Ichigo no Gakkou

Similar: Kodomo no Jikan, Honeymoon Salad
Super short: 5 chapters
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Rating: 3!
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This was a random find for me. I've read a few of the mangaka's other works and enjoyed them so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Ichigo no Gakkou is nice and simple. The story is pretty laid back but tense, featuring a couple that has just had a child together except that Oomiya-sensei was Kurumi's high school teacher when she got pregnant. The plot is fairly normal and explores how the characters are coping with a life that neither of them expected; Kurumi has dropped out of high school and Oomiya now works a labor job to sustain them.

The charm of this story comes out of the characters and the way the story is told. The narration is split between present day and the beginning of their relationship throughout the entire story evenly. The personalities of Kurumi and Oomiya from before and after are contrasted and we get to see how the presence of a child can change them. Their characters are also pushed to psychological limits under different societal pressures, namely the concept of forbidden love/lust and how that affects their relationships, namely with each other, themselves, and their families.



Ichigo no Gakkou is a short read and a good story for a little change of pace. Stories about the complexities of human interactions are always a nice find.