I'm going to be blunt here... I haven't had the best experience with 70's and 80's manga. This is certainly not a criticism of all the manga from that time, but my experience has been more negative to average than really positive to great. One could blame at the pics I chose, but Saint Seiya, Jojo's, Devilman, Tezuka... They are all among the ones who are praised the most from that era, so maybe I'm simply more used to modern titles. But if I was to point at a manga that embodies most things I dislike about manga from those decades, Honoo no Tenkousei, or Blazing Tranfer Student, is one of the ones that would come to mind. Which makes it weirder that it is one of my favourite 80s manga.
So... why? Well, honestly, the same reason why I still appreciate Devilman, despite all it's flaws, it's bold. And what Blazing Transfer Student has that Devilman doesn't, is that it's also incredibly self-aware. Kazuhiko Shimamoto knows his manga is ridiculous, so he does his best for it to be the MOST ridiculous it can be and the result is... fun. But lets get more into it.
Honestly, the very first problem of this manga is it's introductory chapter. It's like if you saw a cool looking dude walking down the street and then he punches you in the face, pees on you, and then gives you a million dollars... Does that metaphor makes sense? Do you get what I'm going for? No? Well, that's my point. Let's try to absorb this very chapter together, shall we?
The manga starts with our main character, Noboru Takizawa, arriving to his new school, when he steps on a mine that causes a very big explosion. Turns out that the Hall Monitor put that there to catch any late student. Noburo explains that he isn't technically late, as the teacher told him that he should only come after the first period is done in his very first day...
Which then the Hall Monitor replies with "What would you do if he told to DIE?" and other really great arguments of things you wouldn't do if a teacher told you to do, except at one point he asks if Takizawa would marry a famous idol if prompted by the teacher, in which he replies yes.
So... he would do a thing that the teacher told him to... so that's cool? He's not late then.
This entire manga revolves around these ridiculous dialogues and they never really stop. They just keep getting more outrageous and outrageous as time goes on. The manga starts with that explosion and it never really takes a moment to let you breathe, instead you just get used to it's energy and fast pace. And once you do, you're golden. Well, more or less, the truth is the energy spills into the art, and there are a lot of times throughout the manga were the art is just too confusing and unreadeable. Which is, to me, it's biggest flaw.
It's a sad flaw, as the story actually revolves around Noburo, his crush Yukari and his rival Ibuki being constantly forced to transfer from school to school, and find themselves participating in a variety of sports, from boxing to volleyball, and proceed to be incredibly dumb while trying to play them all. It would really help the manga to have a more clear artstyle in these moments. Thankfully, even when our characters are sweating blood from an hard fought match, they aren't supposed to look cool or badass, as they are constantly suprising the audience with their sheer audacity at being stupid, while at the same time managing to subvert and parody the tropes of both sports and battle shounens, with a ton of meta humor too.
One of the best highlights is, of course, the boxing match that got adapted into an OVA, in which Takizawa finds himself in a predicament, he can't land his super powerful punch, because his opponent's signature punch has a shorter name and so he ends up saying it (and landing it) before Takizawa finishes saying his... but he can't think of a shorter name that sounds as cool as the one he currently has.
This manga in a nutshell
This manga, like most comedy manga, works however because it takes time to establish it's characters. Every single character, with the exception of maybe Yukari, is dumb in their own little special way, and that's why their interactions still feel believable. You genuinly feel for these characters... sorry, that is. Specially for Yukari, because she deserves better. And has things evolve, and more characters and plots are introduced (including an evil association), the manga just keeps escalating and escalating.
And you know what? Despite all the times I said "dumb", "ridiculous" and "stupid", there is credit to be given, they aren't just randomly stupid, there is a method to it, and that's why it's good. It's not just dumb, it's geniusly dumb, it's meticoulsy planned ridiculous. It's a manga made to make you laugh from the first to it's last panel. It doesn't want you to stop laughing at any point in the series, and that's why it's great. It doesn't want to be anything more than dumb fun, so it makes an effort to be good dumb fun and it excels at that.
I'm not sure if this review made you want to check it out at all, but if you want a good comedy, I definitely recommend checking this one out.
