The manga is titled "Haven't you Heard? I'm Sakamoto" and the plot tells the story of super cool high school student who can do anything without look stupid or getting it wrong. He is perfection. I picked up this manga just for kicks and giggles. There wasn't any expectations since I hadn't read up on Nakamoto before purchasing the first volume. The art looks kind of like GTO's art so that was eye catching to me. the story and art was created by one person, Sano Nami. Its nice to see more female manga creators making manga geared toward men and doing well to the point that you would believe a man had made the manga.
The art has an old school modern look. Sakamoto doesn't look like the normal cool guy in high school. He looks like a Japanese high school student thats geeky and studies hard. His look makes him more relatable until you see what he's really capable of. However, his appearance isn't what makes Nakamoto character cool, Its his facial expression thats drawn with a lean mature look filled with cold composed expressions that would make anyone wonder whats on this guy's mind. Sano makes great use of her sharp penciling as her character outlines and filled in delicately. Is not too much but also not too little. Certain panels make use of background designs like lighting circles that show a persons charming personality or action lines that show where the action is about to come from. A good example of this is on the cover of volume one where the lines make up the cover and Sakamoto is in a pool posture making his move to hit a piece of chalk.
Sakamoto's storyline is an engaging one. You get introduced to Sakamoto and things go from there to him showcasing that he will never be outdone or taken down by anyone. The story has a colorful cast of characters and villain but you never go too deep into this characters. There is really no need to because through the hilarious antics you learn just enough to have a general idea of each character's personality. Our main character is the person you really want to know about but nothing is ever given away. He is too cool to show personal emotion much less what his home life is like. Readers get a cocky vibe but he never comes off as too conceded. I just find it funny that he does such crazy out landish actions and he is still deemed as too cool for school. Students look to Sakamoto to help them and he does one student at a time. This is where his caring nature comes in and what gained him his best friend. We are readers, get to go into his head and his mother's head making one of the volumes just so funny that I had to put the manga down a few times so I could kick and laugh on the floor. The story deals with more serious issues of going out into the world after high school and stand on your own two feet. With this topic the series takes a less comical approach but ends on a laughable note. Lets face it, Its not "Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto" if your not at least cracking a smile.
I want to check out the anime now that I have finished the manga. I know people who have watched the anime and never read the manga, giving the series rave reviews so I'm excited. Give this manga a chance if you want a high school comedy with a lot of heart that some times suspenses your ability of disbelief. WHAT?? YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF SAKAMOTO?????
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