Oct 2, 2021
Story: 5 Art: 5 Character: 3 Enjoyment: 5 Overall: 5
I think I should preface this review by saying that I personally am not a fan of gore manga. Because of this, despite the fact that the death scenes were drawn well and with excruciating detail, I couldn't really appreciate them, so please take my opinions with a grain of salt.
The story was both better and worse than I expected. I wasn't sure how the author would be able to execute such a concept at first, but their exploration of
...
it seemed to-the-point and I was not disappointed. At least not initially. Not long after the hypnosis experiment was introduced and began, the author started pulling a lot of major plot twists. That became really old really fast. I think I would have enjoyed the story a lot more if there wasn't a constant stream of contradictory information getting dumped on me almost every other page. In my opinion, if the writer (I say "writer", not "author", because the writer and artist are two separate people) had kept it simple - a group of students are hypnotized to respond to triggers and have to figure out which ones they are - the plot would have been a lot more concise and easier to follow.
Similarly difficult to follow were the characters. As soon as I'd begin to trust one, they'd turn out to be the bad guy; once I stopped trusting them, they'd turn good again. That was pretty frustrating. Additionally, the story warped the characters so badly that the only way I was able to remember any of them was because of the uniqueness of their death scenes, and even then, I could barely recall any of their names. Furthermore, I found it really hard to sympathize with the teacher as the story progressed. Even the way he was drawn was unpleasant, which I suppose was the point. As a whole, there was a lot of potential to create much more interesting character dynamics, but the writer didn't do much of that.
When it comes to the art, I can't help but feel conflicted. Overall, the style was very nice, but I had one big problem with it: the fanservice. On multiple occasions throughout the plot, the artist would frame the shots in such a way that the readers would be able to see up the girls' skirts, which not only made me uncomfortable, but also had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. I'm also doubtful of whether the several instances where characters were forced to perform sexual acts were actually necessary, and if it wasn't just a way to integrate a form of more disturbing fanservice into the plot. It also felt as if the writer or author (I don't know whose idea it was) was far too eager to include scenes where girls were undressed or undressing, despite such scenes doing little to serve the development of the story. Maybe I'm just too sensitive, but all I know is that those elements of the story kind of bothered me.
Overall? I'm kind of glad that I read this since I was curious about the plot for a while before, but at the same time, I find myself regretting the time I wasted on the series. Although the plot, art, and characters did have their moments, my expectations were still let down pretty heavily. I think that, if you're trying to decide whether to read this or not, you should consider whether 1) you're okay with gore (in my opinion it's not that bad, but I know that other people might feel uncomfortable when confronted with art like that) and 2) whether you're going into this with high hopes or with any intention other than killing time.
I guess that that's all I have to say on this, so... thank you for reading! I hope that this was helpful to you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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