Reviews for Prison School

It sucks - 9/10 This is a perfect review of the series. Manga is pretty much on point until it passes roughly ~80% of work. Most of the read is extremely enjoyable, fun, exciting, intense, erotic, feel-good experience that I had pleasure of familiarizing myself with for (almost) three days, before the work started showing signs of injury on better part of last day. Crazy adventures, situations, troubles, laughs and disasters our cast goes through in their lives is pretty much the definition of youth everyone would like to experience, maybe, to their own risk. Then, sadly, two things happen. 1) Prolongation 2) Bad ending First, it draws out,for a while, then, as many already said, worst ending happens, essentially enraging everyone and justly so. Why? Because it's not a proper ending, you can't even call it one. To be frank, it's so silly (in a bad way) I'm not even taking it as a genuine conclusion. It's just not believable whatsoever and it should be disregarded as such. That is not to say I'm attempting to delude myself into not accepting Akira Hiramoto's decision-making. It's there, yes, yet it can always be altered, buuuuuuuuuuut, that's the writer's duty, not mine.

Anyway, the ending itself is completely irrelevant in my eyes and I'd like to mention that if there was a reconstruction of aforementioned remaining 20% (to the better, of course), more precisely when the story started dragging, it would be 11/10 in a heart beat, that's how amazing the manga was. I shall mention several concise spoilers at the bottom of this text for few who wish to understand exactly why people dislike it so much without indulging into reading it all.

Now, I shall briefly display all volumes' ratings:

arc 1 - 10/10 - vol 1. - vol 9. <-- anime adaptation(ch. 1-88)

arc 2 - 10/10 - vol 10.- vol 17.<-- a 'would be' s2 (ch. 89-166)

arc 3 - 10/10 - vol 18.- vol.22.<-- best part of manga (ch. 167-218)

arc 3 - 6/10 - vol 23. & vol24.<-- starts dragging (ch. 219-238)

arc 3 - 7/10 - vol 25. <-- a false glimpse of hope (ch. 239-248)

arc 4 - 6/10 - vol 26. & vol27.<-- full standstill (ch. 249-268)

arc 4 - 1/10 - vol 28. <-- a complete catastrophe (ch. 269-277)

(22*10)+(6*2)+7+(6*2)+1/28=9.0 = 9/10

So, overall, we can conclude it's a great series, though, when ending is included, it ruins all work invested, and severely cripples established impression and rightly so.

Lastly, I shall now mention what I was dying to mention this whole time, and my overall perception on the whole thing. Those of you who do not wish to be spoiled and wish to read/continue reading the manga, which I still firmly believe it's worthy of such an action, please cease to feast your eyes on this God-given gift of content, and derail your attention elsewhere.

!CAUTION!WARNING! Spoilers ahead !CAUTION!WARNING!

Basically, while digesting from vol. 26 ahead there were so many errors it's not even worth hairsplitting every detail. I'll just mention 'no-no' moments which pop into my mind as I'm writing.

Mari vanishes without explanation and she's essentially never touched upon again, even though she's one of the main characters. Mari mentions she's dropping from school around end. No explanation. She was my favorite character and for some of you as well. Let that sink in.

None of the boys or girls are confirmed to end up together, it's simply left vague and unclear. Only pair that is successful out of all people is with Risa and that disgusting slob Andre.

No epic last scene wet t-shirt event or no full cast happily hanging around some sort of barbeque, beach or whatever.

Oh and the whole Chairman arc was unnecessary filler, if you just had him appear towards the climax of cavalry battle, it would take away nothing from the experience.

Most importantly, who does Kiyoshi end up with? It's what everyone wonders, right? When it comes to Mari, it's just discontinued like it never existed. Kiyoshi rejects Hana at very end and successfully confesses love to and is accepted by Chiyo but in such a repulsive, rushed and forced fashion it feels crappy, like a punch to the gut. To be honest, it was clear whoever Kiyoshi ends up with wasn't gonna satisfy everyone because the writer himself couldn't decide, nor care. Obviously, he would end up with one of them and whoever shipped one of the other two would be left, at least, pouting at the result, which is an okay, acceptable solution. Hell, I'd even be okay with harem ending. But even after that, KiyoshixChiyo also failed, because, well, because Kiyoshi wore Hana's panties, and that was too much for Chiyo. And, then, Chiyo becomes man-hater - the End. This... This, this was just sacrilege. After delaying this finale for two volumes just to not deliver it properly at all, it's better to scrap the whole thing and wish for a better end. Manga felt like it needed two-three more volumes at the very least though preferably, say, five volumes and a better, not forced, but smooth and satisfying finish which it failed to deliver.

tl;dr

kiyoshi x mari - no ending

kiyoshi x hana - no, at last moment (awfully unveiled)

kiyoshi x chiyo - yes, at last moment (awfully unveiled), and then no, wtf

gakuto x mitsuko - no ending

shingo x anzu - no ending

joe x satou - no ending

andre x risa - yay, who cares

Prison school, a downhill chronicle. This manga is the perfect example of what happens when the author runs out of ideas and begins experimenting with useless plot twists, destroying the character development and the whole story in the process. I am disappointed, the ending rambles and feels forced. Also, it will give you the impression it was incorrectly planned and misplaced. Perhaps Prison School lost the main essence in the middle of the manga, and the editor wanted to conclude it as quickly as possible. A shame because the story in the first arc is marvelous, creative, exciting, and amusing. The mangaka created a diamond,and we finished with a piece of coal burning in the sunset.

When I started reading this manga, I was amazed by the characters and the plot idea. The story setting is perfect. Furthermore, the author combined many smart concepts such as school life, girls, boys, jokes, mixed them in jail and make a hilarious and fantastic ecchi comedy with adult content that isn’t repulsive for the average mature readers. Immediately, I found myself identified with Meiko, yes Meiko (I am a bit like her in several ways). The other characters such as the boys are great. Seeing these poor guys falling into a deeper hole after every chapter without exit was enjoyable. Each new situation/plan added a new climax with lots of humoristic turns, unexpected developments, and original theme. Prison School was unique doing that.

However, as the manga advances (middle of the manga), the characters went down the cliff from heaven to hell and died in the process. This disjuncture destroyed Kyoshi personality, and all his background is flushed out. What is left is a story without a sense that starts being repulsive and incoherent if we compare Kyoshi’s reasons from the first chapters. Sadly, the writer builds a weird plot repeatedly. In the end, we are tired of the same events that begin in the half of the story. In addition, the manga introduces some useless threads such as Mari’s dad or the science fiction ending of the cavalry arch to name some.

For some readers and I can include myself, the manga has some disgusting parts but after all Prison School is an ecchi manga. However, the writing level of the first half cannot be compared to the stupid concept of the other half. Thus, leads me to question if the author decided to follow a different perspective where the background of all the characters was burned in the magazine’s annual BBQ without any explanation. The manga should be balanced and focus on the boys, but in some chapter, you will feel they became puppets and stopped being the main characters. One example, the part where you cannot figure where Shingo is because he disappears for some chapters and better not to talk about Andre and Joh. The other characters such as Hana lost their shine. Furthermore, Hana’s incoherent behavior at the end is unexplained. Please, do not come to say that it is implicit (jealous) and it is a psychological mind game because it is not. It is the perfect example of how all the unnecessary plot additions destroyed a character, and it leads to nonsense where you cannot appreciate her traits anymore (check: frog chapter). About Meiko, although I liked her story, I am biased because I feel very related to her. All the mess exaggerated the character’s personality to the point that we cannot understand them anymore and their decisions are very awkward and do not fit with their attributes or the main plot itself.

On the other hand, the biggest mistake was saturating the story with additional events and not following the basic “jail idea” of the first half. Leaving the boys as secondary characters is disastrous, and at the end, we will feel some of their actions forced and silly. Lucky for us, they just animated the first chapters and those are the best ones. The manga in some point broke from being an interesting ecchi comedy to a yayoi experiment then turned to porn and ended as trash. Hey, I know it is ecchi. However, there is a difference between ecchi and porn. The author forces the boundary several times.

Lastly, the ending. It is vulgar, unacceptable. It is idiotic and lacks imagination; it is not coherent. Maybe the storyteller wanted to test something untypical, but a mangaka shouldn’t be mocking the readers with an absurd finale. I don’t need spoiling anyone so I will save all the comments about it.

The art and the dynamics of each panel are excellent. You can feel the story in all the panels, and it leads you to keep reading. The first volumes will hook the reader because the art is very detailed and the structure of the page. Sadly, the main plot died in the mid part of the manga, and the art became irrelevant in the end. Honestly, I read it because I wanted to know the ending but I feel empty and angry after finishing the manga a masterpiece ended as a piece of trash because the manga imploded with a story that lost the real Prison School meaning.

This manga is extremely funny. Several times I have busted a gut laughing. The reason I find Kangoku Gakuen so good is because of the characters. The main guys are all unique. The story becomes rather serious dealing with things such as betrayal, and humiliation; sometimes this is funny but at other times it is sad. The comedy is over the top, it's just hilarious. Another good thing about this manga is that you can feel the emotions certain characters are feeling. These characters (at least to me) can be something people can relate to; I have pooped my pants once (never in school). Tosum this up give School Prison a chance. It's amazing, it's something you have to see with your own eyes. The art is amazing as well.

Final Score as of chapter 46 - 10/10

This is my first review, so sorry if it sucked and it probably did. And for those who say "how can this guy even review this, Kangoku Gakuen is not even done" - well, I know Kangoku Gakuen can only get better. It's like the snowball effect, just epic.

This is one of the funniest thing i've ever seen, read or even experienced. Period. First of all the art is stunning, it's actually what lead me to read this. It doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl, the manga is just visually appealing from beginning to end (of course if you happen to like women this is, well some sort of pervy heaven xD); every single detail, every single action, everything is perfect. Then the characters: oh the characters. There's no such thing as a dull character here, they all have their thing that makes them unique and great in their own way,you won't forget anyone, and you'll miss them if they're not around. And last but not least is the story, the plot is let's say "simple" but that doesn't mean is boring, or bad, actually everything that happens is completely unexpected and unpredictable. They manage to disguise serious issues like bullying, betrayal, jealousy and many others with such hilarity and cleaverness that you will overlook the fact that actually pretty ugly stuff happens in this series main storyline. God this is just so fun and so refreshing to read, the kind of humor presented in this series is so so so basic yet so so so damn good... I sincerely hope this ends as good as it started, or at least as silly. Ah I sound like a teenage girl in love, do i?. I really really really love this manga and I hope everybody else does too.

Prison School is the funniest manga I've ever read. It has great comedic buildup, serious characters getting into ridiculous situations, and stupid humor matched with realistic art. The characters are likable and the ships are good but I think its the art style that really set this series apart It was quality entertainment up until around 200 chapters in when it got sidetracked and started to drag. It went downhill after that. The series just wasn't the same as the early chapters. They brought the romance up front and set the comedy aside. The last half of the series have been nothing but a drag, Idont know, the author was probably milking it out for as long as he can. Binge-reading it helped, but the readers have been suffering for a long time, the ending came as a great relief.

Now, the ending, I thought it was a very fitting way to end the series. The last chapter really felt the most Prison School-like the series has ever been, but the buildup was just unnecessarily long. Even with the very satisfying twist, it still felt incomplete. The upcoming epilogue will probably help, but tbh I'm not expecting much.

Prison School deserves a read, despite the quality drop, there is still nothing like it. Just expect a much slower pace starting the cavalry battle arc

This review WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. It will be discussing the very big drop-off of humor and story that happened towards the end, as well as the horrendous ending that the readers received. I will, even with that being said, try and not spoil much. Just don't read the overall score, but honestly, I think I'd save your time if you do read it. So I was going to just talk about the story, but I wrote too much about it. I'll use the format the reviewer gives me and try and make it as compact as possible. Art: Really good. I mean,duh. That's kind of the appeal of the entire story. Just lots of nudity; well drawn nudity. I'll be giving that a 9. Not only that, but it manages to always capture the scenes perfectly, which in this absurd manga, you have to give credit where it's due; it does the job, and it does it right.

Character: The characters are great... except they're not, really. They're odd. Kiyoshi, for example; he's a good kid, but he's also extremely contradictory in the actions he takes. I get that everything is exaggerated, but it doesn't work sometimes. The exaggerations are taken too far occasionally, and it ends up messing up with the character and what they REALLY would've done in specific situations. I'll be giving it a 7.

Story: Bad. Oh man it's bad. Well, it's good til about halfway through. We have the comedy we wanted and the jokes aren't used over and over again at this point. Hana's pissing thing was funny until the whole "under-the-infirmary-bed" thing, then it started running dry, no pun intended. It was bland, dull humor; the jokes were all re-used by the end of the story, and the only "haha, what comedy!" moments we had was the ending. It wasn't even funny, either. I'm all for shock humor but that ending was actually just a punch in the gut. It's as if the author didn't give a singular shit about the story they spent 4 years writing and drawing. Why Hiramoto? Just why? That ending was the equivalent of being dragged through shit for a month, waiting in agony to see what doomed future Chiyo and Kiyoshi will have, and then you just pull that stupid shit? Not only that, but you get rid of literally every character in the meanwhile as well. You should've just killed everyone, that would've actually been somewhat funny. I'm giving it a 4. If I had to rate only half the story, I would give it an 8. It was actually hilarious until the half-way point.

Enjoyment: 8. Yes, as much as I hated the ending to the story, I can't deny that the story itself was full of comedy, for at least most of it. Did I wish I never even read this cursed story? Yeah, kinda, honestly. Did I anyways? Yep. Did I laugh my ass off, for at LEAST the majority of the time I spent reading it? Guilty as charged. Therefor I can't bring it in me to give this anything lower than an 8.

Overall: 6. The story is the main shit-factor of this manga. "Oh, but it's a comedy ecchi/basically hentai story! How can you expect there to be actual story?"

Here's a tip, Hiramoto. I'm just a starting writer so maybe I'm being real cocky, or maybe I'm just plain wrong, but the number one thing you DON'T do in a story is lie to the reader. Don't make us think that there's a reward at the end if you're just going to leave some image of you laughing in the face of every single idiot who read the book til the end.

That ending was an insult, honestly. It's like the readers-enjoyment equivalent of being blue-balled, then subsequently punched in the balls, then being mocked for not being able to take the hit. And I hate that I can't give the story a lower score, because it was actually REALLY GOOD for the first half; in the end, however, it just turned into a story that ran completely out of steam and had to be "ended" because... well, who the hell knows. Maybe Hiramoto got sick of what he was writing? Maybe he hates all men, and wanted to prove some type of point in the sick world he made? Man, who the actual hell knows.

This is becoming too ranty, so I'm going to stop it here. Overall rating 6. Be careful with your expectations of the ending. Maybe April 2018 will give us something.

Fuck Prison school. Don't waste your time on this manga unless you want to experience the most cruel and sadistic joke that an author can play on his fans. Everything that makes this manga good relies on the suspense and hope that these shitty characters will eventually triumph. For the most part this works. I was invested in seeing things working out for the characters. Unfortunately none of that matters when you don't have any pay off because every relationship and plot thread that is being built up over the course of this manga is completely unresolved or ends terribly.

I cant even say how mad i am right now. I watched the prison school anime and i really enjoyed it, it hit directly my humour. After i finished it i wanted to read the manga and i really enjoyed it till the last chapter. I loved the characters, the artstyle, the music (from the anime), i loved everything, it was one of my favourite mangas of all time, but the last chapter completely destroyed everything for me. The way that prison school ended was the worst ending i have ever seen in manga history. If it had ended one chapter earlier it would have beena 10/10.

It is 4:19 am as I write this review. It's been three hours and I've completed about 100+ chapters and this is some mature funny shit. This manga is extremely mature as in lots of pantsu, big breasts and ero angles. If you like funny jokes about hurting (s&m) people this is the manga you're looking for. The story is about five males entering the prison as punishment for opeeping at the girls change room. The manga shows their struggle and their bond with each other as males.

In some way, Prison School is a unique manga. Since the very first chapters it can be noticed that this story is pretty different from most of the typical japanese stories about sexually obsessed teenagers. The school, where everything is happening, has more than a thousand female and only FIVE male students. Nevertheless, the story almost lacks any references to harem or any stereotypes that are often present in such kind of stories. After facing some plot twists, it's most likely that you want to keep on reading it with interest. And after facing some awkward situations, it's most likely that you laugh your head off. Thoughfanservice is more than 50% percent of the whole manga, the relationship between characters is described rather seriously. You will face the themes of friendship, love, betrayal and humiliation. You will see the characters from different sides and start feeling with them, even if you were ready to punch them recently.

Finally, the brightest pearl of the manga is its outstanding art. It expresses the characters' emotions as perfectly as it is possible. And it is so impressive that you can even disconnect from the reality sometimes.

While being very entertaining, this manga will kill your bad mood as brutally as you can imagine. If you are not an ardent fanservice hater, you are sure to love it!

-!Spoilers bellow!- -I will only talk about the ending- (sorry for the bad english, I am from south America) Prison School is a masterpiece 10/10. Great art, great characters, and a marvelous story. Well yes it has some flaws, but most of the complain i see is from the end of the series, I HATE IT, i almost screamed in frustration when i read that. But its the perfect ending, and is the fact that every one hates it that make it so brilliant, through the manga we follow the story of 5 douche bags, they are NOT HEROES,they only make fucked up shit and the plot only begins because they get caught doing literally sexual harassment, and yet, we sympathize with they story, we are mostly on their side, but what about the other side?

The other side of the spectrum are the girls, it doesn't matter if they are a friend or a foe, the boys are always trying to abuse or benefit from then, but it doesn't make the girls a victim, they are as bad, if not worse than the boys. The 5 are isolated, they are exotic animals to the women there, and they keep "messing up" (for a lack of better words) with the boys, the President puts then in horrible situations to her own benefit, like the bonner episode, she sacrifices everything to her own good. the vice pres. keeps physically abusing the 5, and Hana is the worse, she keep trying to shame Kiyoshi after the accident, she could forgive him and forget what happened, but her own pride keeps her going, the same pride that is responsible for this bitter ending, and eventually she herself succumbs, when she mistook the first sexual experience she had for love for Kiyoshi.

What is my point you are asking, what this rambling is for? My point is: EVERY ONE OF THE CHARACTERS ARE A BUNCH OF DIPSHITS, there are no one that is entirely good or bad, there are no hero nor villain, they are people, even worse, they are TEENAGERS, they have flaws, although the boys have known each other since childhood, they constantly backstab each other for own benefice, the girls have a superiority complex so great that they still hate the 5 after all the sacrifice they have done, and yet there are one person that is different, one person that through the story remained pure, Chiyo.

I never liked Chiyo, in a cast full of interesting and well written characters, i always tough she was extremely bland. After all the shit Kiyoshi have done, she still likes him, she doesn't complain, her personality is being good and comprehensive, but she isn't a god, and she finally breaks in the end.

The ending is great, because the protagonist *doesn't* win, he losses and deserves to lose, because after everything he went through, he still is a bad person, even he admits: "I am a coward and a pervert, a sick wimp". And being a son of a b*tch, he gets what he deserves, but still, WHY THIS MAKES EVERYONE SO FRUSTRATED?

Because we sympathize with Kiyoshi, we sheer for the bad guy, that's why we hate the ending, because it is a final flip off of the author, not for the charterers he created, but for us, the readers, you need to have steel balls to say a" Fuck You" to your readers, and the worse part? we deserve it.

The ending is great.

After finishing the anime, I excitedly started reading the manga, and it was amazing! As I read the manga and witness the development of the relationships the main characters have built, I started to feel more involved in the characters. I was anxious to see how they got out of tricky situations brilliantly, and everytime they succeeded, I celebrated with them. Then the ending. Imagine cooking a big pot of ramen broth. You wake up early in the morning at 5am and start preparing the broth. Along the way you face many difficulties such as your flame dying out, but each time you managed to get throughthe difficulties. Your customers wait patiently in anticipation as night time arrives, and the soup has been simmering for an entire day. Then, 1 hour before the broth is done, you start adding more water for no reason. The customers are appalled. Why are you adding so much water, and extending the cooking time for no reason? However, the wait is over. The soup is about to be served. Then you dip your balls in the soup and shit all over it, and proceed to pour the shit and ball-stained soup down the drain.

Basically, what I'm saying is, the author decided to give an ending so horrible, the manga might as well have not been written at all. He took me through 277 chapters just to reverse all the character and relationship developments in the end. The greatest joke in the manga is the manga itself.

Prison School is a masterpiece. That may be a hasty thing to say considering that it is not completed yet. It could turn mediocre at one point in time, or the already high levels of fan-service could skyrocket to the point of no plot... It won't though. Prison school is ecchi manga with a awesome plot on the side. Our plot starts with Kiyoshi, a fun loving guy who wants to have a sweet girlfriend, and four other boys (with similar interests) going to an all-girls school that just recently became co-ed. During the opening ceremony they realize that they are the only boys in a schoolwhich has over a thousand female students.

This situation causes to boys to naturally form a strong bond with each other as men.

One night they decide to go peeping on the girls bath.

After a great deal of shenanigans, which includes Kiyoshi going directly into the bath, they are caught by the student council and are sentenced to stay in an old prison on school grounds for a month.

Stuck behind bars, and being subjected to all kinds of "'inhumane" treatment, these boys must stick together in order to withstand their hellish school life.

the story never disappoints with its twists and turns as you watch these boys grow into men.

And by men I mean perverted masochistic bastards who do nothing but piss off all the women around them.

The author is always throwing new, interesting, and downright hardcore things for the characters to do. There is never a dull moment.

Speaking of characters, There are five male protagonists:

Kiyoshi, the star of the series who never ceases to shine. He is nice guy who just wants to have a normal romance filled school life. Out of all the guys he is the most "normal."

Morokuzu, the glasses wearing otaku who is willing to anything to help out his friends. He is the backbone of the group. Even while being subjected to all forms of abuse he still keeps a cool head and takes the hits for his friends.

Shingo, the slick ladies man, who keeps his hair slicked back and resolve in his pocket. His only wish is freedom. He will do anything to be on the outside world.

Andou, the big man with a small face. He is quiet, unless he is talking of his darkest desires. Strong, silent, and enjoys a good beating. He is the brawn of the crew.

Jouji Nezo, The mysterious hooded man of few words. He is cursed with a disease that causes him to cough blood involuntarily. Because of the pain, he uses expletives in nearly every sentence, whether he needs them or not. He is caring, forgiving, intelligent, and can handle himself in a fight. He is the jack of all trades.

Jouji is my favorite character. He grows as a person much faster than all the other characters.

His lines while short, are hilarious.

His constant suffering is reflected in his personality, but he never dicks around like the rest of the crew.

His high pain tolerance, caused by years of grief, make him the most mentally strong character in the cast

I never fail to have a good time if Jouji is on the page.

The art is amazing.

The author draws quality art quickly. The scenery, designs, and expressions are some of the best on the market.

I am really enjoying Prison School.

The typical twenty page chapters never disappoint.

I cannot wait to see the direction which this story goes and the paths the characters take.

Best wishes for the future,

Fortisimuss.

Prison School is a masterful entrapment of the run-of-the-mill generic rom-com readership. Most reviews of this manga criticize its ending; I think this is the ultimate proof of the absolute genius behind how it ends. I say this without a hint of irony: If you read Prison School and are upset by the ending, you have been successfully trapped and summarily punished for your base thinking. Your preconceptions have been preyed upon. You have been played. I think to really appreciate, to really ENJOY the deranged ending of this manga you might benefit by reading and having an understand of common rom-com manga and their tropes.I believe it's something that is difficult to understand without the proper context, and I can see why on the surface people are generally quick to disparage the ending. But I promise you, just because it is difficult to understand does not make it bad.

I have thought about this deeply for months and months now. 10/10, best ending to any piece of media I've ever read.

Hey guys. :) This ... thing, that manga is just so so epic. You can't find look alikes mangas any better than this one. Well of course, I'm hasty that's for sure, it could still turn mediocre later, but in my opinion I guess not. Its fan-service, its art, characters and storyline are so unique that I think keeping up like that, on those high-levels would certainly come to a brilliant succes. Akira-sensei is back with this manga so he'll surely make his possible to not let it down. Anyway, for now at least (chapter 76 at this moment) I laughed my ass off, it's mind-blowingly awesome! :D

Seriously, I don't regret it.

P.S : It's my first review so, I don't know if this helps, but I promise that until now, it's really worth it.

So to start this manga can get fairly ecchi and so if that kind of thing bothers you then don't read this. If you can look past that then this manga can be very enjoyable. It is incredibly funny and when I was reading through it I found myself laughing so much that it hurt. The characters, the scenes, the stupidity its all funny. However another great thing about this manga is the character development and how each character develops into a better, or weirder, person. It's quite a good tale of brotherhood and humor.

ONE OF THE MANGA EVER MADE "Prison School", written by Akira Hiramoto for Young Magazine, is a curious manga: it has an absurd premise and the clear intention of fusing lewdness, eroticism, humor, and tension in an interesting wrapper capable of holding the reader's attention by the exponential absurdity of the story. While using a competent comic strip technique and an artistic approach close to realism, the author consciously extrapolates common sense and scientific knowledge of human anatomy to produce extravagant moments that sustain the work and motivate reading by successfully executing the central idea of the manga - that is, a set of misadventures groundedin humor and sexual perversion (that almost reach pornographic levels in the display), without taking itself too seriously.

Unfortunately, and as I will outline below, the narrative and textual structures gradually decay throughout the chapters, turning a great work into an expendable manga that frustrates the reader's interest. In order to avoid spoilers, this review is focused on describing and analyzing the general foundations of the manga, without further descriptions of events.

By the way, even if there is no mention of the rumors surrounding the author's supposed dissatisfaction with his manga and the publisher's pressure to maintain the serialization, these are factors that may justify the course adopted throughout the run.

English isn't my native language, so forgive me for my mistakes and weak grammatical constructions.

A STRANGE FIRST STEP, BUT NOT IN A "PRISON SCHOOL" WAY

Preliminarily, and in order to guide first-time readers, it is important to highlight the composition and structure of the first chapter: it is a very insufficient chapter that does not do justice to the rest of the manga. As the first introductory section, with the ability to retain the audience the most, the introduction presents great difficulties in establishing and concretely defining the elements of the proposal: given the focus on Kiyoshi and his mental notes about the new environment (an orientation tool for the reader himself), the initial stage distances the other boys and does not even introduce the antagonists.

It is clear that the author's intention is not the build-up of a rivalry through characterization, but rather the presentation of attention-grabbing moments, and this conscious choice will lead to big problems in the following arcs. In case you don't know the anime version or don't hold with the promise of a romantic development between Kiyoshi and Chiyo, the first chapter, even if with an interesting visual composition (good frames and angles, complemented with an artistic style with plenty of details) and good overall structures, may drive away those interested in what "Prison School" really proposes: an absurd and graphic comedy with no commitment to common sense throughout 278 chapters.

WAIT... A SOLID START?

After a somewhat lukewarm and dysfunctional beginning, the manga starts to deliver its true nature and values already in the second chapter, and here it is valid to reinforce the general comment of this review: the manga "Prison School" does not take itself too seriously. The lack of seriousness is not only extracted from the "comedy" genre, which presupposes a good humor of the story (after all, a comedy work can present and deal with serious themes), but also from the gradual absurdity of the situations that distances the verisimilitude of the work and stretches the reader's suspension of disbelief. In other words, given the textual and visual presentation of the manga, there is no reason to treat the events and, on a general level, the manga itself with seriousness or depth.

That said, the first major arc of the manga is exceptionally great in almost everything: from the contrast between a more realistic artistic approach, with creative framing, and the physical absurdity of situations, you get a set of 81 chapters that are shocking and fun to follow. There are minor details that persist at this stage of the manga, such as the excessive repetition of scenes with Meiko, absence of Jouji, Reiji and Shingo for most of the arc, and the lack of closeness with the antagonists (with the exception of Hana, who is responsible for starring in an excellent sequence of 6 chapters).

In general, and even with these small signs of wear (hyper focus on the protagonist, distancing from the other characters, and a certain repetition of similar occurences), the manga manages to develop its creative events at a great pace and sense of progression, with very few tedious moments and no major commentary or thematic approaches.

THE DEFINITIVE JUSNATURALIST CRITIQUE OF THE JAPANESE PRISON SYSTEM?? NO? OKAY

After a consistently good first arc, the author tries to introduce, through transitional chapters, new environments and relationships that serve as a "reward" to all the stressful, exhausting, and physically and mentally violent scenarios that the main group have been through. These chapters are more episodic and lighter in narrative, giving a calming atmosphere to the manga and being very satisfying. In the background, a new problem to the plot is being set up: the role reversal with the antagonists - and it is at this point that the work begins to wear thin. The author spends the transition chapters and the overwhelming part of the second arc on an artificial empathy building that doesn't work immediately: because he didn't develop these characters in the first arc, the narrative feeling of reading it is that the work starts again from scratch, with new focus and circumstances, and not that there is a sense of continuity.

At this stage, the choices made by the author are questionable, to say the least: early in the arc, the reader is distanced from the more charismatic characters introduced in the first arc in favor of establishing interactions with the new characters. However, this distancing is not well justified or leveraged to the extent that the new experiences are predictable within that "empathy" context (such as the behaviors of Takehito and Reiji in the first third of the chapters). No event actually arouses the same level of interest as in the first arc.

This is the main problem: it would not be a problem if "empathy" served only as a plot tool to facilitate the reader's acceptance of the characters on screen. Instead of this, the author stretches the dramatic contexts of each character over several chapters, establishing an exaggerated dramaticity in a work that treated these episodes in a clear tragicomic tenor, with almost no seriousness. In some cases, the comicalness is maintained to a certain degree (Risa), in others it just doesn't work well (Meiko and Kate).

It is definitely a dragged out arc that fails to hold the interest until its 2/3, at which time there is the return of Kiyoshi to the spotlight, ensuring hilarious events between him, Mari and Chiyo, as well as the presence of more cooperative situations between the cores of characters (mainly in the final stages of the arc), a late fruit of the aforementioned "empathy". This slowness of pace becomes so structural that a schizoid phenomenon occurs: the "true conclusion" of the events is spread over a very long set of transitional chapters and another arc, commented in the following topic. The only element that can keep the reader interested is the interaction between the characters, fruit of the "empathy" planted in the first and second arcs.

Before moving on to the next topic, it is worth highlighting the final chapters of the transition involving the character Hana. They are possibly the best chapters of the entire work, with their monumental apex being chapter 178: the greatness of "Prison School" is condensed in this genius chapter. And again, the character Hana establishes her protagonism in the best sequences of the entire work.

IT WAS ALL A METAPHOR - WE, THE READERS, WHO ARE IN A PRISON

Finally, the arc that would conclude the problems and conflicts presented in the previous chapters begins. And, also, the decadence of "Prison School" begins. The infamous "school tournament arc" is one of the greatest atrocities ever written by modern man: there are 41 chapters in which absolutely nothing happens. Zero progression. Zero development. Zero involvement. There is no way to describe the fatigue while reading these chapters, with hours spent in endless repetition: the manga version of haruhi's endless eight. Even genuinely comical circumstances (chapter 209, for example) are spoiled due to the length and repetition of ideals.

This arc condenses all the pacing and plot problems that were growing in the previous chapters, but does not present any counterpart sufficient to remedy these defects, unlike the first arc (a gripping plot) and the second arc (good interactions). Even the sexualization scenes don't work, and the entire comic aspect is diluted in one big tedious sequence, which still has a weak conclusion without much future effect.

CONCLUSION: FREEDOM IS NOT WORTH IT - TOP 10 REASONS TO GO TO JAIL

At last the final arc, the conclusion of everything. But what is left to be solved? In reality, there is nothing left. Even the minor effects of the last arc are quickly resolved at the beginning of this final stage, which still maintains a comical content to the events. However, as the arc progresses, the lack of motivation becomes clear.

Gradually, the immense creativity that marked the first arc of the manga, the good interactions in the second arc, or the humor in the other chapters, is all lost. What is left are lengthy scenes and dialogues that lead nowhere. The erotic scenes themselves have no more creativity and no internal elements of the work have a function other than to extend the duration of a plot that should have ended 100 chapters ago. About the final events of the last chapters, there are not enough words to describe the frustration and the feeling of "well, I wasted my time".

Sadly, "Prison School" is a manga not worth the read. If you want to take a chance, I strongly recommend sticking to the anime alone: it's a great adaptation of the only arc worth following. In the end, all that was left of an initially great work was a great feeling of dissatisfaction.

This manga is very entertaining, I think anyone who is a looking for a good laugh should pick it up. It contains extremely ecchi situations, but most of it is intended to add to the humorous, over-the-top atmosphere of it. Another big plus of this manga is the artwork, the artist's talent is apparent from chapter 1. There is great attention to detail, and the characters are all very distinguishable from one another. Speaking of characters, this is another area where this manga shines. The characters are all very unique with their various quirks. Although some of their habits and fetishes are somewhat strange, it almostmakes them more realistic because let's be honest, human beings are very strange creatures.

The story would probably be the weakest part of this manga, there's a lot that needs to be explained. The idea is interesting, but you really have to just accept some of the things going on because its hard to make sense of it realistically.

I highly recommend this to any guy, although I suppose girls could enjoy it if they want a view into how teenage guys think.

This is not for everyone, but with what this story does it's incredible how great this series is. The art is great, and some times it looks almost Gantz realistic. But, what's really surprising is while this is a super uncensored ecchi series it has great characters, they're all interesting and they all have good development. The story is so ridiculous that it's hard not to like this. I have to stop reading multiple times because I'm just laughing my butt off so much, or because I actually hold my arms up and cheer whenever a character pulls off their goal. Something that is very rarein manga, is super intense suspense. The greats can pull it off like Naoki Urasawa, but Prison School is nail bitingly good. It brings in wall after wall of trouble that the characters have to go through and I swear my heart was racing multiple times reading this.

If you can handle nudity, and sexual themes that accompany Ecchi series, then I'd strongly recommend you to check this out.

Prison School is a nonsensical, lewd, fever dream-esque comedy. Its unique sense of humor and Machiavellian plot twists keep you wondering what will happen next. The writing is sublime. The intricate plot dovetails beautifully with the downright ludicrous, self-aware comedy. The characters are lovingly written and you'll find yourself surprisingly invested in their (admittedly nonsensical) arcs. The illustrations are wonderful. I love the over-the-top expressions the characters have. It's lovingly drawn and all of it is pleasant on the eyes. My one gripe is that the story kind of awkwardly ends. (spoiler) The superintendent ends up in jail, Mari ends up just leaving everyone without so much as a goodbye,and Kiyoshi's romantic arc ends ambiguously. Perhaps Kiyoshi and the superintendent could be ignored, but it bothered me to see Mari, one of the pivotal characters in this story, have such a weak finale.

It would have only taken 1 or 2 more chapters to finish the story properly... Kind of bummed me out that it ended like that.

All in all, despite my complaint about the finale, I think this is still a fantastic manga with cunning writing, ludicrously funny comedy, beautiful illustration and a certain charm that makes you want more and more. I tip my hat to Hiramoto, only his deranged mind could come up with something this genius. I give it a solid 9 out of 10.