The School of Water Business

The School of Water Business (都立水商!) is a manga series created by Shinobu Inokuma, the author of Salad Days. It is based on a novel by Hikaru Murozumi, and is set in a fictional trade-school—that focuses on the mizu shōbai—located in the Kabukichō district of Shinjuku, Tokyo.

The school's focus is to give students their last chance in the school system. Classes are divided into occupations such as hostesses, hosts, "managers" (from waiters to actual managers), "geibaa" ("gay bar" but is a more comedic view of males dressing and acting like females) and, finally, "soapgirls". The School of Water Business is an ecchi series but has shown far less skin than some of the "softer" translated series. The series is mostly a romantic comedy but also mixes in many positive messages about life, work, friendship, and other topics.

Characters
The volume number denotes the character's first appearance. The actor/actress is the person that was cast for the character in the TV special.


 * Keisuke Tanabe (田辺 圭介): Sociology teacher (vol. 1)
 * Akane Yoshioka (吉岡 あかね): Fuzoku Course Director (vol. 1)
 * Shigeo Yagura (矢倉 茂): Headmaster (vol. 1)
 * Akemi Kondo (近藤 明美): Hostess Course Director (vol. 1)
 * Toshihito Takei (竹井 俊仁): Host Course Director (vol. 1)
 * Makoto Ono (大野誠): Gay Bar Course Director (vol. 1)
 * Tadao Kurosawa (黒沢 忠夫): Manager Course Director (vol. 1)
 * Michiko Yazawa (矢沢 道子): Music teacher (vol. 6)
 * Mari Oda (小田 真理) (Mari Koyama in TV version): Fuzoku Course student (vol. 1)
 * Daichi Nagasawa (長沢 大地): Manager Course student (vol. 1)
 * Masashi Ito (伊東 雅史): Athletics Director (vol. 1)
 * Izumi Eto (江藤 いずみ): Fuzoku Course student (vol. 1)
 * Kikuzo Sakuma (佐久間 菊蔵): Chairman of the Tokyo Metropolitan School Board (vol. 1)
 * Teppei Suga (須賀 鉄平): Gay Bar Course student (vol. 1)
 * Ryoko Akagi (赤木 良子): Fuzoku Course student (vol. 3)
 * Mayuko Maruyama (丸山 真由子): Hostess Course student (vol. 4)
 * Sawa Sugabayashi (杉林 佐和): Manager Course student (vol. 5)
 * Sanae Yamashita (山下早苗): Hostess Course student (vol. 6)
 * Reira Yamaguchi (played by: Risa Kudo): Hostess Course student (vol. 8)
 * Miwa Nagasawa (長沢 三葉): Hostess Course student (vol. 9)
 * Ayame Hanao (花尾 あやめ): Hostess Course student (vol. 9)
 * Komachi Nakajima (中嶋 小町): Hostess Course student (vol. 11)
 * Etsuko Yamaguchi (TV only; played by: Mariko Tsutsui)
 * Moe Akiba (TV only; played by: Aki Hoshino)
 * Kyoto (TV only; played by: Kenji Anan)