The beginning of a new week can only mean one thing: time for new Weekly Shonen Jump! This is where Jacob investigates the latest and greatest in the magazine, telling you what’s worth your time and what’s not. You can find coverage of other series under the tag Jump Time. Here’s High School Family chapter 36.
Just as Ichiro is well on the way to finally fulfilling his dreams of playing for the volleyball team, the former ace Suzaki is in the midst of studying for retakes. Things are looking bleak, but a chance encounter with Haruka in High School Family chapter 36 provides him with a ray of hope.
I’ve been trying to make the point for a while that High School Family is much more than just a stupid gag series, and chapter 36 is a perfect example why. First of all, this isn’t an episodic story: it’s actually a continuation of last week, when Ichiro took Suzaki’s place as the volleyball team’s starter. Haruka’s ever-so-slightly-illegal job at a family restaurant alongside her brother Kotaro is also taken from previous chapters.
Upon seeing Haruka at work, Suzaki remembers that Ichiro had shown off her perfect test scores in the past, so he begs her to teach him everything she knows. Her method isn’t exactly normal, mind: the main part of High School Family chapter 36 sees Suzaki make his way through ‘test prep manor,’ answering revision questions taped up all around the Ietani household.
Arguably, this encapsulates, more than words ever could, Haruka’s love for learning and her childish desire to make everything as fun as it can possibly be, but she’s got a point when she says that ‘it’s better when studying is fun. Cuz if it’s fun, you’ll learn it in no time!’ Those still at school would do well to take note.
Furthermore, Ichiro’s boasting about his daughter’s scholastic abilities sums up perfectly his demeanor as a dad, and he’s even willing to volunteer to become the ‘textbook fairy’ if it means helping his friend and teammate Suzaki with his retakes. As a result, High School Family chapter 36 is surprisingly strong in terms of both characterization and overall narrative structure: not exactly what anyone expected from the outset.
Moreover, it’s damn funny. The bit where Haruka pretends to be ‘Tajima, age 28’ had me in stitches, to be honest! That might be the most important point to stress just in case anyone thinks that High School Family is just a gag series, even after reading chapter 31.
You can read High School Family chapter 36 for free via VIZ Media.