Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up Volumes 1 and 2 Review

Protagonists reinventing themselves for their high school debut is a common theme in anime and manga, particularly when it comes to romance series. And in this new debut from Kodansha, we have not one, but two leads who have decided to change things up now that they’re entering a new school where they’ll be surrounded by new classmates who don’t know their past identities. But does it prove an entertaining spin on the trope? Let’s find out!

Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up follows Keisuke Shizuki, who, after being rejected by his first crush, left him with a phobia of pretty girls and the desire to reinvent himself. Now in a new school and surrounded by new friends, he’s enjoying his day-to-day life. Although he still can’t look a pretty girl in the face without feeling nauseous.

Unfortunately, Shizuki has caught the attention of the prettiest girl at school, who also happens to be his classmate, Shizuka Kusunoki. As it turns out, Kusunoki also attended Shizuki’s middle school, but since they were in different classes, the two never spoke. They simply spent time together reading in the library, since they were both outcasts at the time. However, although Kusunoki has given herself a glow-up, she’s still struggling to make friends. Having seen how Shizuki’s makeover has worked out for him, she turns to him for friendship and advice.

Shizuki is wary of spending time with Kusunoki due to his phobia of girls, but quickly gives in to her requests. She explains that she’s a poor communicator and wants someone to talk to so she can improve. And while her new appearance is attracting plenty of attention from the boys at school, she used to be bullied and so now finds herself uncomfortable around the opposite gender. This isn’t quite as extreme as Shizuki’s trauma responses, but it’s a problem nonetheless.

But the problems don’t end there for Shizuki, as it turns out his first crush also attends the school! Ririsa Hebikawa changed her surname between schools, so Shizuki had no idea she was there. Luckily she doesn’t seem to remember who he is, but she has taken an interest in both him and Kusunoki so there’s no escape. Will he be able to move past the trauma of the past? And what about Kusunoki? Will she be able to make friends with her classmates successfully?

This is mangaka Mitsuki Mii’s English debut, and even in Japan, Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up is only their second series. Despite that, it feels well-planned and put together. I appreciated the fact that Shizuki and Kusunoki already knew one another and were in a similar position. The two have great chemistry, and it’s fun to watch their blossoming friendship.

Initially, I was worried about throwing Ririsa into the mix, particularly in Volume 1, where she came across as a villain without much in the way of redeeming qualities. However, Volume 2 did a good job of showing us that Ririsa has her own problems that she’s carrying with her from childhood and making her a character that you could feel sympathetic toward. It made me glad that I’d chosen to read both volumes together as opposed to just the first, as the second one complements the initial volume really well.

The series is being advertised as a romantic comedy by Kodansha, and while there are comedy moments, I don’t think that’s the main theme of the work. Which made me like it more, since I much prefer coming-of-age stories like this than I do school life comedies. There’s a surprising amount of depth to the three main characters, and Mii treats their respective issues with the seriousness they deserve, particularly Shizuki with his phobia. That makes the cast easier to connect with and cheer for as the story goes on.

The artwork is nice too. Mii tends to draw within quite small panels, so there’s not always a lot of room for backgrounds, but the scenes flow well and it’s easy to follow. I like the character designs too, especially as Mii has had to balance Kusunoki’s and Shizuki’s past designs with their ‘glow-up’ versions. The changes they’ve gone through don’t seem unrealistic, which I feel is always important for these kinds of storylines.

As mentioned, Kusunoki’s Flinking Her High School Glow-Up Volumes 1 and 2 come to the West thanks to Kodansha and have been translated by Nicole Frasik with lettering by Jennifer Skarupa. Both releases read well with no issues and have colour pages at the beginning, which are always a nice treat. Volume 1 also contains some bonus chapters showing us the two main characters in middle school.

The series is still ongoing in Japan with five volumes currently released. Here in English, we’ve almost caught up, with #3 and #4 available now. Volume 5 is scheduled for a release in December, which seems like a long way off, but since it only came out in Japan in January, it’s an understandable wait. No sign of an anime adaptation or such yet, but I could certainly see this receiving one in the future, and it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s why Kodansha have released it at some pace.

Overall, Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up takes a popular trope and turns it on its head by featuring two characters in very similar positions. Although advertised as a romcom, there’s a lot more to Mitsuki Mii’s series than that, and I think readers will enjoy watching over the leads as they find comfort in  both each other and their classmates over time.

Our review copies from Kodansha were supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.

A free preview can be read on the Kodansha website. 

Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up © Mitsuki Mii/Kodansha Ltd.