History Manga / Doukyusei

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doukyuusei.jpg]]

->''"A boy met a boy. They were in the flush of youth. They were in love that felt like a dream, like sparkling soda pop."''

''Doukyusei'' ("Classmates") is a manga by Asumiko Nakamura with several sequels and [[SpinOff Spin-Offs]]. In 2016, the first work was adapted in an animated film produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Shoko Nakamura.

In an all-boys high school, a class is preparing for an upcoming chorus festival. As the boys sing, Hikaru Kusakabe notices that one of his classmates, Rihito Sajou, is not making any noise. Kusakabe is a sleepy-eyed, carefree slacker who plays guitar in a band, Sajou is a straight-laced and serious honor student who got perfect scores on every subject on his entrance exam. Kusabake concludes that the two come from completely different worlds, so there's no reason the two would have any reason to talk, and as such, he'll never know why Sajou doesn't sing.

But by a twist of fate, Kusakabe and Sajou have a strange, quiet encounter alone in their empty classroom, and on the spur of the moment, Kusakabe offers to teach Sajou the song. In that moment, everything changes.

Not to be confused with the classic DatingSim of [[VisualNovel/{{Doukyusei}} the same name]].

!!List of works in chronological order:
* ''Doukyuusei''
* ''Sotsugyousei''
* ''Sora To Hara''
* ''O.B.''
* ''Blanc''
* ''Home''
* ''Futarigurashi''
----
!!Tropes:
* AccidentalHandHold: In the first chapter, Satou and Kusakabe both rushed to pick up the latter's drink after dropping it in shock, causing the trope to happen. This sparked something in Kusakabe and directly led to their FirstKiss in the spur of the moment.
* AdaptedOut: While the movie is incredibly faithful to the first volume it was based on, "His First", the third chapter between "Autumn" and " A Complex Fool and a Simple Fool" which Hara-Sen recounts his faithful meeting with Sajou in first year, was cut out entirely. This left him with significantly less screen time and without the reason why he fell in love with Sajou in the first place.
* AlmostKiss: Hara attempted to kiss Sajou twice, despite the latter already having Kusakabe, but both times failed due to Kusakabe's timely intervention.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Kinosaki's sexuality is unconfirmed and the only one out of his friend group who isn't seeing anybody but is able to relate to two straight girls and a gay guy's relationship with their respective boyfriends. And then there's that time where he {{Almost Kiss}}ed Sajou during a power outage and became incredibly flustered over what he had done, leading to Miyamura thinking he initially had a crush on Sajou like she did.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Thinking Sajou was practicing the song for Hara-Sen, Kusakabe suddenly runs off in the middle of the choir performance in tears with Sajou following suit. Once they are alone and Sajou asked why he left, Kusakabe promptly breaks down hard and sputters out that he may have a crush on him. While Sajou was more or less confused over the whole ordeal, he clears up the misunderstanding by stating he practiced the song for him, not Hara-Sen. This causes Kusakabe to stop crushing and bewilderedly look at him, not believing Sajou actually reciprocated his feelings.
* BittersweetEnding: ''Blanc'' ends with the Sajou and Kusakabe reconciling and HappilyMarried with a wedding ceremony attended by their friends, family and about every significant character in the series. However, it doesn't change the fact that [[spoiler:the former's mother succumb to her cancer as well as being unable to fix his rocky relationship with his father, especially after he found out Sajou was gay. However, they're starting to repair their relationship by the time ''Home'' rolls around]].
* BlanketFort: Kusakabe makes one in "Home", as it's cold in their new apartment and they have yet to unpack any furniture.
* BridalCarry: Kusakabe performs one on Sajou in one of the bonus chapters in "Sora to Hara" saying he always wanted to try it. However, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he's clearly struggling from the weight of a full-grown man his size and only manages a few steps before collapsing onto the hotel bed]].
* BrutalHonesty: Kusukabe isn't afraid to express his feelings for Sajou and thoughts about getting married.
* CakeToppers: There are chibi ones of Kusakakabe and Sajou holding hands on their wedding cake.
* {{Callback}}: ''Blanc'''s cover art for chapters 1 through 8 are the backgrounds of places or locations significant in ''Doukyuusei'' such as the park where Kusakabe kissed Sajou for the first time and the highway they took to Sajou's mock exam.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Sajou calls out his father for not being there for him and Kumi for most of his childhood, and for his narrow-mindedness after his violent, homophobic response to Sajou's coming out.
-->'''Sajou''': I'm the one who should be embarrassed! Since I was born to an old-fashioned bigot of a man like you! You work overseas, and yet your worldview hasn't expanded at all! Because of that, you didn't notice anything at all about your son! Your wife as well! You left her all alone [[spoiler:and made her last years sad and lonely]]!
* CerebusSyndrome: ''Doukyusei'' didn't have much tension, so its sequel ''Sotsugyousei'' upped the angst by having Sajou's mother diagnosed with terminal cancer and the couple's fear of separation because of Sajou attending university at Kyoto while Kusakabe wants to stay in Tokyo. ''Blanc'' then intensifies it when Sajou interprets Kusakabe saying they don't have to rush getting married as him forgetting the promise they made in ''Sotsugyousei'', and asks to take a break from their relationship which Kusakabe, in turn, misinterprets as Sajou ''wanting to end it''. If that's not enough, Sajou's mother is back in the hospital after her cancer becomes severe [[spoiler:and tragically dies from it]] then his [[DisappearedDad father]] shows up right after.
* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:Sajou's mother dies from pneumonia because of the cancer weakening her immune system.]]
* CharacterTic: Sajou has a habit of pushing up his glasses with his pointer or middle finger.
* CryIntoChest: Sajou cries into Kusakabe's chest in ''Blanc'' chapter 9, after reaching his breaking point and letting out the feelings he's been holding back.
* DeadpanSnarker: Sajou has shades of this.
-->'''Kusakabe, after trying to run out under a rainstorm''': [[CaptainObvious I'm drenched]]!!!
-->'''Sajou, applauding''': Oooh. Good job.
* DisappearedDad: Sajou's dad is never around for most of Sajou's life due to working in Korea which led to Sajou having to become self-reliant and facing hardships without help, especially after his mom is diagnosed with cancer. It's very telling that we finally see him when [[spoiler:Sajou's mother just passed away after not visiting her when her condition was stable]].
* DrearyHalfLiddedEyes: Kusakabe is drawn with sleepy eyes all the time.
* DudeMagnet: Over the course of the series, Sajou manages to attract three guys consisting of his boyfriend-turned-husband Kusakabe, his former teacher Hara-Sen (Who still didn't completely get over him despite having Sorano) and (very briefly) his university friend Kinosaki.
* DoubleEntendre: In a bonus comic for ''Blanc''.
-->'''Kusakabe:''' "We've already experienced the first bite!"
-->'''Sajou:''' "Huh?"
-->'''Kusakabe:''' "Ages ago, when I put my finger in from behind, and you bit me."
-->'''Sajou:''' [StunnedSilence]
-->'''Kusakabe:''' "In your mouth, I mean."
-->'''Sajou:''' "Right... in my mouth..."
* ExpressiveHair: Many characters who become shocked are portrayed with stray strands of hair sticking out with Kusakabe, who already has messy, poofy hair, being easily the biggest offender.
* TheFaceless: You can tell who are the background characters by their lack of eyes and other obscure or less-detailed facial features.
** Sajou's mother is initially drawn as this to illustrate how Sajou is couldn't look straight in her eyes without feeling guilty. This later becomes subverted when he comes out and introduces Kusakabe to her.
* FamilyEyeResemblance: Both Sajou and Kusakabe have their mothers' eye shapes.
* {{Fangirl}}: Tani's wife who is a die-hard fan of Z'GOK when the band was around and still is to this day. She's especially excited over Kusakabe the lead guitarist much to Sajou's jealously.
* FirstKiss: Kusakabe impulsively kisses Sajou on the lips when they both [[AccidentalHandHold reached out for the former's spilled drink at the same time]], impacting both their lives forever and beginning their blossoming relationship.
** The bonus chapter "The Night Before" expands on the events after the kiss. Sajou rushes home with his heart seriously pounding hard from thinking back on it while Kusakabe reflects in the bath on why he kissed Sajou before [[LoveEpiphany realising his awakened feelings for him]] [[ClosetKey that he never had with any of the girls he dated before]].
* FirstLove: Sajou is this for Kusakabe as well as his [[SingleTargetSexuality only love]].
* FirstNameBasis: Starting from ''O.B.'', Kusakabe and Sajou decided to call each other Hikaru and Rihito since they would eventually share a last name after marrying.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Sajou's dream after passing out in the train station involves Kusakabe cutting the yellow ribbon between them (representing their relationship) but promising to re-tie it later after they sort things out. This becomes the plot of ''Blanc'' where both characters were going through a low point in their lives, Sajou requests a break from their relationship but Kusakabe misinterpreted as ending it and [[ReturningTheWeddingRing returns the former's ring]], spent several chapters regretting and missing one another, dealing with [[spoiler:Sajou's mother dying]] before finally making up and marrying.
* ForgetsToEat: Sajou is this, particularly when he's overworked or dealing with his mother's sickness. His lack of nutrition is a source of worry for Kusakabe, who decides to [[ThroughHisStomach learn how to cook]] because of this.
* {{Gayngst}}: Sajou is more uncomfortable with his sexuality since unlike Kusakabe, Sajou always knew he was attracted to the same sex since young but hides it in fear of his parents' disapproval as opposed to [[ClosetKey experiencing romantic interest for the first time]] and not being afraid to act on it (He does get better over time the more time he spends with Kusakabe). It's noted Kusakabe was the one to initiate the kissing in the first volume until the last chapter.
* GayGroomInAWhiteTux: Both Sajou and Kusakabe wear white tuxedos for their wedding in ''Blanc'' complete with matching white-rose veils gifted by Koma.
* TheGlomp: Kusakabe does this to Sajou multiple times, usually after Sajou does something particularly romantic.
** Sajou has taken to doing this as of ''Home.''
* HairContrastDuo: As another parallel to OppositesAttract, Sajou's hair is straight and black while Kusakabe has his dyed-blond and is naturally curly (Described as "fluffy" by others).
* HighSchoolSweethearts: Sajou and Kusakabe began dating during high school which continues well after graduation and into Sajou's university years before finally marrying and living together. While not showing much affection in public, their relationship is very lovey-dovey and intimate in private.
* HopelessSuitor: Hara-Sen harbored a burning yet hopeless crush on Sajou ever since his first day of high school and had planned on asking him out after graduation but Kusakabe beat him to it. For the first two books, he tried making advances that never got anywhere due to Kusakabe intervening and Sajou having only eyes for his boyfriend. Eventually, he gave up upon realizing this pining had never amounted to anything and found a SecondLove in Sorano.
* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: A drunk Sajou expresses doubt that someone as popular and laidback Kusakabe enjoys being with someone like him (to Kusakabe's frustration.) When Kusakabe tells him he's his number one, Sajou can hardly believe it and practically glomps him.
-->'''Sajou:''' "Is it... fun for you... to be with me? I mean, why? I'm gloomy. All I do is study. I've got glasses. and I'm a boy. Why would--"
-->'''Kusakabe:''' "Sajou. You're pissing me off."
-->'''Sajou:''' [WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises]
-->'''Kusakabe:''' "Just kidding! I'm not angry! I'm not! [...] You're number one. You're number one, Sajou."
-->'''Sajou:''' "Are... are you for real? You... You ''cool guy!''"
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: [[spoiler:The last time we saw Sajou's mother alive is telling Sajou she's fine after a minor coughing fit.]]
* InSeriesNickname: Kusakabe has a few. "Beyan" by his friends, "Brokaru" ("Okaru" in Japanese) by his sister, and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam "Job John"]] in elementary school.
** Kusakabe gives Hara an insulting one in the form of "Chin Pubes" in the official English translation. ("Hige" in Japanese). Also, Hara is generally called Hara-sen, a {{Portmanteau}} of "Hara" and "Sensei", by his current and former students alike.
* InsultOfEndearment: Sajou calls Kusakabe "Idiot"[[note]]UsefulNotes/{{Baka}} in Japanese[[/note]] whenever the latter says something romantic that embarrassed him.
* {{Irony}}: Considering Sajou was his FirstLove but was taken by Kusakabe, which he considered his ([[HopelessSuitor one-sided]]) romantic rival, Hara-sen's SecondLove turns out to be Sorano whose cheerful, free-spirited personality is more like Kusakabe's than the reserved Sajou's.
* KansaiRegionalAccent: Being from Kyoto, all of Sajou's university friends have this.
** Sajou eventually picks up some of the dialect from his time in university there, though to a much lesser extent. It's noticeable enough that Kusakabe comments on it a couple of times.
* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Sajou and Kusakabe have their first time in the classroom where they met... while skipping their graduation ceremony.
** Sajou remembers this moment during ''Home'', and cringes in embarrassment at how bold they were.
* MayDecemberRomance:
** Hara-Sen had initially wanted to be in one with Sajou but thought it would be wise to wait until graduation to ask him out ([[HopelessSuitor Too bad Kusakabe came into the picture before he even had the chance]]). Years later, Hara-Sen is 37 years old and single in "Sora to Hara". Still reeling from his former crush, he kisses a guy in a nightclub who is later revealed to be Sorano, one of his first-year students and 15 years of age. Unsurprisingly, Hara was shocked to realize the ''twenty-two'' year difference between them but over the course of the manga, Sorano became his SecondLove and agreed to date him after his graduation (though Hara refuses to have sex with him until he turned twenty).
** Kusakabe's parents turn out to be this in ''Blanc''. His father can easily pass off as his ''grandfather'' and gets a lot of flak for remarrying one of his [[OfficeRomance employees]] nearly half his age but nonetheless are HappilyMarried.
* MeaningfulName: Hara's last name is Manabu which means "learn". Very on point with his career as a music teacher.
* MeetTheInLaws: Chapter 10 of ''Blanc'' is pretty much dedicated to this with Sajou (And the audience) properly meeting Kusakabe's parents and sister for the first time.
* NerdsAreSexy: Not only does he have multiple gratuitous shower/bath scenes, but at least half of the cast has acknowledged Sajou's good looks, if not developed feelings for him.
* NoPeekingRequest: Sajou tells Kusakabe to not look at him while he's getting undressed and washed for the onsen in ''Home''. Ironic, as Kusakabe has seen him naked plenty of times with how frequently they have sex.
* OfficeRomance: Kusakabe's parents met this way when his mother used to work for the company his father owns.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted on a meta-level, in that Asumiko Nakamura is the original mangaka, Shoko Nakamura directed the anime adaption, and Chieko Nakamura was the art director. None of these women are related.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Sajou never swears so [[spoiler:when his father finally shows up in the manga to his mother's death bed only to berate him for dating Kusakabe instead]], you know he's [[RageBreakingPoint beyond pissed off]].
-->'''Sajou:''' "SHUT THE ''[[PrecisionFStrike FUCK]]'' UP! [[spoiler:I WISHED YOU HAD DIED INSTEAD!!]]"
* OpenMindedParent: Sajou's mother and Kusakabe's father fit this to a T.
* OppositesAttract: Basically the premise. Sajou is straight-laced, studious and emotionally reserved whereas Kusakabe is laid-back, directionless and very honest about his feelings, yet they are madly in love with each other. The two complement and bring out the best in one another with Sajou being more open to his feelings overtime and Kusakabe finding purpose in life.
** This is also reflected by their upbringing, Sajou is expected to excel in grades and follow his family's steps in becoming a doctor but is extremely distanced and close-off as a result. Kusakabe's family is close-knit and very accepting considering his parents are a MayDecemberRomance while his sister is pregnant and gonna be a single parent, hence his easy-going nature.
* OverTheShoulderCarry: In order to prevent Sajou from backing out going into the hot springs with him in ''Home'', Kusakabe performed this maneuver to convinced him otherwise (which is a more successful attempt compared to the [[BridalCarry last time he tried carrying him]]).
* PrecisionFStrike: The only time Sajou properly swears in the series is directed at [[spoiler:his father after not being there for his mother when she passed away and instead trivially and homophobically focusing on Sajou's relationship with Kusakabe.]]
* RageBreakingPoint: After holding in his emotions from [[spoiler: breaking up with Kusakabe ''and'' dealing with the grief of his mother's death]] (not to mention his lifelong fear of homophobia), what finally sends Sajou over the edge is [[spoiler: his father's violent and homophobic response to his coming out, to the point where Kusakabe has to physically restrain Sajou.]] It gets uglier when [[spoiler: his father switches targets to insult the love of his life.]]
* {{Retcon}}: In a timeline of Kusakabe's life first released in 2010, it's stated his parents were a ChildhoodFriendRomance. This was eventually changed to a MayDecemberRomance with them having met at their place of work by the time ''blanc'' came out 10 years later.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: While having a drink after work, Hara's co-worker Hashimoto shares an anecdote about how him and one of his student used to stare at each other but nothing came out of it. Hashimoto brought it up since he correctly sensed Hara was going through the same thing...too bad [[MoodWhiplash the moment was ruined]] due to an incorrect assumption.
-->'''Hashimoto:''' "I didn't make it clear how I felt then, and that... I do regret that, I suppose."
-->'''Hara-sen:''' [[{{Beat}} ...]] [Sips drink]
-->'''Hashimoto:''' "Hara-Sensei. It's Hikaru Kusakabe, yes?"
-->'''Hara-sen:''' [SpitTake] "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! NO WAY! NOT IN A BAJILLION YEARS!!"
* SecondLove: Sorano is this to Hara-Sen.
* SharePhrase: Kusakabe's hair being described as "fluffy" by various people in their inner monologue or thoughts.
* ShipperOnDeck: Kinosaki, Kawanishi and Miyamura are all fully on board and adore Sajou's relationship with Kusakabe much like the [[AudienceSurrogate fans of the series]].
* ShoutOut: The name and logo of Kusakabe's band, Z'GOK, is a reference to ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''.
* SickeningSweethearts: In spite of Sajou and Kusakabe not displaying much public affection, the off-handed comments about their relationship is enough to make people envious and/or embarrassed, especially for Sajou's friends.
* SillyLoveSongs: In ''Blanc'', Kusakabe writes a slow acoustic song called "Kimi to Boku",[[note]]"You and I" in English[[/note]] reminiscing on when he and Sajou first fell in love, and how much he loves and misses him. It can be listened to in the drama CD.
* SingleTargetSexuality: Kusakabe didn't have any romantic interest for anyone until Sajou, even calling him his FirstLove and in one bonus chapter when rifling through his sister's Yaoi manga, he specifically picks one that has a boy on the cover with similar glasses, haircut and body type like Sajou. Tani even thought he was the type of guy who couldn't love anyone back which could mean Sajou was more than just his ClosetKey.
* SingleTear: Kusakabe sheds one during the choir performance upon thinking he's gonna lose Sajou to Hara afterwards, causing the performance abruptly stop and go off the rails once the others notice.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Sajou's first name is romanized as either "Rihito" or "Licht". The English manga release uses "Rihito", while official merchandise tends to use "Licht". Occasionally, more obscure romanizations can be seen in merchandise, such as "Richt" or "Lihito".
* SpinOff: ''Sora to Hara'' focuses on Hara-sen and his love life or rather lack thereof until Sorano came into the picture. The story also introduces more characters such as Koma (A fashion designer and Hara Sen's drinking buddy), Satoshi (A former teacher of Hara-Sen's) and Hibiki (Satoshi's lover).
* TheStoic: Sajou used to be this earlier in the series, but he's gradually become more emotionally expressive. His mother mentions that at some point during his childhood, Sajou stopped smiling and meeting her eye, but ever since meeting Kusakabe he's begun laughing again like he used to.
* TeacherStudentRomance: The other two official couples with Hara-sen and Satoshi as the teachers to their students Sarano and Hibiki respectively though it's subverted as they only started dating ''after'' graduation.
* ThemeNaming: Hikaru and Rihito (Licht) both mean "light" in Japanese and German, respectively.
* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Sajou's university friends, Miyamura, Kawanishi and Kinosaki, form this dynamic and collectively act as an AudienceSurrogate.
* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: In the second chapter of ''Doukyusei''.
* VerbalTic: Kusakabe tends to say "Jeez" in exasperation or shock, especially in the first volume.
* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: How they portray people who are especially shocked that they are stunned speechless.
* YaoiFangirl: Kusakabe's older sister secretly is one and has several containers worth of Boys Love manga all carefully organized underneath her bed. He tried using the manga for sex research but found it confusing and ridiculous then got in deep trouble once she found out. During Sajou and Kusakabe's wedding, she was blushing so hard despite her stoic nature as it were a dream come true.
----

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Thinking Sajou was practicing the song for Hara-Sen, Kusakabe suddenly runs off in the middle of the choir performance in tears with Sajou following suit. Once they are alone and Sajou asked why he left, Kusakabe properly breaks down hard and sputters out that he may have a crush on him. While Sajou was more or less confused over the whole ordeal, he clears up the misunderstanding by stating he practiced the song for him, not Hara-Sen. This causes Kusakabe to stop angsting and bewilderedly look at him as he couldn't believe Sajou actually reciprocates his feelings.