Kei is a lesbian who can't seem to find a girl to be in a serious relationship. Her mom disapproves of her sexuality, so she sends her to an all-boys school in hopes that she'll get married to a boy eventually.
Hilarity Ensues. Well, sorta.
Houou Gakuen Misoragumi is a manga created by Aki Arata, which ran in the shoujo magazine Comic Avarus from 2008 to 2010. The manga was licensed by Digital Manga Publishing under the name The Beautiful Skies of Houou High. The print release appears to have been dropped after the 1st volume, due to the sheer amount of Values Dissonance. However, the full series was released for Kindle.
Compare to Maria†Holic, which has a similar premise but is even more comedic and lacks romance.
This series contains examples of:
- Abusive Parent: Kei's mom hits her and tells her to 'go find yourself a guy like a normal girl would!' in the first chapter. Luckily Kei's dad loves her.
- Ambiguously Gay: It's hard to tell whether Kei's a lesbian, bisexual, or just confused and afraid of men. It's not as ambiguous if you're familiar with the stereotype that lesbians are just women who were hurt by men in the past.
- Art Evolution: Kei looked more masculine originally
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Kei is a girl but looks like a good-looking boy, which is why she's sent to the all-boys school so she can pass as one. Merry as well.
- Bifauxnen: Kei is a girl, but looks like a boy, so she's able to blend into the school's all boy population fairly well.
- The Bully: Yui, who is constantly picking on Kei and harassing her, often for no given reason. Others think that Kousuke is this, but he's a real Nice Guy.
- Butt-Monkey: Kei was probably intended to be this. She however comes across as a gigantic
woobie. - Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Well, it's a shojo manga. Practically everyone is a pretty boy in some way.
- Cerebus Syndrome: Two things that happen around Chapter 14 turns the story from a shameless comedic Sadist Show into its Deconstruction:
- Yui becomes distant with his friends, and when Kei tries to comfort him, he says that he hates her. It turns out that the two are once connected in the past...
- The introduction, or rather reintroduction of Kei's dad. Specifically, Kei's dad, who is initially seen to be on a Parental Neglect-basis with his daughter, turns out to be very, very protective of her than many others (including his own wife) thought.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Yui sometimes physically clings to Kei, and doesn't like her getting close to other students.
- Commonality Connection: When Kei and Kousuke finally exchange words, they realize they're both fans of the Usassy show and become friends because of their shared liking of the series. They even own Usassy merchandise and show them off to prove it.
- Cure Your Gays: The premise. Like Maria†Holic but played dead serious.
- Does Not Like Men: Kei starts out this way at first, to the point of throwing up if she's so much as near a guy. Considering the environment she finds herself thrown in, it's completely justified, especially with Yui.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Barfing Prince. Turns into Barfing Princess in the epilogue, after Houou Academy goes co-ed.
- Enfante Terrible: Nao and Mao, the school director's nephews. Despite being only 11 years old, they've engaged in plenty of psychotic behavior. Kei's younger sibling as well. While the age is not clear, this child is the springboard for all the abusive and downright criminal behavior that Kei's mother puts her through. With Kei's father being completely resigned to it.
- Face of a Thug: Kousuke, which is bad for him, since he probably has the most gentle heart in the cast.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Apparently in this universe, being a lesbian is considered a crime. Kei's mother is pretty convinced of this and Kei's attempts at convincing her otherwise fall on deaf ears.
- Female Misogynist: The mom. Made more disturbing by the fact that the mangaka, and Kei's younger sibling, seem to agree with her views.
- Forgotten Childhood Friend: Kei and Yui used to know each other, but an incident in the past separated them.
- Gender-Blender Name: Kei can be both a boy's name and a girl's name.
- Gold Digger: What Kei's mother really is. She has stated, on numerous occasions, that she wants Kei to marry a rich man, so she can "enjoy the benefits."
- Henpecked Husband: Kei's father...isn't. It turns out that he doesn't know that Houou Academy is an all-boy school, since, like Kei, he thinks that it's co-ed, which is why he's initially laid-back. When he finds out the truth, he...doesn't take it well.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Several characters.
- Hidden Depths: Kousuke loves Usasy the chibi-stripper-bunny and keeps an Usasy handkerchief on him at all times.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: Yui is the only one allowed to make fun of Kei.
- If It's You, It's Okay: Kirie and eventually Kei towards Yui.
- Incompatible Orientation: Kirie and Yui. Also Yui and Kei until the end.
- I Want Grandkids: Kei's mom, so much that she sends her daughter to an all-boys school to see if she'll become straight.
- Karma Houdini: Kei's mother never gets any repercussion for screwing up her daughter twice. She does get a mild What the Hell, Hero? from her husband, but that's it. And no, she never changes her mind about the whole Heteronormative Crusader thing, either. Contrast this with Ooshima, who's intimidated into changing Houou Academy into a co-ed school after his selfish goal is revealed.
- Master of Disguise: Merry, slightly going into Wholesome Crossdresser territory.
- Mum Looks Like a Sister: Both of Kei's parents are absurdly youthful. Kei's father in particular looks less like a father and more like her Half Identical Twin brother. Yui's father at least has wrinkles around his eyes.
- My Beloved Smother: Kei's mother, dear god. Not only the fiasco about transferring her to an all-boy scene, Kei's hatred of men is indirectly caused by her as well, since she was the one who sent her to a sumo wrestling camp for boys that caused so much stress on her. Her husband actually calls her out the horrible consequence this will inflict on Kei.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Yui in the past, when he hit Kei and caused her to run away and (probably) break their friendship for good.
- Nice Guy: Kousuke is one of the nicest, if not THE nicest male character.
- "Not So Different" Remark: When he met with Kei's mother, Yui realizes that Kei is just as screwed up as he is because of their parents, even if through different methods: he is screwed because his father neglected him, while Kei is screwed because of just how smothering her mother is.
- Papa Wolf: Kei's dad gets a streak of this towards any males that get close to his daughter.
- Parental Neglect: Yui's father neglects him because, ironically, he is still unprepared in becoming a single father.
- Poe's Law: The over-the-top homophobia and misogyny has made some readers wonder if this is the case. It helps that very little is actually known about the mangaka (just the gender, her other works, and that's it). In one of her other works, Fetish Berry, there's a character who enjoys the Yaoi Genre. One has to wonder if this is a parody of the fujoshi fandom or if she's really okay with homosexuality... or if she's really okay with homosexuality between men only.
- Sadist Show: Mother of God. The entire universe seems to have it out for Kei, with Yui constantly smacking her around, nearly getting knifed if she so much as reveals her gender in an empty room, and, at one point, Yui forcing her to swallow her own vomit. Someone save this poor girl!
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: All over the place. Kei's mom colludes with Yui to get Kei sent to an all-boys school. Yui pulls his father's strings (the highest paying contributor to the school) to get his way. Merry uses his influence to make the actual doctor late, so he can impersonate a nurse when the students are supposed to be getting their physicals... about the only characters who don't use this trope are Kei, who's the resident Woobie and Kousuke, who's a Nice Guy with a Face of a Thug.
- Situational Sexuality: What Kei's mom hopes will happen by sending her lesbian daughter to an all boy's school.
- Skewed Priorities: The school director is far, far more concerned about the school's appearance and image than he is about the actual students.
- Stay in the Kitchen: The manga's perceived Aesop (unless Poe's Law is involved}
- Strong Family Resemblance: Kei looks a lot like her dad. Lampshaded by Okazaki.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Kirie is a masochist who very desperately wants Yui's attention. And by attention, we mean physical abuse.
- Tragic Bigot: Kei is allergic to men because her mother once sent her to an all-boy sumo wrestling camp that terrified her.
- Trauma Conga Line: Poor Kei. In the first 16 years of her life, she has to endure such woes as, in chronological order: being sent to an all-boy sumo wrestling camp that caused her fear of men, befriending Yui only to receive a slap from him, being rejected by her potential girlfriend and then sent to an all-boy academy just because her mother doesn't like her men-hatred and gayness, having to endure being humiliated multiple times and receiving numerous physical threats, plus having to hold remorse because of the fact that she can't tell her identity to others she grows to adore. Just when she has grown attached to them all, she is almost forced home. Luckily, her school finally decides to change themselves into a co-ed, allowing her to attend again.
- Unsound Effect: Used in conjunction with normal sound effects.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Kei's father calls out his wife hard after he learns the true nature of Houou Academy. She undergoes a well-deserved (well, for Kei and the readers at least) Heroic BSoD.
- Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Kei's entire relationship with her mother is this. And it's Played for Laughs. For those at home, this is what psychologists would call emotional abuse.
- Would Hit a Girl: Yui, albeit mostly Played for Laughs. The time when he hit Kei during childhood isn't, though.
