Rockin' Heaven 06

ロッキン★ヘブン [Rockin' Heaven] #6

by Mayu Sakai

Sawa applies to Heaven’s Wing Academy, thinking she would look cute in the uniform. But she never expected the academy to be a previously all-boys’ school! And the head honcho of the school, the class president himself—Ran—doesn’t seem to like her one bit and takes no pains to hide it. At first, adjusting to life at the academy is tough. Sawa is bullied and teased, and the boys in the class even throw her new shoes in the water. While attempting to retrieve her shoes, she falls into the water and is unexpectedly saved by Ran, who up until this point has made her life hell. The newfound gentleness in Ran intrigues her—and she finds herself falling for him. What will her days be like for the rest of her school life?

Genres: Manga, Romance, Shojo, High School, Comics, Graphic Novels, Japan

Paperback

First published February 15, 2008

About the author

• Name in native language: 酒井まゆ
• Birthday: January 7
• Blood Type: A

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for complete series

I believe Rockin' Heaven is the series where Sakai makes a big leap in her manga career and matures a lot in terms of writing and art. The first volume still shows several traces of her older style and somewhat disproportionate face, especially for male faces, but it solidifies so much over the course of the series and by the 8th and final volume shows a very confident and nice art style which has lasted through to her most recent works.

Also the plot is much stronger than her previous works - on the surface, this seems a very basic shoujo manga filled with clichés and a shallow lead character. And perhaps that impression isn't entirely wrong, but Sakai handles it really well. Our main character Sawa is about to attend her new school which she purely chose for the sake school uniform. It's only after she enrols that she realises that this was a formerly all boys school now open for the first time to girls as well and she is only one of two girls in her new class which also happens to be a rather infamous one for slack rowdies. On the surface, the second girl Akira's only purpose is only to play second fiddle to Sawa who takes centre stage in this boy-filled class room stage and of course the ring leader Ran is the most handsome and also happens to be the director's son - clichés are unavoidable, especially in the first volume. But I believe that Sakai has smoothly carried these characters through this eight volume series with some surprisingly mature themes all the while avoiding some of the common downsides of these tropes.

First and foremost, I was glad to see that neither does Akira purely play a secondary figure, nor do all the boys gather around Sawa. Of course, there will be certain jealousies and dramas, but that's to be expected in a scenario where there are only two girls in a class that otherwise only consists of boys. But I appreciate that there was a good focus on friendships among the classmates both amongst each other but also between Sawa and Akira and between them and the other classmates. There were a plenty of moments where it seemed a potential romantic rival could have been introduced, but I felt that this was kept to a relatively low level when I compare it to other works of this genre.

There was a healthy and realistic focus on how Ran and Sawa's relationship developed. I was surprised by some of the decisions they made along the way but in a positive way. Were they the best decisions? Perhaps not, but I could relate to where the characters were coming from. It also dealt with heavier subjects such as loss of family members, attempted suicide and pressure from parental expectations.

I enjoyed Sawa as a character and, although she sometimes seemed a little too selfless, I thought it was well explained in the later half of the series and how it ties in to her own family background and how even in her selfless way she develops selfish thoughts and feelings. It is by no means the deepest manga series out there, but I do believe it has some thoughtful scenes and is all in all one of the superior series of its kind. You definitely can't go wrong with it if - like me - you simply enjoy shoujo high school romances, clichés and all.

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nachdem sich Sawa und Ran getrennt haben, verstehen ihre Mitschüler die Welt nicht mehr, denn die beiden gehen ganz normal miteinander um. Doch Sawa hat etwas ganz anderes im Blick, denn sie erkennt, dass sich ihre Freundin Akira in einen der Schulkameraden verguckt hat und möchte vermitteln, wovon Ran ihr aber abrät. Als Akira von einem andern Schulkameraden ins Kino eingeladen wird und dieser ihr seine Liebe gesteht, scheint das Chaos wieder einmal perfekt. Akira erbittet sich Bedenkzeit. Und dann erfährt Akira, dass ihr Schwarm höchstwahrscheinlich ebenfalls in ihre Freundin Sawa verschossen ist. Das Chaos scheint wieder einmal perfekt.

Wieder einmal hat Mayu Sakai ein kleines Meisterwerk geschaffen. Mit ihren schönen Zeichnungen zieht sie den Leser sofort in ihren Bann und die Geschichte trumpft wieder einmal mit ganz viel Herz auf. Wieder werden Themen behandelt, die junge Mädchen beschäftigen und es werden mögliche Ratschläge für den Umgang mit der einen oder anderen Situation gegeben. Schön an diesem Teil ist, dass nicht nur Sawa im Mittelpunkt steht, sondern auch einmal ihre Freundin Akira. Auch sehr schön sind wieder die niedlichen Bonusgeschichten, die am Ende des Mangas zu finden sind. Wunderbar. Empfehlen möchte ich den Manga weiterhin allen Mädchen die gern träumen und eine leichte Liebesgeshcichte mögen. Ihr werdet es nicht bereuen.

ISBN:9783867191661
Sprache:Deutsch
Ausgabe:Taschenbuch
Verlag:Tokyopop
Erscheinungsdatum:18.10.2008

[inas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the most devastating volume since all the characters had to face their discomfort, and more or less also face their inner demon 😔🫠🫂❤️‍🩹

I love how it resonates with the title, Rockin' Heaven, that they found a safe space within their friend circle. And it doesn't necessarily mean their friends will keep saying positive stuffs about each other. If they made mistakes, they would talk it out and deal with it properly.

Special shoutout to Junichi Tsubaki because my interpretation about him was right all along 😭 He deserves the warmest hug from all of his friends 🥺❤️‍🩹💖

[Ris Sasaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way Ran continues to grow and understand his own feelings and circumstances is so touching and beautiful to see.
Even though this is a pretty sad volume, I must say that this should be my second or third favourite in the series .

[Veronica Pappolla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non ho mai visto un'autrice del genere. Mayu Sakai continua a sorprendermi... nel senso... non ho mai visto una mangaka che riuscisse a creare storie collaterali così belle ma che poi facesse pena nell'intreccio della storia principale. Bellissime le storie Extra.

[Julie J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akira liebt Junichi. Sota liebt Akira. Junichi liebt jemand anderen. Chaos pur. Und teilweise ist es auch nicht so einfach die einzelnen Charaktere in den Zeichnungen immer auseinander zu halten, was das Chaos noch weiter vertieft.

Sota gesteht Akira seine Gefühle und meint, er wolle mit ihr zusammensein, selbst wenn diese in einen anderen verliebt ist, dem sie ihre Gefühle eh nie gestehen will, weil sie glaubt, es würde niemals funktionieren.

Es ist ganz angenehm, dass der Fokus der Geschichte eine zeitlang auf Akria liegt, die so unterschiedlich agiert und fühlt als Sawa.

Gegen Ende des Bandes richtet sich die Aufmerksamkeit wieder auf Sawa und Ran.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I was wrong. This series isn't your typical shojo manga. The plot manages to diverge from the usual cliches and by now, the side characters are fleshing out, which adds to the plot and gives the manga the potential to become full of gasp-worthy drama-induced tension that would definitely make the series a lot more enjoyable. There was already one twist that had a moment like that, so I can't wait to see how the rest of the series is going to be like.

[Kadie D♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

O luckily I found volume 6 phew..
O no, this it's a pentagram love is it? I wouldn't be that Tuacchi -> Akira -> Tsubaki -> Sawa <-> Ran <3!
OMG that would make it all very complicated! Argh...!

I guess I just have to read further...Up to volume 7!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series Review: Rockin' Heaven is a cute and short manga that was fun to pass the time with. The characters were good though I sometimes questioned their reactions to certain events. The plot wasn't that in depth but still enjoyable.

[Katie (Katie's Corner Blog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

see full review @ Katie's Corner