Antics in the classroom have definitely been a favorite theme for mangaka to
visit over and over again. Yet, few of these said manga have taken an approach
similar to the one presented in Today in Class 5-2. Mixing up shounen and seinen
manga styles, both in theme and in artistry, Sakuraba Koharu treats the reader
to a unique outlook on a fifth grade life that you probably wish you had.
Visually, Today comes off quite clean, most of the time anyway. Sakuraba
clearly succeeds more often with the rounder, softer, shounen style look to the
cast of the manga. In fact, one can argue that the sprinkling of rougher, more
detailed seinen artistry comes off as a bit intrusive (which may or may not be
overlooked seeing as the manga originally ran in the highly popular seinen manga
magazine, “Young Magazine”), even when it is only used in emphasizing facial
expressions. As for the look of the cast as a whole, it should be noted that
certain characters tend to look alike. While others, such as the pair that can
be interpreted as the main characters of this one volume work, have their own
personal quirks that can separate them from the mold. In light of that fact, the
manga probably would have been just that much easier to look at as piece of art
if all the characters had more of their own personal flair as a key visual
references.
Since Today runs through its plot in a vignette format, similar to titles such
as Azumanga Daioh, there is no set storyline from which character development
can be judged. However, there are still small portions of the story, such as the
title’s closing pair of chapters; which have some measure of continued plot
construction. The short stories that dominate the rest of the piece on the other
hand, though negligible in terms of plot relevance, are mildly amusing (or
disturbing, your call). Besides it’s not everyday that you see fifth-graders in
situations so, shall we say, compromising. Anyway, for those who are not too
terribly thrilled to see minors in situations with a degree of innuendo, there
are a few panel sequences provided with what can be deemed as clean and
wholesome (you just have to look really hard for them).
What was initially deemed as nothing more than “poor ecchi trash” has now been
delegated to the somewhat higher status of “bland ecchi humor.” Sakuraba had a
good idea going with Today, but the title eventually ran into a couple of
roadblocks that gradually developed into a sub-par norm for the rest of its run.
Yet, despite this unfortunate circumstance, Today will at least catch the eye of
any casual manga reader looking to kill some time.
|
