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Ichiroh!: Vol. 1
Nanako and her two best friends, Akane and Shino, have been in the same class since elementary school. Now with the entrance exam just around the corner, the girls have big plans for spending their college years together as well. Unfortunately, those big plans hinged on all three of them passing their exams...Now Nanako and Akane are ichiroh, first-year students at the local prep school. Nanako is determined to do better next year, but it's going to be a real challenge - the bossy dorm/shrine manager puts the pair to work as miko, Akane can't kick her video game addiction, and the neighbor's pranks are getting out of hand! With all this nonsense, Nanako will be lucky to get any studying done!
- GenresManga
128 pages, Nook
First published May 12, 2009
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews
December 29, 2020
Ichiroh! is the story of two friends in Japan who both fail their college entrance exams. In Japan, entrance exams are a big part of the education process at every level. You need to pass the exam for a school to get into it. Due to this, there is a big industry for "cram schools" and "prep schools". The difference between the two being basically that the cram ones are attended in conjunction with regular schools while the prep schools are attended by those who are done with their schooling and wish to be taught well enough to pass the entrance exam mentioned already. A somewhat example of this in America is places like various "learning centers" where kids can be taken by parents after-school to be tutored.
Anyways, after our two characters, Nanako and Akane, fail to get into college, they decide to attend prep school together and share a dorm room. Nanako finds a great price for a female dorm, and is excited... until she and Akane get there. You see, what she didn't know was that to qualify for the lower room and board, she and Akane have to work as shrine maidens at the Shinto shrine attached to the dorm. If they don't want to work there, that is fine, but the prices go up.
So begins the efforts to prepare to get into school while working at the local shrine. This is an interesting premise, to be sure. But like with K-On, where the student band is merely a plot device for the interpersonal relationships of the characters (though it does have some impact on said plot), the situation here is just to put characters in a situation where we can watch them be funny and cute.
Like K-On, the same type of teasing of Yuri subtext and jokes about said stuff, relying almost on a mild form of "cringe comedy", is present. Also, there are other jokes that are sometimes funny to all, and at other times, particularly funny to Japanese audiences more so than American ones.
Above all, the just daily lives and friendships are important to the plot. Though, to be fair, not so much as in K-On. A good way I could describe it is that K-On focused more so on friendship over humor, while Ichiroh! focuses more on humor over friendship, but each manga is filled with both elements.
The only problem I had was not really a problem but one that may irk some in the non-Japanese West. The humor is funny, but some might interpret it to be homophobic. I don't, because I don't think that is intended that way, and Japan has different "buttons" than, say, America. Though they are more closeted (sadly) than America due to social pressure, I don't think that is at play here. I think it more likely that it is the Japanese penchant for mocking anything not in their own sacred cow listing (just like us and everyone else). My point is that I hope some don't interpret mild jokes (certain less than what some get from tv at their expense for other areas) don't ignore a cute, fun, and heartwarming story due to a few jokes. I can understand we all have our own berserk buttons though, so I am warning ahead of time.
I truly loved this series and I just can't recommend it enough.
Anyways, after our two characters, Nanako and Akane, fail to get into college, they decide to attend prep school together and share a dorm room. Nanako finds a great price for a female dorm, and is excited... until she and Akane get there. You see, what she didn't know was that to qualify for the lower room and board, she and Akane have to work as shrine maidens at the Shinto shrine attached to the dorm. If they don't want to work there, that is fine, but the prices go up.
So begins the efforts to prepare to get into school while working at the local shrine. This is an interesting premise, to be sure. But like with K-On, where the student band is merely a plot device for the interpersonal relationships of the characters (though it does have some impact on said plot), the situation here is just to put characters in a situation where we can watch them be funny and cute.
Like K-On, the same type of teasing of Yuri subtext and jokes about said stuff, relying almost on a mild form of "cringe comedy", is present. Also, there are other jokes that are sometimes funny to all, and at other times, particularly funny to Japanese audiences more so than American ones.
Above all, the just daily lives and friendships are important to the plot. Though, to be fair, not so much as in K-On. A good way I could describe it is that K-On focused more so on friendship over humor, while Ichiroh! focuses more on humor over friendship, but each manga is filled with both elements.
The only problem I had was not really a problem but one that may irk some in the non-Japanese West. The humor is funny, but some might interpret it to be homophobic. I don't, because I don't think that is intended that way, and Japan has different "buttons" than, say, America. Though they are more closeted (sadly) than America due to social pressure, I don't think that is at play here. I think it more likely that it is the Japanese penchant for mocking anything not in their own sacred cow listing (just like us and everyone else). My point is that I hope some don't interpret mild jokes (certain less than what some get from tv at their expense for other areas) don't ignore a cute, fun, and heartwarming story due to a few jokes. I can understand we all have our own berserk buttons though, so I am warning ahead of time.
I truly loved this series and I just can't recommend it enough.
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July 24, 2021I thought that this was a really cute and fun manga. I really want to continue on with the rest of the volumes
August 22, 2022
Another silly manga consisting of dull stories and very mediocre art. I usually buy manga for the art; it's hard to see what possessed me to buy this one. Fortunately, I stopped at volume 1.
July 22, 2016
Honestly, I love this manga and am currently looking to get the rest of the volumes. It's centered around three friends, two who were childhood friends and the other who befriended them in high school. After they all applied to go to the same college, only one gets in and the other two are suddenly ronins. Instead of giving up, or applying to another school, they go to a prep school in the area of the college and end up at an all female dorm, located at a shrine. They end up as the only two residents that year and there life suddenly becomes a difficult juggling act. If you read manga, or are looking for a good place to start, this is a great story. The characters, the chemistry, the chains of events and the precarious balance of down to earth slice of life and ridiculous comedy that ensues. I love it so far and will be looking to read the rest as soon as I can.
July 14, 2011
It's got the potential to be good, although this first volume is mostly character and plot introduction. Two girls fail their college entrance exams and join a prep school in order to make another try of it. Other characters include their friend who did pass the entrance exams and is now a first year college student, the old lady in charge of the dorm/shrine in which they have a room, the landlady's granddaughter who is in charge of the cooking, one of the girls' doting older brother, a teacher in their prep school, and a fellow student who is a closet otaku. So far it's nothing particularly stand-out, but I'll give the next volume a try.
November 28, 2011
Lul worthy and inspired me to do better haha~
May 23, 2012
Cute girls doing cute things in cute 4-panel comics. It's cute.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews