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ENJOY
YOUR YOUTH INTRODUCTION
The
Name
With the passing of Kodocha from the monthly issues of Ribon
magazine, some friends and I wondered if there would be something
wonderful to take it's place. Then it came....!!! BOBBYSOXER-SENSEI!!
Well, not really.
You see, we didn't know what the name of the story was.
And I was too busy with Masatomo on Princess Army to ask him.
One of the first comments I had to make about Rika-chan, from
the first chapter, was that her clothing looked like a bobbysoxer's.
If you don't know what a bobbysoxer is...
In the 1950's in the U.S., there was
a period of time when girls wore skirts with a pull-over sweater,
knee high socks, and their hair in a ponytail. These girls were
called "bobbysoxers".
Above: Picture
of Sensei's outfit in the first chapter.
In no time at all, we were referring to the story as the
"Bobbysoxer story". Our title then progressed easily
to "Bobbysoxer-sensei". Bobbysoxer-sensei was such a
cute nickname that it stuck.
But "Enjoy Your Youth" has a great deal more meaning
once more of the story is understood.
Rika-Sensei
If the Principal wanted a genki teacher, as he said
he did, he sure got it. She's little, cute, vivacious, outgoing,
enthusiastic, and IDEALISTIC in the extreme. In the first chapter
of the story many of her comments are surrounded by hearts and
flowers to show the tone and intensity of her feelings. She's
almost always smiling with a huge amount of the go-getter attitude.
Above: "AH!
First Year, Class B, Number 7, Sahara Leo."
Her idealism always shows in the art style. And
the characters that you normally see in her thoughts, including
Rika herself, change to an old manga/anime style. It's a very
interesting technique used by the authoress to get her point across
about Rika's personality.
Above: The
picture shows her ideal relationship with her students.
Rika is old fashioned and outdated in her thinking
and in her wording. She's been out of Japan too long to know how
things have changed.
When you read the first chapter, you may wonder
if she's as smart as she's supposed to be. She is
and she'll spend a certain amount of time outsmarting some pretty
difficult situations. So don't confuse her idealism for stupidity.
The author has taken some obvious pains to make her multi-faceted,
where intelligence and idealism are two separate things.
Rika-chan's
Chalk Missiles
Sahara
Leo-kun
Leo-kun is good looking, with or without glasses,
and appears to be the perfect student. But Leo got fed up of being
the perfect student and began to play life like a game, and the
people around him are his pawns. He will play a very important
role in the story as he's become one of Rika-chan's pet projects.
Sahara,
above comes to let Usami-sensei (Rika-chan) know that the Principal
wants to see her. She asks him to repeat the part with the "Sensei"
title attached.
Okami-kun
Okami may seem to have a chip on his shoulder, but
the young teenaged teacher isn't daunted by that. She isn't about
to let him get away with anything. And Rika is so off-the-wall
with her demostrative behaviors, her genius, and her adult job,
she often throws this boy and Sahara-kun both off-kilter.
Above: "I
can't stand taking a lecture for kiddies."
Kumiko
(nicknamed
Jimiko)
Kumiko doesn't seem
to be pretty, but is very intelligent. She has in common the love
of animals just as Rika-chan does. And, at times, she'll be found
to be the best support that a 16 year old teacher can have.
Above: Kumiko
(later we find she has the nickname of "Jimiko") has
a carrot for the rabbits.
Principal
Kagetora
If anything can be said of
this Principal, he's like none we've seen in the US! And actually,
I've never seen one like him in any other Japanese story! He makes
me think hippy made good. But he can be SO COOL! A great addition
to this story!
Above: Principal
Kagetora as Miketani comes with some tea .
Miketani-sensei
Miketani-sensei is
the principal's tea drinking companion. I believe that she's the
school nurse, though in the first few chapters isn't said directly
that she is.
Above:
Miketani-sensei with cat symbols around her.
In
closing....
Above: A
"keep quiet about things" kind of kiss.
Enjoy Your
Youth Directory Page