Kuso High School, or commonly known as Lawak Kampus (Malay: , ) is an ongoing Malaysian comic series created by Keith Chong Kah Hwee and Zelo Loo Yong Chen. The series began in 2003, published by Kadokawa Gempak Starz.

Lawak Kampus is known as the one of the few long-running comic series in Malaysia. In the 2023 edition of the Malaysia Book of Records, it was recognized as the longest-running four-panel comic strip series. The series has also been published in multiple editions in China, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and other countries.

In its early years, Lawak Kampus primarily focused on the everyday habits and problems experienced by Malaysian secondary school students. However, as the series transitioned to full-color comics and introduced new characters, its scope expanded to cover a wider range of situations. The series also incorporated more elements of parody, absurd humor, and slapstick comedy to depict various issues faced by contemporary Malaysian teenagers.

Lawak Kampus also features real-life mascots, anime characters, entrepreneurs, and well-known personalities to enhance its comedic atmosphere.

Inspiration The creation of Lawak Kampus was not based on a fully planned overarching storyline. It was centered on the concept of sickolah, a portmanteau of the English word “sick” and the Malay word sekolah (“school”). The series uses the four-panel comic format to depict students’ everyday lives while highlighting the distinctive personalities and characteristics of its characters.

Production In 2003, Keith Chong joined the Kadokawa Gempak Starz as a manga assistant. Lawak Kampus was originally developed by , however, the project was handed over to Keith Chong and Zelo Loo due to Michael Chuah's busy work schedule. Around April 2003, Keith Chong collaborated with Zelo Loo, who was the series’ main artist at the time, to produce the Lawak Kampus comic series.

In June 2003, Lawak Kampus began serialization in the Malay and Chinese language comic magazines, appearing in issue 85 of Gempak and the first issue of Comic King, respectively. During December 2003, Zelo Loo left Kadokawa Gempak Starz to pursue studies in Australia, leaving Keith Chong as the sole cartoonist.

In August 2004, the first Malay-language one-volume edition of Lawak Kampus was published. The first Chinese-language one-volume edition went on sale in December 2004.

In 2008, Lawak Kampus was officially licensed for an overseas market for the first time and began serialization in Comic World (), published by Guangzhou Comicfans Culture (), China. During October 2008, the first Lawak Kampus English-language one-volume edition, known as Kuso High School was released. In 2014, Malay-language super-thick collected editions, Lawak Kampus: Komplikasi Mantap was released and marked its milestones for 100,000 copies sales. In 2015, the Lawak Kampus series collaborated with seven other cartoonists and their assistants to produce the short comic series, Lawak Kingdom.

In 2023, Lawak Kampus light novel series was released under Kadokawa Gempak Starz's sub-brand, “Magic Bean” (). On the next year, Lawak Kampus launched the children's educational comic series Campus Junior: 100% Power under the same publishing house's sub-brand, “Learn More!” ().

Copyright infringement incident In late June 2009, readers of the Macau-based Va Kio Daily discovered that the newspaper had allegedly infringed the copyright of Lawak Kampus. Some content from Lawak Kampus Revive had also been published in the newspaper, with the serialization running from mid-May to late June. The comic was credited to the author name “Xiaosisi Yu Nuomici” (), while the original computer-lettered dialogue was replaced with handwritten lettering.

After the incident, the Macao Animation and Manga Cultural Industry Association intervened. In addition to contacting the newspaper's management to negotiate the matter, the association held a press conference titled “Confronting Intellectual Property Rights” on 10 July 2009, calling on all sectors of society to pay greater attention to copyright infringement.

Media Comic Lawak Kampus One-volume edition

Komplikasi Mantap

Lawak Kingdom

Campus Junior: 100% Power

Lawak Kampus: School Daze

Animation Lawak Kampus: School Daze On 1 September 2023, the animated series Lawak Kampus: School Daze premiered in Malaysia and other Asia-Pacific regions. The series was produced by Lil Critter Workshop. Animated shorts in English, Malay, and other Asia-Pacific languages were also released on the LK School Daze YouTube channel and broadcast on Astro Ceria.

Season 1 A total of 52 episodes of Lawak Kampus: School Daze had been release. "Growing Pains" () "Sports Day" () "Zero's Puppet/Talk to the Hand" () "Call Me Antoinette" () "Lunchtime Revolution" () "Hayfever Dreams" () "The Cheat Sheet" () "The Great Unknown" () "The After Party" "Right at Home" () "Art Show" () "Mission Impossibru" () "Prince Charming" () "Robbery Racing" "Ami or Yumi" () "King George" () "Clear and Present Danger" () "Resolution Solution" () "Pedas" () "Drama Queen" "The Alter-Ego's" () "Parkourate" () "GodXena" () "I Wish..." () "Strategi" "The Principal's Friend" "MEOW-ssion ImPAWsible" () "Monthly Special" "Game On!" () "Fit Body Fit Mind" "The BeBlob" () "Home Alone" () "The Date" "Tree Huggers" () "The Alter-Ego's Part 2" "Oh My Lisa" "Mama's Boys" () "The Staff Room" "Friender" "Robot Vanness" "Wifi or Die!" () "Daddy's Girls" () "Class Photo" "Smellraiser" "Careers Day" "Bad Hair Day" "Chatterbox" "Si Kucing's Revenge" () "Zero Love" "Back(side) to the Future" "Bepopple Tea" "Hormone Harmonizer"

Season 2 To be announced.

References