Prison School

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The first arc, which is the prison is so enjoyable and funny that I considered it a masterpiece, specially the anime. The characters are really funny and the story is really interesting and also the ecchi scenes are hot as hell. The art style of the manga is awesome it has a lot of impact because of those serious detailed faces of the characters which makes it really funny. Because what they're doing is something embarrassing but they're faces are that serious which makes the manga a lot more funny.

Though as the story goes on, at the cavalry arc, it becomes boring because the ... arc is so long and the story became boring af, and the characters are not that impactful like before.

Then the ending, the ending is shit, the author trolled us real good. So good the the manga became fucked up but memorable.

This manga is absolutely fantastic, awesome, enjoyable, and funny as. But the ending ruins it all. Though it is supposed to be a gag manga, but damn the ending hurts. Though that being said, the manga is enjoyable and fun despite the ending being shit because the author trolled us.

I have a history with this series. 2012 I believe, I started reading the manga until Chapter 110 or so and paused. A lot of time has passed and the first volume was realesd in my country. So, I read the last volume. This series has a mixed middle part but the first 100 and last 50 chapteres are making this series for me to a 9/10 total. I loved the art and the comedy with good lewd drawings, it was so thrilled ad its peak but the ending hooked me so much that I need to prais it to everone. I cant believe Hiramoto ... delivered the most 10 out of 10 Ending i've ever expierenced besides Codes Geas. I fucking love this ending so do you a favor, start this manga. Its a lewd masterpiece.

After finishing the anime I was beyond excited to see what the manga had in store, the anime ended in such a way that was satisfying but left things open enough for a second season, I loved it, but the manga quickly began to crush my hope for a continuation of one of my favorite storys in recent years. It felt like there was so much potential but the author decided to take things in the one of worst possible directions with the story, terrible cliches and forced pairing, it felt completely different from the first 80 or so chapters which were what we saw ... in the anime. I don't mean to say that the manga is bad but I do not think the story was handled well after the end of the boy's prison arc, reverting one of the main characters their child-self and leaving them in that state for what felt like over a hundred chapters, and so many problems would have been solved if that person had come back to their senses sooner. The Calvary battle/School festival arc went on for way too long but at least the school directors arc was great during that time. The manga was still very funny and had great artwork but I just was not satisfied with the story and I don't want to talk about the ending, I can probably find a more satisfying ending in a doujin than what we got with the official manga and hopefully I will.

Overall it was 100% a very enjoyable read but the ending sours it a lot for me, however I still am going to give a decent rating because I had tons of fun reading it, and in the end I think this manga was really about the journey and not the destination.
HanaXKiyoshi for life

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.

Before reading this manga, I saw the anime and it really make me laught, the jokes were decent, and the whole plot was good. I wanted to read the manga to see if that crazy humour improved in some way. It does for some time, but then gets worse.

The ammount of Ecchi it's overwhelming, of course, this is an ECCHI manga, but exaggerates its use, sometimes up to entire chapters like, the circunstances doesn't matter anymore "lets just put some ecchi here". It gets really anoying and give me the feel that the manga got stucked. On the last volumes the story got really slow ... and with a lot of unnecesary talking.

The characters are as idiot and ridiculous as in the anime, most of the time i dont mind that because this is comedy, that's the point. But sometimes the stupidity it's just too much, making the characters unlikable.

The ending i guess must be taken as a joke but instead i got really mad and got an incredible unsatisfaction feeling. This is probably one of the most mediocre ending in manga.

I dislike ecchi - it is juvenile and lazy.

So how can I give this series a 10/10? Simple: Prison school is a satirical deconstruction of ecchi taken to absurdity. It unapologetically magnifies and caricaturizes ecchi in the same spirit as Golden Boy.

Yes, you read that right, Prison School is the spiritual successor of Golden Boy.

To enjoy this series, you must realize it's a satire on the ecchi genre.

At key points in the story, I've laughed so hard. The "omfg- no way, I can't believe he went there" type of laugh that stems from being surprised. And the mangaka skillfully magnifies and raises the ... stakes panel by panel. In effect, you find yourself taking it in slowly, one panel at a time, just "omfg" laughing it out before moving onto the next panel.

Yet the surprises are within the realm of possibility. At least for me, I can personally relate to the absurdity that surfaces in privacy.

** Story **
This is a character driven manga. The story itself is tenuous, acting as a scaffold for the characters to sandbox in.

** Art **
Excellent. I'm not a fan of the ecchi. I do love the perspective shots (wide angle distortion, telephoto flattening) and use of hyper realism. It's superb.

** Character **
For the most part, I would say the characters are one dimensional adults. There isn't much room for personal development, but I don't mind that for this series.

Hana is the most complex character, IMHO. As bizzare as her character is, I've dated a girl just like her. Minus the physical violence, everything is spot on.

I think it is important to remember that we are talking about a manga that is supposed to make people laugh and not to think it could be something that could actually happen.

This said, i think the story is amazing. I liked particularly the amazing skills Akira has to create embarrassing situations. And I can't say a thing about the art, it is just perfect! All characters have personality and it is coherent along with the story. Also, you have physical appearances for all tastes, not just the classic ecchi with big breasts only (you have plenty of that though haha).

Anyways, I say is ... totally worth it, it will make you laugh - guaranteed!

I can say without doubt or shame that this is the best thing i have ever witnessed... until chapter 81.. after that, then is just not prison school anymore, the atmosphere of joy and suspense is not there, that is a shame because this was a masterpiece (in the beggining) , then is trash.
Even so, this manga is a must read, you just have to toss away the last part, i am not exaggerating here , Hiramoto Akira destroyed what the character were, just don't go further after the good chapters, is a slap to the face what the author did to the reader.

Story - ... 10 funny, ecchi, creative.

Art - 10, it was a great artwork.

Characters - 10 I enjoyed them all

Enjoyment - 10, I could't stop reading

Overall - 10

Obviously all of this taking away the whole fiasco after chapter 81

For me this mangá is like Brazilian funk of mangás, is heavy sexual have too much fan service which spoils the story. But this is bearable compare to the stupidity of the male characters.

Story - 7
I like the story, is solid is some aspects and even uses the famous Stanford Prision Experiment as a sort of base for the hole anime, focusing on comedy instead in true human nature.

Art - 10
Art is where the mangá excedes, it's extremely well, sometimes makes me remember of Bleach a little in some face shoots. The only character that I didn't like the visual was the Fat ... Masochist (Andou Reiji), well, I find him completely ridiculous. Even in a comedy like MM! we have a better M.

Character - 2
All male characters are ridiculous and make stupid decisions, you will find it funny or annoying, for me was annoying, the only characters that I like was the female ones because they at least makes some sense while the males are totally consume with the power of boners to care for anything.

Enjoyment and Overall - 5
It's like I said it before, you'll find it funny and like a lot with this manga or you will not like at all and find it annoying.

So apparently this manga is not rated 10 so I'm going to tell you why it is a 10/10 in my book.

This manga is absolutely stunning. I first watched the anime (which I also highly recommend), and then decided to read the manga about a month or 2 later, and I have to say, its probably one of the best decisions ever. Also, a disclaimer. I haven't read much manga, and this is also my first review so it might be a bit... inexperienced.

I think it's imperative to understand that this manga is written to serve a certain purpose, ... and taking it out of that context detracts from it's overall enjoyment. It's ecchi. It's comedy. And it's over-the-top about it. But other than that it's... not much else. If your looking for some deep "moral of the story" type stuff be disappointed. If your looking for some life-fulfilling stuff look elsewhere. This manga (in my opinion) was made purely to make you laugh while also delivering some of the "good stuff" (as in nudity, boobs, butt, and near-sex encounters), accompanied by a decent storyline to hold it all together. Just barely together. Without further ado...

Story:
Like I said, take it in context of what kind of purpose it serves and then yes it deserves a 10. Yes, there are plot holes, there are parts where the author cheats in the sense that it shows something that the reader could never have known, and yes there are parts that are absolutely impossible and outrageous, but for a manga like this it should be accepted, be the norm. With that said this story is amazingly funny. Just about every chapter has something funny about it and almost every chapter had me laughing my butt off. The situations that arise are outlandish and so funny, but fresh and new each time. You KNOW something crazy is going to happen, but you never know WHEN or WHAT it is, and that provides an aspect of suspense, but in a lighthearted manner. However, some parts of the story do get extremely drawn out, like a college student trying to reach a word count on an essay drawn out. I actually got frustrated once by how much time was spent on one scene. So 9/10 if you want a sensible story, 10/10 if you just want to be entertained.

Art:
10/10. the art is beautiful. the women are beautiful. the men are damn good looking too. Eye candy for everyone. Characters actually match their personalities as well. Quality is sharp. Regardless of the story it depicts, the art solely as images in an art gallery are amazingly well drawn, and an art gallery is where a good portion of the art belongs. I can't recall a chapter, a page, or even a panel where I thought, "oh, that was half-assed".
Also to note since it might bother potential readers, to me there is no such thing as too much fanservice, and if there is I didn't see it with this manga. Fanservice is there and it is over the top but not excessive, and it serves a purpose in the anime, and it breaks up the monotony of the plot quite well. The fanservice isn't blantantly chucked in your face every second it can get, but it seems almost natural for the flow of the plot. If you can't deal with a lot of fanservice, think fanservice is for the weak, or just overall dislike fanservice, stop reading and considering this manga, since the fanservice is one of the integral pieces to this manga's success, as well as plot movement.

Characters:
The characters are for the most part just ordinary high school(?) students. No magic trickery, or alien appearances, or mythological gimmickry here. In fact they seem so ordinary that they are actually realistic. Character development is minimal, but expected. You have one boy that betrays the group, but later returns. You have a couple of guys becoming likable men to the opposite sex, but that's about it for development. The boy's stick through everything because of the promise of boobies and butts. The five of them do change, but individually their motives, their methods, and their mindsets don't. Or doesn't by much.
But, like I touched upon in the art, the character depictions alone warrant at least a 7/10 for them. The drawings just match the characters so well. Kiyoshi being the bashful leader has long bangs hiding his face. Shingo with his blonde hair swept back showing a degree of confidence. Joe-kun's mysteriousness matched with his hooded face. Andre... well Andre's face (or should I say fatness) is just comic relief. Then theres the girls at the school. here's where the character development becomes a bit...blurred because with the exception of Hana-san and Mari, the rest of the girls just about stay the same. One of them actually regresses instead of develops. However, this lack of brain-racking, lack of development further adds to the realism of the characters despite the unrealistic situations they are put in.
In terms of decision-making they're just a bunch of dumb high school boys who want to have fun. They think for the short term, and on top of that they think with their "head" instead of their actual heads. If you can handle that kind of character (and the subsequent fan-service), you will love this manga.
In terms of "can you enjoy the character's dispositions", Yes you can and yes they are very enjoyable. Each boys' and girls' diverse personalities make this manga so much more readable and you never get tired of the antics that result because of their personalities. And don't even get me started on the Principal. He is something else.

Enjoyment:
If you can't tell yet, I enjoyed this manga A LOT. Of course there will be different opinions, but I felt that this manga was totally worth my time. Sit back, enjoy the funny moments, don't think too hard about how the characters got to where they are and you'll enjoy this manga MUCH more than if you analyze their every move. Also Boobs and Butts and Near-sex. That always drives up the enjoyment for hormonal teenagers/young adults who like the female sex (including myself). Broken up, I'd say 2 for art +3 for characters +4 for story +1 for nudity equals 10 for enjoyment.

Overall:
A masterpiece if you don't want to deal with details. Art is amazing, the story is infinitely hilarious, characters are beautiful (in looks, personality, and development), and enjoyment factor is definitely there. Don't overthink this manga too much, sometimes life really is about relaxing, laughing, and enjoying the view of female fanservice. Or pixelated boners. Definitely worth my time, and I think its at least worth a try for everyone.

Peace

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!

Just when I'm starting to move away from manga to manhwa, this one held me back.

The author is a genius. He knows what the readers want. And his art style is amazing. AMAZING.
The story is just as awesome, I don't think I've ever managed to predict any event in this manga correctly. The unpredictability is VERY strong with this one.

You may be annoyed at certain characters at times, but believe me, they get better!

I think I'm addicted. I even read the Japanese version just to be sure I'm not missing anything, despite my almost-non-existent Japanese.
...
Go ahead and read this, it's totally worth your time, even if you're running for president of the USA.

Edit: as of April 6th, 2018: The first arc is still 10/10, then it's a downhill from there.

Did enjoy the premise..Quite different from the normal comedic standpoint..
Started reading the manga after watchng the anime..

Started strong ..The introduction of the setting and the characters were dealt nicely..

The art style was also a little different which added flavour to it..

But fizzled out after the initial prison breakout.The story and pacing became too emphasized on sexual innuendo while neglecting sublime plot points which were never utilised...

Less talk about the ending is better...It got BLEACHED...All of the character developments throughout the manga resulted to null in the last chapter.Many questions remain answered...
...
Did i enjoy PS:- YES
Will i miss it and give it a second read someday:-NO

I know you're not supposed to have spoilers in a review. But given how the reputation of this manga has been pretty much tarnished entirely because of its ending, I will need to divulge some minor spoilers in this review. You've been warned.

Story- 7/10: You don't need to look twice at the synopsis to realize the following about Prison School: It is a dirty, dirty manga. But this manga is different from most ecchi manga for a very specific reason.

That reason is the insanely serious presentation. All of the really naughty and dirty scenarios that take place throughout Prison School are intentionally given way too ... much dramatic fluff. The ironic thing is that the suspense is real, in spite of how dumb the situations are at face value.

But alas, that really only applies to the first two-thirds or so of the story. Towards the 200 chapter mark there's a climax which drags on for so long it feels like a bad Shounen manga [like Air Gear] or something out of Studio Pierrot. After that, it's a brief slog followed by the ever-notorious ending.

Even though I feel like that Prison School still retained some of its twisted, perverse soul to the bitter end, I'll concede that the later parts were the weakest sections by far. Anyways, on to the elephant in the room...

I gotta address the ending. I'll try to do it as spoiler-free as possible. First off, I will concede that it wasn't the best choice it could have been. I think that 3-5 resolution chapters following the climax would've been the best solution. I will also concede that the ending was definitely abrupt. If there was an extra page or two to use as an establishing shot to transition into it, then maybe it wouldn't have come off as so ham-fisted.

But it WASN'T as bad as what people said. Look at my list; I'm no stranger to terrible endings! Maybe it's because I expected it to be the worst thing ever, or maybe because I don't partake in a certain "hobby" that's popular in fandoms, but seriously... it was not terrible.

If you end up reading this manga, just don't assume it's going to end in a specific way no matter what the context is and you should be fine(-ish)!

Characters- 8/10: The characters are solid, easily distinguishable design-wise, and about what you'd expect from a manga like this.

The clash between drama and stupidity also enhances the character arcs. A lot of really interesting relationships form around really stupid things, like a yaoi spin on ancient Japanese history, or masochism.

If I were to pick a bad character arc, it would probably have to be the chairman of the school. Even though he's a well-designed, memorable man, he's literally discarded later on and given a sideplot which matters only once in the main story and that's it. Poor guy... but other than that everyone is pretty darn good.

Art- 10/10: In all honesty, the whole review should've been THIS, because THIS is what the whole manga hinges on.

The art is detailed and extremely expressive. To compare this to similar manga, I do think that Grand Blue does this style a lot better. But Prison School's presentation is still bold and powerful by itself.

Enjoyment- 9/10: Yeah, I'm giving this a 9, even after all I've been through. The early and middle parts are so juicy that the later parts merely stopped me from giving this manga a 10/10.

If you're open to seeing a LOT of explicit scenes then by all means, give this manga a try!

Where to start. This manga has a unique ambiance and feeling to it. The characters are all unique and the the dialogue is very crude and absolutely hilarious.

Story: The story is incredibly silly, you have 5 boys attending an all girls school that recently turned co-ed. At this point you would expect the typical harem. That would be the case if this was a typical manga. What actually happens is that the boys get ostracized. After they commit a deed which wont be spoiled, there prison sentence in the school begins. The story isn't important. It is only there as a catalyst for absolutely hilarious ... events and circumstances. I mean hilarious.

Art: The art is fantastic. The ecchi is off the scale.

Characters: The characters dont fit any stereo types and are all incredibly funny.

In short this manga has a lot of ridiculous situations. What makes this manga stand out though is the tone. Everyone in this manga is completely serious. They are so serious in fact that its hilarious in itself.

I finished the anime twice, and I got curious and read the manga. I read the manga all the way through to the end. I sat through that awful cavalry arc. I watied for the wet t-shirt which never came. I was so happy when Chiyo accepted Kiyoshi. Then, they freaking ruined it on the last page. There is no happy ending. It is one filled with anger. My anger, and those who were read along with me. It is not even a good sad ending. It is a half-assed ending. The bros never even got together in the end, they were just floating somewhere ... else in some river.

This used to be about bros being bros, but after chapter 85 it changed to bros getting along with girls. At that point it was already deteriorating. There is nothing wrong with putting girls into the mix, but the bros grow further apart with every chapter.

When I was reading this manga I didn't laugh, which speaks volumes for a comedy series. The jokes became redundant and stopped being funny, the chapters dragged on. In fact, I was feeling pretty stressed while reading this, because the misunderstandings keep piling on top of one another, and their problems are never solved. The characters never get to be happy, absolutely no one gets the last laugh since everyone is so stressed, neither the protagonists nor the antagonists. Do they accomplish anything? No, misunderstandings and problems just keep accumulating until the manga ENDED. So this is just a story without a conclusion. Well, there IS one, but no one is happy since the no one has tried to solve any of their problems. When they DO try, however, nothing changes in the end because they screw up because 1.JUST HURRY UP AND DO IT BEFORE ITS TOO LATE or 2.GODDAMMIT STOP BEING A SIMP. A prime example is when Gakuto was trying to apologize to Mitsuko but failed because he is a greedy simp.

However, there is one aspect I would like to praise this manga for, and that is Risa x Andre. The author has stuck with Andre's masochist setting till the end, and not only that, he broke this setting by introducing him to the kindness of Risa. This is not a bad thing, this shows that Andre is growing as a character, and they are heading towards a healthy relationship. On the other hand, they did a bad job with Joe and his ant-loving setting. After the OVA episode, which is around chapter 85-88 out of 278 chapters, there is not another mention of ants. While this does not bother me considering loving ants is quite restrictive and can stump the author, that is not an excuse to just forget that he had this setting and not even mention it let alone write up an excuse for it when the manga is not even half-way done. Everyone except for Risa x Andre just kinda stopped growing and developing after a while, in fact, they are regressing, and at the end, you feel like nothing has really improved since the beginning of the series, but instead everything got worse. There are some developments with Hana x Kiyoshi, but at the very end, they decided to make Hana a million times more bitchy, pretty much nuking the ship in order to let Chiyo x Kiyoshi set sail, only to nuke it with a shit eating grin, effectively nullifying all developments up until that point.

This is the first time saying this, but I wish I never started the manga. I should've stopped at the anime. Reading the manga just wasted my time with, I don't know, 50-100 chapters of shitty cavalry arc and not an ounce of the bro essence found during their prison days. There is so much I want to express but I can't write more, because I just finished this and I am absolutely livid with how it ended. I want my hours back, Prison School.

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 grounded ... in 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.

I wanted to read it for quite some time, and as it finished serialization i was really hyped going in. Prison School is an example of a genuine fun time full of hilarious and outrageous moments, that unfortunately turned into a drag to read.
Simply, everything past chapter 178 goes downhill; the pacing, the development of some characters are just put to a stand, and the problem with this, is that you slowly start to lose any kind of concern or care you had with them. But you must remember the nature of the manga, story telling through over the top situations.

And in ... the end it just turned into a romance in a higschool setting with no payoff. That ending... with 277 chapters invested...its just not worth it. I wished it kept the pacing of the early chapters or actually having a decent closure.

Prison School singlehandedly made me come back to MAL after a 7-year hiatus from weebdom because I just finished reading it today and I simply HAD to post my disappointment somewhere.

This manga starts great, the premise is fun, the characters are well defined and appealing, they're all representative of our dumb teen selves and thus are very relatable. The goofy situations and hilarious idiocies they go through are always engaging, stupidly fun, sexy, and overall entertaining. The art ranges from stunning to very good, save for the last 50 or so chapters where the author didnt seem to be putting the same level of ... quality into it, albeit just by a slight margin.
The first main arc is great, concludes well and quite satisfyingly so; the second arc however, is a dragged on mess, a giant pile of steaming garbage that starts out strong and ends up ruining the manga entirely.
The first 170 chapters or so are top quality, but once the second arc kicks in the ride just.... stops. It becomes a rollercoaster of ideas that the author fumbles upon like a madman and tries everything in the hopes that something sticks. Thing is, nothing does. Only a few characters have their conflicts resolved, everyone else - protag included - are left with bitter non-resolutions. The ending was just pure garbage tier trolling. I felt like either the author or the publisher just went in and told the reader "Yep, I dont know how to end it, see you never bye!" and just stopped caring.
The pacing is this manga's biggest problem. It could have easily lasted a good 70 chapters less, and used all the wasted panels it devoted to the second arc's idiocy to actually solve things properly. But alas, it's just not worth it.
I'd say if you want to read it, stop at the first arc - where the anime ends as well - or read up to the resolution of the two councils' conflicts just right after. Otherwise, you'd end up hating it, or worse - be absolutely bored by it.

tl;dr: A manga with an incredibly solid start with a steady decline from there into a complete garbage ending.

This manga is one that I became interested in after watching the anime adaptation, which I thought was excellent. Unfortunately, the anime being so good is heavily due to how the beginning portion that the anime adapts being the best part of the manga by far and how the anime ends at the best possible place to. It's pretty much all downhill from there, though because it's falling from being so good even while declining it manages to remain pretty decent for a good amount of time ... following where the anime leaves off.

The first arc that the anime adapted similarly manages to do a great job of combining the genres of ecchi, romance, comedy, and a psychological thriller in such a way that they all felt like they played well off of each other to create a story that was ridiculous but amazing. There were interesting tricks used by both the prisoners and the guards with all sorts of crazy things happening, and both groups end out coming out looking like pretty interesting characters worth getting invested in. There's also decent character development and some decent relationship development, with some of it being romantic, but the highlight being the bonds between the five prisoners.

After where the anime ends, things change considerably. Characters roles and relationships change significantly with a number of new characters being added to the web. This starts off pretty great, with things feeling like they're progressing in an interesting direction. However, as it goes it becomes clear that there's a major decline in quality going on. The various tricks being used get dumber and dumber. The plot itself starts going in completely random directions. The pacing becomes horrible, heavily in part due to how it has a weird story telling style where it just abruptly changes back and forth between a bunch of different plot threads, one of the largest of which has absolutely nothing to do with everything else going on, but also because it just in general it becomes really slow to the point that a certain arc feels like started dragging on less than half way through it. The comedy which was pretty much all hits during the beginning becomes way more hit and miss.

But the biggest issue by far is in regards to character and relationship development. The issue isn't that there isn't any of it, rather there's a lot of great scenes and moments. The issue is that none of it sticks. Lots of major events happen and are enough to get you really invested in what's going on, but almost none of them have a lasting impact. Everything about characters and relationships feels like it's just arbitrary as the manga is constantly breaking apart everything it builds up. It just makes everything feel pointless.

This is incredibly prominent with the ending, which is pretty much composed of just a long string of things left unresolved, with the only plot threads it does properly close being ones that it shouldn't have because it closes them in the most bitter way possible, with there being a single exception to that in a solid end to a plot thread which just feels like it highlights how awful the ending to everything else was. Unsatisfying is an understatement in describing just how awful of an ending it is. It's the type of ending that it's hard to fathom how an author, editor, and all the various others involved in the process could have arrived at an ending so horrible unless they were trying to create the worst ending they possibly could. It's the type of ending where it feels like if they rushed it more and left things even more ambiguous it would be a decent improvement, and if they rushed it less and expanded on it more it would also be a solid improvement, but the ending was perfectly optimized for maximum awfulness. The ending was actually a really amazing and impactful scene, it just doesn't work well as an ending at all. If it kept going with it and wrapped up just that plot thread properly it would actually be a decent ending but it simply didn't.

The one praise I can give to the manga all the way through though, is that the art is absolutely excellent from beginning to end with great character designs, incredibly high quality, great style, and perfect framing.

This is the story of a manga with so much potential which fell into a dark abyss.

Let me start off by stating I HATE ecchi manga. The manga I read is usually slice of life, psychological thrillers, comedies and romances. I hate manga with nothing to contribute other than vulgar scenes. If I wanted to read ecchi stuff I know a better place to do this (you know what im talking about). I never thought I would end up reading something like this, but after stumbling upon it randomly and browsing through the first couple of chapters, I got enthralled by the incredible quality of ... the art, and kept on reading it until the very end.

This brings me to my first point and arguably the manga's biggest strength: ART. The art in this manga is amazing. No, amazing is an understatement. It is incredible. The characters designs, shadow manipulation, facial expressions, and of course, ecchi scenes, are all done to perfection. Akira Hiramoto is an incredibly talented manga artist, and this is easily in my top 5 art in mangas I have ever seen. I can only imagine how much of an unstoppable force Hiramoto would be in a universe where his writing was even just half as good as his art.

This brings me to my next point. While the art is superb, the writing leaves much to be desired, especially during the last chapters.

First of all, let me start by saying the comedy is ok. Jokes are vulgar, and very oriented towards a male audience. Sometimes it gets overly raunchy and even disgusting at times, but this is to be expected out of ecchi manga so nothing out of the ordinary here. The incredible art does make up for this, by having some hilarous character expressions and scenes.

Now on to the story. The story is a huge mess. At first, the story is clean and concise. There is a goal and everyone is working towards that single goal with some hilarous events and some of the best scenes happening here, such as Kiyoshi's and Hana's hilarious and charming encounters. Howver, by the end of the story in the last few arcs, it is a convoluted mess, with multiple parallel events happening at the same time, some of which I could not care less about such as the principal's arc, constantly jumping between these parallels over and over again. To make matters worse, all of these parallels are convoluted and full of random, non-sensical events, and tons of secondary and uncessary characters which spread our attention too thin.

Character development is also a huge mess. It starts off good, with the characters seeming genuine, interesting, and real. If anything, they were a little too vulgar. They reminded me a little bit of the breakfast club. But as the story goes on, main characters start to lose their personalites and genuinity and by the end they are complete degenerate animals who think about nothing but sex. The manga then makes the decision to have some very real and charming moments in the first half, and then make a complete joke of these events as if they had no purpose later.

Why is Hana, arguably the character with the best development in the story and with the most charming events, completely thrown under the bus by the end? Why give us all these cute scenes of her only to completely ignore her and her feelings later? Why do I have to read a complete side story about the principal if it has no relevance in the main story and I do not care about any of the characters who show up in his story? Why give the main characters such a big part in the beginning of the story only to shift our attention onto random ass characters which are introduced at the last moment? Why is a scene of someone trying to take away the headband of another character 10 chapter long (is this is dragonball all over again)? Why did I read 277 chapters only for everything to go to waste in an ending that can only be described as playing a videogame for hours only for the console to shutdown unexpectedly and realizing you did not save and losing all your progress?

I am sad. This had so much potential and some characters I did care about. At some point during the later chapters I gave up on pretty much everything and only kept on reading it to see what would happen to hanna, kiyoshi and meiko, because at that point I had pretty much stopped caring about everyone else.

Hiramoto is an incredible artist who deserves to go on and create a masterpiece with his drawing skills later. Just for that I am giving it an ok score to support him. But this manga definetely left me with much to be desired.