Challengers (manga)

Kiss Me, Student! (Japaneseチャレンジャー ズ, Charenjāzu, of Engl. Challengers ) is a manga series of the Japanese illustrator Hinako Takanaga, who wrote among other things, Small butterfly. The comedic scale, approximately 730 -page manga deals with homosexual love relationships between men and can therefore assign the Shōnen- Ai- category.

Action

As Tomoe Tatsumi from Nagoya to Tokyo is coming to do there, the entrance examination for the university, he meets the young employees Mitsugu Kurokawa, who moves with his buddy Taishiro Isogai through the bars. Kurokawa Tomoe helps you navigate through the city, and soon he fell in love with the naive and cheerful Tomoe. After he was accepted to the University, Tomoe looking for an apartment and decides to live as a lodger at Kurokawa. But his short-tempered, older brother Soichi Tatsumi, is constantly making to Tomoe worry, protected and patronized him, is against it. He fears that Kurokawa has it in Tomoe and does him something, he was but even once almost raped by his professor. However, Tomoe stays with his decision without knowing that Kurokawa has actually fallen in love with him.

At the university learns Tomoe the extrovert and openly gay Americans Rick know who has it in for him. Given confesses his love Kurokawa Tomoe what Soichi confirmed in his fears. Because Tomoe would continue to live with him and Kurokawa not leave Rick the field, they agree that Tomoe further with him but remains Kurokawa he does not come back too close. This also Soichi must resign. After three months, also senses Tomoe feelings for Kurokawa and when they talk to each other about random experiences also Kurokawa's mother about it. At first she is shocked, but it can soon get over it. When Rick is then harassed by his ex-boyfriend Phil Lloyd from America, because it still loves him, Rick protects against a relationship with Tomoe. This is but too much and he finally admits that he loves Kurokawa.

Soichi who makes himself further by Tomoe worry, works while in Nagoya on his doctoral thesis, together with his student assistants Tetsuhiro Morinaga, who is secretly in love with him. As Soichi travels to Tokyo to check on things, he learns that his brother is now along with Kurokawa, will take in his attempt to Nagoya with Tomoe but overwhelmed by Tomoe and Kurokawa's mother and sent back to Nagoya. There Morinaga has become sick, Soichi must be about his work and take care of him. This Morinaga confesses his love. Without answering him out Soichi moves to Tokyo and speaks there with his brother. Finally, Soichi tolerated the relationship and also Morinaga continued as his assistant. Soichis and Tomoe's 13 - year-old sister thinks soon after, along with Morinaga and Soichi would this would betray him with another. As Tomoe and Kurokawa of their so called to Nagoya, she learns of their relationship, and now believes despite Soichis explanations that her two brothers are gay.

As Kurokawa goes with Isogai for a party with colleagues, in love there a work colleague in him. Soon she finds out that he is with Tomoe, but does not up and wants to bring the two apart. At the same time, Tomoe was given an offer to go as an assistant to a professor in the U.S., which he accepts immediately enthralled. Rick, who also soon going back to America, and Kurokawa colleague hope that the couple separated soon. Finally, but both pull together in the United States.

Publications

Kiss Me, Student! appeared in Japan in 1996, as separate chapters in the manga magazine Manga Hanamaru and then in anthologies during Hakusensha publishing. The first volume, and thus the series was originally called Gōkaku Kigan (合格 祈愿, dt " praying for the passing of a test " ), then changes but with Volume 2 on Challengers. After the bulk of the series in the magazine and three anthologies were published, Hanamaru Manga has been discontinued and Kiss Me, Student! canceled. When Kaiōsha publishing a new edition was published in 2004 ( Shinsōban ) with an additional fourth volume.

Tokyopop decided after the commercial success of Small butterfly in Germany, also other works Hinako Takangas to translate into German. Thus, the four anthologies were published on a monthly basis from March to July 2006. In the determined monthly charts of the most successful manga in comic book stores and the first volume came out in March 2006 to eighth place, the third volume in May to the fourth, and the fourth in July to third place. From March to August 2013 there appeared a German edition in two double volumes.

Taifu Comics published a French version.