Caste Heaven

Holy shit. I have never seen a more offensive and angering manga i have ever seen. And to believe that this manga has a astronomically high 7.82 and is the 10th most viewed yaoi series in manga here. But i will try to explain why I despise this manga more then any other piece of fiction in a countdown.

1.PLOT HOLES- why the authorities are utterly useless? why is azusa enjoying his position in ch 4(and dont give me the crap about Stockholm syndrome that shit is wack)? Why does the card in ch 1 is a jack and in ch 5 is a 8? why doesn't any student at all call the fucking police? Well thats enough for now. You see what I mean? why i find that this story feels so uncared and stupid? I swear the author didn't know her own story when releasing.

Edit: 1.5-THE CONCEPT- after rereading the manga I realized that the concept itself is stupid and full of plotholes. Why does the game exsist? I am not sure. I dont think the manga will explain how the game started because it is dumb for someone to want to be in a game where you might go and become a victim. Also why would the popular kids agree to the game, it obviously a danger to their status, so why would they agree for the game. Unless they wanted to have SEX! Which in that case why did anyone agree to this????? WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO LIVE IN A LITERAL RAPE CULTURE! Jesus, I never knew the day would come where a story is literal about a rape culture...

2. NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENS- did i mention that ch 1-4 are the only time when the manga has the time to move? yes after ch 4 the manga focuses on not one, but three different couples for no reason which happen in the time of ch 1-4. This trope is so common in manga nowadays that it is ridiculous. I dont minf having side characters or multiple stories colliding, but this is so much of a cliche, not to mention that the formulaic approach to this is so bad, that they may as well have 4 different couples at once. Oh wait. If the characters were good i would be interested but...

3. THE CHARACTERS- while not the worst, the characters are complete archetypes. karino- rapist seme, azusa- "badass" straight uke , kuze- the nice romantic seme(subverted to overprotective seme), kuskabe- nerd uke and so on... You may find cliches fun, but since yaoi in genrel has many cliches in a medium that is nutritious for having many cliches, the bare minimum should be to not have them seen like cliches. Oh, did I mention that the character designs are kind of attractive? yeah, its not that their concept is bad, Their story development on paper isn't the stupidist thing ever, it is just that i cant take their story and suffering seriously if i am supposed to have a boner reading this.

4. THE TONE- the tone is messy as hell. i dont get why this serious manga which wants to be a character exploration is also an attractive porn. This is a problem with all yaoi, but here it is overly noticeable. if u wanna be porn, be porn. The art isnt that bad. if u wanna be an edgy story then be that. but dont mix togther because it dosent work.

5. HOMOPHOBIA AND SEXISM- the sexism part i dont need to talk about, anyone with half a brain could see where it is presented. but the homophobia is kind of weird. while i normally forgive yaoi for having the idea of being gay not a thing, but this is where i draw the line. being gay is represented as such a terrible thing. either you're a rapist or a slut or an overprotective little shit. and you know why this angers me? well its because stuff like this make the gay community look like a bunch of rapist and sluts. this is why we are jokes, monsters or disgusting. Also, dont go on and say "its just in this manga". You know that there are plenty of yaoi manga which do the same thing as in here, albeit less offensive. So if you want to defend this by saying that i should turn my brain off,well, i cant. i dont mind most yaoi's if they have the characters have sex every chapter. its porn. but when stuff like this comes out and people defend it,then i cant handle it.

so, i actually do recommend this manga, so that you will see the horror of this. and hey, if you like it, that is just fine. but for me, i will stick with classmates and ten count.

1/10

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Caste Heaven is a dramatic yaoi manga that contains the elements that, personally, make it a brilliant work within its niche.

**Just a warning, this is very much a yaoi manga – so expect graphic imagery of intimate relationships between males. Furthermore, many of these intimacies are somewhat violent and are underpinned with potentially distressing themes (to be blatant – rape, blackmail, etc.). So just know this is not another Gosan no Heart or such.

ART: 10
As with all of Takagi’s (Ogawa Chise) works, I find this manga to be exceedingly aesthetically pleasing. While character designs are unrealistic and undeniably feminine, the art ultimately works really well to construct atmospheric scenes that range from shocking the audience, to instilling a sense of foreboding and anxiety.

STORY: 8
The concept of a corrupt governing party, and an unethical society, it itself is not particularly original, and the initial premise of the schooling system seems slightly illogical. What makes the plot of Caste Heaven so engaging is its brilliant story telling. The progression of the plot is wonderful: scenes cut enticingly from the past to the present in such a way that raises just enough questions to make you want to binge read the entire series, and changes in the perspective of the manga allow the audience to deeply understand the dynamics of the characters and their respective relationships. What more, the romance intertwined within this manga is very dark, and yet very addictive. Ultimately, while not entirely original, the construction of the story and its themes is very well done.

CHARACTER: 10
All of the characters within this manga are wonderfully distorted and broken in their own way. Many of the characters undertake in cruel and savage acts, and yet ultimately no (main) character can be considered evil or entirely unpleasant – somehow all the characters are charming. The story is broken into two interlinked stories (as of volume two), with each story varying in the narrating perspective as well as providing scenes of the characters’ pasts. This allows the audience to slowly develop a keen and satisfying understanding of the characters personality and behaviour.

ENJOYMENT: 10
Overall, Caste Heaven is everything I look for in a dramatic yaoi manga. The art, the story telling, the characters, it is all wonderfully executed. I honestly enjoy reading not just every chapter, but every page of this manga. The romance within this manga is shocking, the story is cruel and emotionally provoking, and yet somehow you cannot refuse this manga – it’s charming like that.

*Note, this review is for Caste Heaven up until chapter 9.

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I've read many yaoi mangas but Caste Heaven really stood out from the beginning with its bold storyline. The name also really stood out to me as well as the synopsis.

There are many reasons why I liked the story. First of all, the storyline is different from most if not all the mangas I've read so far. There may be disturbing sections quiet a few times but it just builds up the tension and it made me want to read more. Also, since the story is psychological as well as BL, you tend to pay more attention to the details.

What I don't like about this manga is that some scenes are really brutal, those scenes end up giving me mixed emotions and change the way I view a character very suddenly although this can be considered both a pro and con. Even though I think the characters in this manga are very good in term of their personality matching up with the context, but I still feel that for certain characters you don't exactly understand them and their personality isn't defined enough.

In conclusion, I love it so far because, unlike previous mangas I've read, there is never a point where you feel it might be boring or that the tension has relaxed a bit but instead you can see it building up.

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Caste Heaven is definitely one of the more famous yaoi manga out there and for good reason.

The characters in this story don't play into general stereotypes. They're strange and have that sense of unpredictability that I really enjoy.

The art and setup (panelling) create the perfect atmosphere; a somewhat twisted and dark one.

From the first chapter you will be immediately drawn into this world full of forbidden things.

It contains angst, school life, perspective and a peek into the minds of the youth. This story is more on the heavier side of things and does contain quite a bit of noncon and psychological elements.

I highly recommend this

:)

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