REVIEW: ‘Sex Ed 120%’ Volume 2

I’m just going to jump into it: Sex Ed 120% seems like it’ll be an ecchi mature content series just from some of the art. That said, as I explaining in my review of Volume 1, the series serves as one of the most important explorations of sexual education I’ve ever seen in popular media. That said, Sex Ed 120% Volume 2 covers a new range of topics, misconceptions, and biases that teens and even adults may need help understanding. Volume 2 is written ​by Kikiki Takaki and features art by Hotomura, published and localized in English by Yen Press, translated by Amanda Haley, and features lettering by Sara Linsley.

If this is your first time jumping into Sex Ed 120%, it’s a simple slice of life with each chapter serving a vignette diving into different topics around sexual intimacy, gender, and sexuality. In it, Naoko Tsuji is a health teacher on a mission to advise her students on how to navigate the birds and the bees in modern times. The best part? She doesn’t talk down to her students. Instead, she shares informations, dispels myth, and ultimately creates a safe environment to ask questions and grow for her students.

Sex Ed 120% Volume 2 handles how phimosis surgery is advertised to men, how women are expected to perform femininity by male standards, mensuration, same-sex relationships (and the stereotypes shown in BL manga), and the importance of sexual consent. What makes it stand out in all of this? It’s humorous, caring, and doesn’t skirt around directly confronting issues that cultures perpetuate.

Sex usually gets a story thrown out. Whether its anime, manga, or light novels, talking explicitly about sex is something that often gets series slapped with a Mature content label and limits the audience. That siad, the mature label “warning” is something that does Sex Ed 120% a disservice, especially since young women in their teens and older teens could benefit greatly from reading this series. One of the most important things to call out for Sex Ed 120% both in Volume 2 and as a series is the work done by Haley as a translator. While the manga shares facts over fiction, localizing a series that is built from one cultural perspective on sex to another is a tall order. n that note, Haley doesn’t skip a beat.

Sex Ed 120% is a series that I think every teen should read, and some adults too. I mean, even the opening page teaches readers that in order to test finger pressure they should put their finger in the inside of their cheek before trying to please their partner. This is also where I should step back and say, while I’ve been very focused on teenage girls, and the main characters of the series are girls, there is also a lot for teen boys to learn as well. With the opening chapter, Tsuji explains the pressure on men to remove their foreskin and dives into the truth that that doesn’t present any health benefits, having a conversation with two young men who pass by the girls’ health PE class while on a jog. This bridge works to help readers feel included and hopefully will work to teach boys as well. However, it should be noted that as of now, SexEd 120% is working on a model of sexual education from a gender binary.

That said, Sex Ed 120% is just damn great and perhaps the most important manga I’ve read all year – or ever. It’s a series that offers a real education with humor along the way.

Sex Ed 120% Volume 2 is available now wherever books are sold digitally and physically.