is a Japanese four-panel

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

by Negi Banno about the lives of female teachers within a school at which they teach. The "Astro" in the title is actually an acronym abbreviating "Asahio Sogo Teacher's ROom", alluding to the school's name Asahio Sogo. The original title, ''Kyōkan Astro'', plays on the fact that is 'instructor' in Japanese, but the title uses the

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

meaning 'warship' in place of meaning 'government service'. The manga started serialization in

Houbunsha is a Japanese publishing company founded on July 10, 1950. It is based in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. Magazines published by Houbunsha *''Weekly Manga Times'' *''Hana Oto'' *'' Comic Fuz'' Manga Time magazines *''Manga Time'' *''Manga Time Original'' * ...

seinen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

Manga Time Kirara Carat is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Houbunsha and mainly consisting of four-panel comic strips. The first issue was released on 18 January 2003. List of serialized titles * * *''Bad Girl'' * * * * * * *''H・R'' * *''Harumaki!'' * ...

'' on February 24, 2005, and the first bound volume was released on February 27, 2007. However, the manga has not appeared in the magazine since November 28, 2007. Yen Press licensed the series for release in English, and released the first volume on August 12, 2008.

Plot

Set in the present, the story focuses on the exploits of first time teachers Izumi Maki and Yuko Nagumo as they begin their teaching jobs at the school they used to attend (Asahio Shogo). Other faculty members include Setsuna Arai, the school's nurse, and Kaname Karasuma, a veteran teacher.

Characters

; :Maki is a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

teacher who is very relaxed and does not take her job very seriously, much to the irritation of some of the faculty. She is prone to taking naps even during school hours and enjoys playing video games and drinking to excess. ; :Nagumo is the Japanese teacher at her school, and dresses in a kimono for the class. She takes her duties far more seriously than Maki, and takes pride in tripping up and fooling her students (as she explains, if they fall for trick questions, they are not reading well enough). However, she is possibly more well known for being a glutton, bringing several bento to school, which she eats between every period, and is something of a ''

fujoshi The ''yaoi'' fandom consists of the readers of (also called Boys' Love or abbreviated to BL), a genre of male x male romance narratives aimed at those who participate in communal activities organized around yaoi, such as attending conventions, m ...

'' though she tries to hide it. ; :Arai is the

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

of the school. She is very no-nonsense when it comes to her work, violently ejecting any students (or teachers) who are not actually ill. She frequently plays hand held video games in her office when patients are few and far between. She is somewhat infamous for being something of a sadist, grinning happily at the sight of blood, and speaks almost gleefully at the prospect of injuries at a sports event. Arai has a love–hate relationship with Maki's brother, Itsuki, giving her characteristics of a '' tsundere''. ; :Karasuma teaches

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and is the back-up homeroom teacher to Maki, whom she is in love with. She carries a

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

specifically for taking photos of her whenever the chance arises, and frequently attempts to get closer to her, but is almost inevitably shot down. Maki appears oblivious to Karasuma's feelings.

External links

''S.S. Astro''
at Yen Press * {{Manga Time Kirara Carat 2005 manga Houbunsha manga School life in anime and manga Seinen manga Yen Press titles Yonkoma