S.S. Astro | |
教艦ASTRO (Kyōkan ASTRO) | |
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Manga | |
Written by | Negi Banno |
Published by | Houbunsha |
English publisher | |
Magazine | Manga Time Kirara Carat |
Demographic | Seinen |
Original run | February 24, 2005 – present |
Volumes | 1 |
S.S. Astro (教艦ASTRO, Kyōkan ASTRO, lit. Teach-Warship Astro) is a Japanese four-panel comic strip manga 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 kyōkan (教官) is 'instructor' in Japanese, but the title uses the kanji kan (艦) meaning 'warship' in place of kan (官) meaning 'government service'. The manga started serialization in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat 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.
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.