Let’s take a look at what happens in volume 1 of Okuremashite Seishun!
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What happens in volume 1?
Two Liars
Wakaba is a 20 year old university student. When she was in high school, she was never really able to live a fulfilling social life due to her focusing on her studies so hard. So, now that she’s a college student with ample time on her hands, she has decided to cosplay as a high school student and go live out the life that she was not able to live when she was actually in high school.
So, she gets dressed up, and decides to take herself out on a date. Even though she’s on a date by herself, it’s actually surprisingly fun: being in the high school uniform just kind of makes everything a little bit more special for some reason. While she’s on her single date though, she’s approached by some rather creepy looking men who mistake her for a high school student. When she is being pestered to go out with them, she is promptly rescued by who will become our male lead, Fumito.
Fumito rescues her, and soon after Wakaba asks him to please please please go on a date with her just for today. She is so busy with her studying, she insists, please just go on a date with her. At first, he’s a little bit taken aback, but she explains to him that because she has to focus so hard on her studies, this is the only day that she can go on a date, and he agrees. (while this is a huge lie when she says it, she’s living out her high school days where she was indeed too busy to go on dates)
They actually end up having a really fun time on their date! They go to take pictures in a photo booth, and they go for food at a fashionable restaurant. By the time they’re about to start heading home, it’s dark outside. I guess there’s a curfew in whatever city they’re living in, because they are promptly stopped by police where they are demanded to show their school ID cards.
Wakaba is very afraid of this because she doesn’t have a high school ID anymore. She has a college ID. And she didn’t want the fact that she was actually a college student, and the fact that she had been lying to Fumito all night, to come to light. But it soon does. Buuuut, it turns out that Fumito was also lying to Wakaba, as he is also a college student. The police is kind of annoyed because they both are adults in college, so why are they freaking out? They’re allowed to be out.
When their secret is revealed to each other, it’s a little bit funny because they both think the other is a liar, but they soon make up and they decide to become friends.
Cosplay dates!
After their secret is out in the open, the two of them decide to continue going on cosplay dates together to kind of equally fulfill the high school lifes that they could never live before.
Fumito questions why can’t they just go out on regular dates in their regular clothes, but Wakaba insists that being in their high school uniforms adds to the mood. Fumito asks Wakaba if she has anywhere in particular she would like to go on a uniform date, and she insists that they break into an old high school. And that’s exactly what they do.
Wakaba describes scenarios that she always wanted to happen to her while she was in high school that never did, and they reenact them.
For example, she always wanted to try and erase something, but to be too short, needing a taller classmate to come up behind her and help her erase, and so they reenact that.
They then reenact how it would be if she were a high school student with Fumito, and she was seated directly behind him.
They then try and explore the school a little bit more when they encounter the school security. Thinking fast, they hide, and have a little moment where they’re kind of in a cramped little healthcare room where they’re hidden for a while.
Cosplaying at the College festival
Wakaba seemed to forget that she and Fumito actually go to the same college, as one day while on campus she unexpectedly runs into him for the first time not in a high school uniform. She then accidentally meets some of his friends from the basketball club and they decide to go enjoy a school festival.
But, as soon as they started walking around the festival grounds, they are stopped by a cosplay club who really really highly insists that the two of them try cosplaying together. They are somewhat lightly forced to then cosplay around their college festival with Fumito in a kind of Yankee uniform and Wakaba in a more cute sailor uniform.
Fumito insists that they must avoid his friends at all costs as he really doesn’t want them to see the two in cosplay, as he knows they’ll make fun of him. So they do their best to sneak around to the festival grounds: they drink beer while in high school uniforms, they eat festival food, and they just have a generally really nice time. That is, until they accidentally are spotted by Fumito’s friends.
Cosplaying at the amusement park
After their school festival date, they decided to cosplay again and this time go to an amusement park. Wakaba acts much younger than her age, as Fumito says, because she’s just so excited to do everything.
She really wants to wear those cute little characterized headbands, and Fumito actually agrees, and even lets her pick out his headband.
Wakaba is having a very nice time at the amusement park with Fumito, and it seems like they’re having the perfect high school cosplay date. The night even ends with fireworks and it’s actually really romantic.
And then, as soon as it hits 8pm, Wakaba gets an alert on her phone that she has an assignment due in one hour. She does not have enough time to make it all the way home and also get started on the assignment…
So. Fumito asks if she doesn’t want to go to his apartment instead as it’s closer.
…and that’s where the volume ends!
Maddie’s Ratings
Art
I really loved the art in this volume! The characters are drawn to be a little goofy at times when they’re being silly, and I think the artstyle and comedy really mesh well together.
Romance
This was a very cute story!! While the romance is there, the foundation is what’s being set right now. There are two scenes in particular that I found to be really romantic, and I’m hoping there will be more in the next volume!
Story-telling
This volume felt incredibly realistic! Like there could be a Fumito and a Wakaba out there right now. I think both characters are written very well, and have interesting quirks.
Have you read volume 1 of Okuremashite Seishun yet?
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