Ice is an undercover work for a special intelligence firm, she has been given a new assignment, it may involve inhumane methods of torture but she is trained and willing to do the job. The job involves going into an all male prison on an island called Scream with the most detestable of convicts who committed the most heinous crimes, this prison removes all your rights and is a living hell especially for any women sent there. She is going to be subjected to a lot of punishment of the sexual, violent and a party of both.
I liked the setup, an agent going undercover is nothing new but the way it’s done here fills me with excitement. Ice’s entrance is content statement: balls chained to her feet, she is marched out naked into the prison courtyard and effectively has to survive on her own in there with no protection. The story goes through all manner of sordid / horrific acts and I felt they were never forced but came natural. This is a prison after all and the inmates are from a plethora of horrible backgrounds.
This manga does contain a lot of elements that many will find despicable. There is a copious amount of rape, torture, body modification and violence on the women. Given that it should go without saying that anyone reading this who would find that detestable is advised to steer clear.
The brutality strikes very quick, as Ice is led into the prison and ogled over by the warden as she is stood there naked he attempts to grope her but she swiftly knees him, his face bloody decides to punish her for this. Led out into the courtyard with two chains and iron balls to her ankles and hands tied behind her back she is in effect fed to the inmates. After some brief fight back she is beat down viciously and brutally raped by the inmates. One after another as her body wears down.
After this comes a bevy of sexual torture scenes, in keeping with the genre it goes beyond what you may expect. Ice is badly bruised, bloodied and more, from wires connected to her nipples, body and clit for some electro torture, filling her stomach with piss and semen and stamping on it, treating her as an actual toilet to the numerous, and I mean numerous gang rapes, all in the name of turning her into a sex slave.
Then there is the modification scene. After copious amounts of abuse Ice is taken to the warden who starts really putting the physical strain on her body. He opens up her nipples and spreads them so far that the other prisoners begin fucking her nipples. All the while she is there, bound and helpless suffering. It I quite something to read and I’ve only seen it come into play in the more obscene manga works. Here though it doesn’t expand her body to outlandish proportions but keeps it real which only brings the pain closer.
I loved so much of this as it never goes too far for me. Seeing anguish on Ices face as she suffers, seeing her body being toyed with, raped again and again, taking vicious beating but none so much as they degrade her beautiful body. This is extreme in the right way. There are parts that didn’t quite click though such as stomach inflating which isn’t for me but they are few and far between. The ending to all this is nice as well after all she endures in the name of the mission which put a smile on my face.
There are a few separate stories after the main but this is where I get off the train so to speak. This veers into guro territory gutting, actual gore and more which is just not for me. One involves a teacher and his female students who he punishes in grueling and horrific ways, another with a doctor modifying his patient and the last a female in class who gets cut up. Chopping up their body parts, removing limbs, gutting her stomach leaving the intestines and other bodily organs hanging out. It just doesn’t work for me. I like horror aspects but it didn’t get the mix quite well enough.
Visually this has a somewhat dated look, given its age that is to be expected. There isn’t as much body detail, Ice is well proportioned and most of the attention is naturally given to the sordid or violent sexual acts. It’s unusual for the focus not to be as much on the sensuality of sex scenes but here the focus is on combining the sexual aspect and the violence. The sexual aspect is still present though and it is incredibly gorgeous seeing all manner of heinous acts forced on Ice and each page and panel shows off her body reacting to this torture in a full-on way. This is where the lack of body detail comes in, after going through so much the bruises start to appear, the blood and cuts become more visible and body modification becomes more pronounced. It works so well to combine for a distinct art style.
This is very much a book of two parts. The first I can recommend for those wanting to try ryona, it has the brutality associated but never forgets that it needs to mix in the sexual aspect and thus crafts an enjoyable story. The second part veers away from this and more into the guro style which honestly puts me off. After reading this I know my limits for ero works. If you are in the mood for some nasty, extreme ero then certainly read the tale of Ice.
