Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho, Volume 1

はこぶね白書 [Hakobune Hakusho] #1

by Moyamu Fujino

Neko Fukuta is mistakenly enrolled in a private high school for shape-shifting animals, and must keep her identity as a human secret from her roommate, Miiko, and her fellow classmates.

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Comics Manga, Fiction, Cats, Comedy

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2009

About the author

藤野もやむ Moyamu Fuijino is a female Japanese manga artist.

Reviews

[Gus · Rating 4 out of 5]

--- White Paper Ark 1-7 ---

"Bapak rasa pertemuan yang ditakdirkan itu ada, lho.
Kalau hidup lama, pasti ada beberapa orang yang takkan terlupakan.
Bapak rasa begitu."
...
...
"Waktu masih jadi murid di sini, Bapak punya teman manusia.
Anak lelaki. Ya, bagi Bapak sih, dia teman. Tapi dia itu orang yang sulit dibaca."

"Apa kabarnya, ya?
Entah bisa bertemu lagi dengannya.
Tapi mungkin Bapak akan terus ingat padanya."

- White Paper Ark / Moyamu Fujino.

White Paper Ark memiliki tujuh total buku. Menceritakan tentang Fujita Neko dan kehidupannya di sekolah jadi-jadian. Kenapa disebut jadi-jadian? Yah, soalnya semua muridnya adalah hewan yang belajar untuk jadi manusia di sekolah ini!
...Kira-kira premis bukunya seperti itu o w o;;;



Heeem, baiklah, mari awali dengan gif yang mewakili perasaan saya setelah menyelesaikan bukunya! TARARARAAA~~NG! (* 7 *)

Endingnya membuat saya menyadari kehidupan yang mengalir...


Membuat saya berpikir... dengan perasaan pahit tapi juga manis...


...Tapi ada juga sebuah harapan untuk masa depan yang terbentang dan dapat diraih.

Saya dulu sudah membaca komik ini.
Tapi baru beberapa hari lalu memutuskan membeli bukunya. Sebab sepanjang ingatan, rasanya saya tidak membenci bukunya... dan memang tidak! Tapi saat membaca ulang dan menulis review ini, saya akhirnya sadar juga apa hal yang dulu membuat saya sedih.

Plotnya kurang lebih tentang ritme kehidupan Fukuta (Fune) di Morimori (nama sekolahnya). Ia berteman, menyembunyikan jati dirinya, melihat temannya berubah menjadi kucing atau rubah, sampai memimpikan ular yang berputar-putar.

Kisanya mengalir maju dan menurut saya tiap bab rata-rata menjadi penopang untuk bab berikutnya.
Gambar Moyamu Fujino sensei juga bagus. Gambar hewanya juga lochooo sekali. Rasanya pengen peluk kucing dan rakunnya (hehe).
Tapi jujur saja, saya awalnya tidak mampu membedakan Yuusuke dan Sasuke selama empat buku. Barulah belakangan saya mulai mengerti kalau... BEDAKAN SAJA LANGSUNG DARI PONI MEREKA /woii XD.

Tokoh-tokohnya... juga beraneka. Kebanyakan bertindak sesuai umurnya (kebanyakan;;; tapi ada juga yang tidak). Tapi malah karena itu, hal-hal tidak mengenakkan pun tidak bisa membuat pembaca kesal karena... karena sangat lazim anak umur dan mental segitu merasa begitu //apa //eh.
Overall tokoh di buku ini tipe yang mudah disukai kecuali mungkin Yuusuke :v //plakdhuarrr!



Mulai dari sini, mungkin lebih banyak curahan hati saya yang subjektif.
Spoiler alert! Tiinuuutiinuuuuu *bunyi ambulans

Jujur saja, konflik yang awalnya terasa sangat penting dan "Wah."
Tetapi ternyata alasan konfliknya cukup biasa dan remeh-temeh yang sebenarnya bisa diselesaikan lebih damai! p(╬ Ò ‸ Ó)q
Andai saja pelakunya memiliki common sense! //dhuarrrr!
//guskesalpadahalsudahdikasihalasanolehmangaka /lhe.
Serius, Yuusuke itu benar-benar bikin saya gagal paham. Caranya brutal sekali. Dia pasti perwujudan karakter yang; menyelesaikan semuanya dengan kekerasan. Jika tidak selesai, maka berarti kekerasannya kurang. 💀

Paket komplit dengan saudaranya yang merasa diam adalah bukti pemberontakan/kekuatan. Belum lagi dengan suicidal tendency 💀. Sempurna sudah kedua saudara ini.

Btw Yuusuke sudah tahu saudaranya punya sifat begitu, eeeh sifatnya yang brutal ini tidak bisa dilunakkan apa gitu? Saya sebagai pembaca rasanya ingin melempar fastball langsung ke kepala Yuusuke /woi.

Karya ini sampai akhir memiliki misteri yang membuat saya bertanya-tanya... tapi mungkin penyelesaian dan simpulannya bisa diambil masing-masing pembaca.
Misalnya dengan ular yang berputar-putar itu. Saya rasa ini adalah esensi perwujudan yang dulunya pernah menjadi Kepala Sekolah(?) Atau bagian dari Kepala Sekolah yang terpisah(?)
Sama seperti Fune, saya tidak bisa melupakan percakapannya dengan Kepala Sekolah. Tetapi saya rasa, pemberian nama itu memang sesuatu yang penting.
Pemberian nama itu menjadikan suatu esensi menjadi lebih nyata dan berbeda.
Seperti itu kurasa.

Omong-omong endingnya;; bagaimana cara Fune berbicara dengan ular yang berputar-putar itu... membuat saya teringat sesuatu.
Dan saya suka sekali bagian situ.
Saat Fune tersadar; tetapi tidak pernah memberikan jawaban untuk hal yang memang tidak dimengertinya.
Uhhghgh bagian simpel itu adalah salah satu favorit saya.


Jadi yah begitulah.
Ending buku ini membuat saya berpikir tiga gif di atas^^. Tapi saya memutuskan menyimpulkannya dengan kesimpulan Fujita; sebuah kertas kosong.
Kertas kosong yang dapat diisi. Dalam hal ini, Fujita akan mengisinya dengan menuliskan hal-hal yang diinginkannya.

Pernah ada saat di mana saya tidak begitu suka ending seperti ini. Apalagi yang namanya kisah terbuka. Saya lebih suka akhir yang ditegaskan Ditegaskan happy ending-nya maksud saya XD.
Sekarang pun, kisah penutup sebuah buku adalah hal yang sangat penting....
....Tapi dari rating yang diberikan, sudah jelas ada yang berubah.

Di masa depan yang tidak diketahui, saya harap Fujita dan semuanya bisa meraih apa yang mereka harapkan. Perasaan bersambut, kedamaian di hati, penerimaan pada hal yang telah pergi... dan lainnya.
[8.5/10]

[Nerdish Mum · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is all jumbled, there's no build up to anything, stuff just happens for no real reason. I do like the idea of a school for animals that want to be human, but I don't think it's been done very well here. The book gets 2 stars instead of 1 due to how beautiful the art is

[Siobhan Mackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is all my opinion, so please don’t be offended!! Some people may love the things I don’t!!

Title: Animal Academy
Volume: 1
Genre: Fantasy

Plot: 3/5; I’m not really sure what the plot is, other than Neko has to keep the fact she is a human a secret when she goes to a school for animals.

Art style: 5/5; the mix of different styles is cute and keeps things interesting, while all well drawn.

Cuteness: 5/5; what’s not cute about a school full of manga animals?!

Characters: 4/5; they’re cute and well drawn, but some of them I don’t really like.

Relatability: 1/5; this is so unrelatable. First off, none of the animals I know change into people. So that’s already a major relatability flaw. The moodiness of Miiko is definitely relatable though!

Overall Judgement: 4/5

[✿ lemon ✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t usually add manga on my read list but I just wanna complete my reading challenge lol

I stole this book from the public library when I was 9 or 10 years old and it’s been my most beloved manga ever since. I always re-read it when I was younger but I haven’t re-read it in probably four years...of course I don’t really enjoy it half as much now as I did when I was younger but it’s still a nice manga, and good for kids.

Also, I love Miiko she’s so cute

[J B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a bit different than the other Manga I have read recently but I am interested to see where the story goes. I thought it was really funny seeing Miko and some of the other animal students who are at school to learn to be human acting like their animal counterparts. I am afraid the plot may wear thin, but for now I’m interested enough to read the next volume.

[Lucinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute.

[Queerwheels · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little weird at first but cute.

[zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this hella long ago so i don't really remember the content of it, but the art style is gorgeousssss. i used to redraw these characters allllll the time!

[The Half-blood Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantasy high school manga.

A human enters a school for magical animals to learn to be humans. She must hide her true identity (and acquire no skills to further her academical endeavours). What could possibly go wrong? Hey, at least she'll finish HS, hurhur!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not just reviewing book one. I've read all seven books, (although I read number two before number one. That was because I read them when my sister got them out of the library, and the first one wasn't in at the time.)
Okay I admit it; I love this series, it's one of my favorites.

In the beginning the series seems like a comedy, mostly, but as time goes on the plot thickens. One of the characters learns something about themselves that leaves them feeling shocked and confused. Later on, the reason another character is at the school is revealed.
By volume three the plot really picks up, don't think it's just a plot less children's series. Actually it really does seem more childish in the first few books, personally I like the fact that it's so clean, because most manga you have to be careful, you never know what they'll put in there. It stays clean even as the story gets darker, and the art is wonderful. Yes, I admit that the main character doesn't really look fifteen ,her actual age. She looks sort of like an eleven or twelve year old.
Besides that, the animals really do have difficulties we wouldn't normally think about. Like not knowing how to open doors, and how to behave. The main characters roommate, Miiko (a cat), slapped the teacher on the first day of school. She also slapped another girl and called her a "Smelly raccoon" to her face. She does have her good points though.
The only thing that truly makes me sad about this series is that it's over.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first volume in a cute shoujo manga series, the central character is a fifteen year old school girl (who looks about ten)named Neko who hasn't been a very good student. Now that she is trying to get into a high school she isn't having any luck with her applications. Finally she is accepted to a mysterious boarding school-imagine her shock when during orientation she realizes that it is a school for magical animals who are learning how to be convincing as humans! This is her last chance for high school and she hopes to stay but it will be hard to keep her secret from her roommate who is a cat!

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Animal Academy is really good. It has a good story, and is able to not think it to fantasy. And the Characters are just really good. I like Miiko (I think that is how you spell it) the best, cause she is so cute, and i wish i could be Neko and Miiko's friend. Miiko may be a little selfish or mean, but inside, i think she is really nice. In this story, Neko goes to a school, which actually was meant to have non-humans learn to be humans. But Neko didn't belong there. So, just read it to find out what happens next! Its just really good! Reminder: Its a comic book.


My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!!

[Fire_Dragon_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A girl who is not...well smart ends up going to a school where animals that can turn into humans( or vise versa?)and are being taught to act and behave like humans.

I thought that this book was really good but it might just be because im 12 and not 14 like most manga-lovers are. Even though some parts felt like they were rushed like when the guy told the girl that she was with a school with amimals... she was just like OMG then like okay whatever, but it was still a really good book. (finished it in a day!) :)

[Renata · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, I guess I enjoyed this more than I enjoyed Fruits Basket, Vol. 1? But basically maybe manga is not for me. (I really only read this because I had to read two different manga for my comics class.) It just feels basically nonsensical, with little attention to world building--just an assumption that you, the reader, have already bought into this. Which I haven't.

Cute cat art, though.

[Lanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good for a 1st volume. Im interested. The art work was cute & happy & I thought it'd b A better fit if they were in middle school. :/ the main character looks more like she's 12.oh well. Its a cool story idea & the cat girl really reminds me of a cat. My mean little kitty, mittens. :D if I find the next book at my favorite used book store ill totally be continuing the series.

I did have some trouble I times figuring out who was who or who was talking. But I like that there seems to be a much bigger adventure a foot than a new school. What's up with that snake?

[Jacki · Rating 2 out of 5]

This manga is straight-up shojo with a double-helping of kawaii. The story isn't much to write home about, but it seems earnest enough, and the art is precious. I wouldn't give it to an older reader, but I think it could make a nice introduction to shojo for a middle grade reader.

Recommend to: Age 10-12, girls

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute series in general, definitely aimed at younger audiences but still enjoyable for more mature readers as well. Reminds me a lot of Gakuen Alice but not quite as interesting. The characters are likable and generally cute, the art is also well rounded and pleasing to look at.
I look forward to reading the next few volumes.

[Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally, a cute shoujo without any debauchery! This Manga is exactly as it should be: cute, simple, and charming. While I read this as an adult, I can tell I would've loved it as an elementary or middle school kid.

My only gripe is that the first volume is a bit slow - the story feels underwhelming at times. There's some setup for interesting drama and mystery for the next volumes, though!

[Candice M (tinylibrarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kawaii!!! This series is really, really cute and will appeal to animal lovers, especially cat lovers. The mangaka really captures the essence (and moodiness) of cats in this manga series about a special high school for animals who can shape-shift into human form.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first volume was a very basic intro to the characters. I'm interested to see how much development there is in the following volumes. I'm a beginner to manga, so this was probably a good place to start. Cute story, similar concept to anime I've watched, generally enjoyable all over.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Animal Academy is about a human girl who accidentally enrolls into a High School for animals learning to behave like humans. You will not be able to get through this without saying "Aww" at least once.

[Dorcas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts were extremely cute. Some of it... I was left scratching my head. I would try the next volume though, just to see what else will happen to these interesting students.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually pretty cute. A nice human girl who's not the brightest crayon in the box ends up at a school meant for magical animals who are learning to become human.

[Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it. Can't wait to get the other volumes!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun but obviously for young girls. The concept of the school is clever and I think this will appeal to girls who like animals.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems to be the start of a cute, fun series. I like animals so I should enjoy it!

[Kat (Lost in Neverland) · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME!!

Cute, hilarious, adorable! Even if it's made for younger kids, it's really funny and awesome, I love it!!

[Kenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really good! I LOVE this one! Its so cute and funny! I really recommend it to anyone who is willing to try reading anime! <3

[Cristina Fernandes]

amazing

[Rozalynn Carlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute. It has been a while since I read manga like this. I would like to read more mostly because I like the concept.