It’s time to go back to sexual education class with Tsuji-sensei, as she continues to teach her students at almost any opportunity she can. What happens when, as also their physical education teacher she has them running outside, they find a couple porn magazines on the ground? How do you handle an older teacher complaining about the length of a girl’s skirt? And where does one begin to navigate the conversation regarding boys love and people’s response to those who read it and vice versa?
That’s all here, so yes, lots of information is imparted in another strong volume of Sex Ed 120%!
What continues to impress me while reading this series is despite all of its details, it’s always insightful. In theory, a number of these subjects can be seen as either boring or irrelevant. Instead, it’s incredible for anyone, in this case me, to have a better understanding of what women go through regarding periods (like it’s very detailed) or getting hit on, which happens at the end of the volume. It also continues to navigate more of the human body — for one example, the male genitalia and circumcision — in an informative way.
Most of the chapters are ripe for discussion, but the femininity and BL chapter is what stood out for me. In general, the role of gender was something that growing up as a kid was never explained to me. Simply put, you’re either male and female, which means you have to stick to your usual norms and not change. In the femininity chapter, the vice-principal yells at Hikari’s skirt length and her light makeup, says it’ll attract perverts, and then uses Kashiwacchi as an example of the ideal model. The problem is Hikari isn’t even aiming for a guy’s attention because she’s into girls; Kashiwacchi isn’t even into either!
This then leads into a discussion on what society has bound to both sexes traditionally, and while times have changed for sure, there’s still the pressure to live up to those gender norms. Needless to say, this discussion in real life has raged on for years, and while it feels a little subdued, this manga still gets the idea across that there’s a lot of hand-wringing from people who shouldn’t be involved about things that don’t concern them. Also a case where girls are held to a double standard — see when wearing something slightly risqué and the various viewpoints that can emerge from it.
The boys love chapter also brings up much discussion: Matsuda, Hikari, and Sumire end up at a BL event, and while there Matsuda has them meet Yumeko, one of the artists at the event. A simple enough meeting, but things manage to escalate when Hikari can’t believe Sumire is into BL and Sumire’s wondering why it’s a problem. This eventually leads into the actual content and context of BL — why it seems frowned upon compared to others, the type of slurs and connotations associated with it, etc. There’s absolutely some hardcore BL that exists, but other types of BL, ones that can be quite wholesome, can get lumped in and hidden from certain sites because it’s two boys kissing. What was also noted in this discussion is how much more realistic LGBTQ+ works have been on the rise. So you have that and you have an audience that still wants smut.
Frankly speaking, these are conversations that fit when talking about sexual education. A bunch of these weren’t really a focus in the schools I went to. I do subscribe to where once we learn something, we can do things better — we definitely have the resources to have better conversations and act upon them now compared to the ’90s or even the 2000s. And now we have a manga covering it with some humor, but also with the necessary seriousness, and that’s fantastic.
Sex Ed 120% again goes through a number of topics, though it did make time to explore some of the characters more, from how Hikari and Sumire got together — it did start with Hikari falling for a girl who was straight — to sexual consent. The sexual consent chapter in theory is straightforward, until you realize, depending on what each person wants, it’s not. Accompanied by more information and one passionate teacher, this manga continues to be a must-read for me.