinking I must have missed something. That's the danger of translating humor, I guess. I like the artstyle quite a bit. It can be a bit busy at times but I never feel lost, and the expressions on the character's faces is excellent. I'll admit I feel a little sad for Karasuma, since it's much funnier if she never gets what she wants (and she's so cute when she's blushing thinking about Izumi). It's also a bit odd that everyone else calls her "Karasuma-chan" using her family name, instead of "Kaname-chan". The students almost don't figure into the story. On the rare occasion when they do appear, they serve mostly as comedy-fodder, setting up jokes for the teachers' punchlines.

The presentation is quite nice. Sound effects are translated with small text next to the kana, there are 8 color pages at the beginning of the book, and several pages of translation notes at the back of the book. This is the first Yen Press book I've picked up, but I like what I've seen so far.

[populuxe]

I typed all that up, posted it, then realized there was already a thread for it. Silly mod.

Responding to what's been posted before, just like S^2, I really enjoyed this. I hope there's more.

[Hayate Kurogane]

Originally Posted by martialstax

It's also a bit odd that everyone else calls her "Karasuma-chan" using her family name, instead of "Kaname-chan".

I would guess this is because she has seniority over the rest of the group. Or it's a typo that got carried throughout the manuscript.

[populuxe]

Originally Posted by Sakura Shinguji

I would guess this is because she has seniority over the rest of the group. Or it's a typo that got carried throughout the manuscript.

Or that might be the way it is in Japanese. Without the original to compare it with, I can't really say.

I'll agree with SomeGuy's review that there wasn't enough effort put into differentiating the look of the characters. I had a hard time telling them apart. I had to tell myself "Oval glasses means Arai. Square means Karasuma. Kimono means Nagumo. None of the above means Maki."

[EyeOfPain]

Sounds like an interesting book, but I'm afraid the AzuDai may leave me a bit disappointed. Still, might give it a chance at some point.