Sukeban to Tenkousei is a manga truly beautiful in its simplicity. Despite the short length, it offers a rather diverse range of emotions and moments from the lives of the two leads. It's openly celebrating strength and love between them, in all forms that they take. It's a gorgeous expression of the Sukeban subculture and the manga fully affirms it, with all of its feminist facets. It's a bold statement to depict the still teenage Atsuko getting into quite bloody and violent fights, to have those honestly breathtaking panels with her covered in blood and mud. The story knows that her strength is a part ofher beauty and her being a Sukeban never stands in opposition to her being seen as a beautiful woman by Kanzaki. The series even makes a chapter dedicated to how, when she is dressed more conventionally, it's only then when others notice Atsuko's beauty, while Kanzaki has always seen it. Her being a strong, brash and stubborn doesn't take away from her femininity, it affirms it. That kind of attitude speaks to how the author understood what Sukeban stands for.

Having the manga set in the 1980s also allows it to explore other aspects of Japanese society and its relationship to femininity and queerness. Both leads feel like their love isnt really accounted for nor valid in the eyes of society, pointing out how even the dictionary specifies that love than only happen between opposite sex. This also manifests well through Kanzaki's relationship with her parents and how she feels she cant rely on them. I honestly really love the approach that being afraid to express their love outwardly doesn't invalidate it, because it speaks to the core of their relationship — their mutual love and understanding. Even if they world is against them, they're ready to face it together.

In general, the strength with which Atsuko is depicted, taking down entire gangs, not afraid to get dirty and being quite cynical to those who challenge her is a lovely metaphor for the hardship of queer women in Japanese society. When she fights groups of people who treat her as an outcast, it's not just the literal text of her getting in school gang fights, it also depicts the struggle against the whole of society looking down at her for being non conformist. And when she's affirmed for being the slightest bit conformist, she is presented as a complex person. She can be both conventionally feminine and sweet, yet still big, buff and nonconformist. Things are never quite so black and white.

Kanzaki however is not left in the dust as the less interesting of the two leads, as she exemplifies quite a different kind of nonconformist. Even if she's afraid to do it, she's willing to challenge those norms. After all, she is the one to first see the beauty in Atsuko, no matter how tough and prickly she seemed on the outside. The angle in which she projects femininity is a lot more conventional, Atsuko even takes note of this, unable not to think about how Kanzaki would probably just end up with some regular nice guy for a boyfriend. She's what society would see as a regular nice girl, yet underneath all that she is still "weird" and queer. She loves everything cutesy openly showing that this conventional femininity doesn't mean she cannot fall for a woman and that she's also a much more complex person than an onlooker might see in her.

The manga can be quite bombastic and there are moments in which it's clearly aiming for comedy, however it always takes itself seriously. There's a great degree of sincerity and commitment to depicting the characters as complex, to explore their love and to their emotions. Even with all the exaggeration present, the goal of presenting a genuine emotional romance never becomes muddied and often goes hand in hand with it. One of my favorite aspects of it is the commentary on jealousy and how it affects both of the leads. There's a degree of ambiguity to if it's reasonable or if it's just being a jerk, there's never quite a clear judgement. I honestly really appreciate the openness to leave it without a strong moral message, both allowing for depictions of the messy bits of love, as well as so the reader themselves can understand where they're coming from.

Another wonderful aspect of it being set in the 1980s is the outfits the author chose for Atsuko. Her fashion is honestly spot on the entire length of the manga and every outfit feels quintessentially Sukeban. I must admit that the entire art of the manga gives it quite a unique look and it often looks absolutely stunning. It clearly took inspiration from the series contemporary to its depicted time frame and it elevates the work's feel of nostalgia for those bygone decades. The art is yet another aspect that this work nailed.

Sukeban to Tenkousei is a really cute and delightful story of expressing feminine strength and love, learning to be more vulnerable as well as courageous. It's a really wonderful serialized debut for the author Fujichika, despite all their inexperience it shows their incredible skill and dedication to depicting seriously committed and sincere love between women. There's nothing else I can ask for.