The day of the cornered male prisoners' expulsion comes and goes, and the tale takes a new turn as the roiling fates of both the boys and the girls play out! Kiyoshi and company finally break out of prison and are hard at work enjoying their peaceful school lives...but a storm is brewing, and Mari, Meiko, and Hana of the Shadow Student Council find themselves behind bars!
Now see, this pisses me off. The flashbacks to when the girls were in middle school are FAR superior to the present-day story. I actually want to know more about that time—when Meiko and Mari first met. This really highlights the fact that the main story is crap with too much time spent on over-the-top ecchi fanservice. And now I know the author can do so much better than that and it irritates me.
Prison School takes a sharp turn into new territory and I kind of...love it?
We start with the boys finally getting out of the prison section. They are now free to be apart of the school and it's refreshing to see them just do regular actives. Even more so they each meet a girl who they begin to like. Well not everyone but two of them. It's cute and works really well. Then we have the shadow console put into the prison by the real student console. Now things get interesting as the jailers are the prisoners.
This takes a interesting turn as you see the wicked become imprisoned and then begin to feel for them. A series easily switches it around to make you feel pity in a smart way. I also think this has some of the funniest moments but also heartfelt moments of the series. Getting backgrounds to certain characters to help flush them out.
I do think the unnecessary amount of panty and ass shots is a bit much but hey at this point, we're gonna be what we're gonna be. Plus getting to see lots of butts and boobs is never a bad thing.
Overall, still interesting, still funny, and a bit surprised in the actual plot. A 4 out of 5.
I can't get enough of this series. This volume featured the backstory of how Meiko and Mari met, which was really sweet and cute.
My favorite line from this volume is from Mari "I take pride in my dad's taut posterior too." I won't include any context. Just read the volume to find out why she would say that.
The conclusion to the boys story was good, a little freedom was nice having them all meet a girl and having a bit of fun. It's been long overdue, even the flasher storyline was quite interesting.
The Shadow Council being turned into prisoners felt a bit rushed, I get the names of the story is Prison School so someone's got to be a prisoner but it just felt way too fast. If it was due to what they had down to the boys and the principal enforced it that'd make sense but instead we get these new girls who literally came out of nowhere.
One of them had a connection to the guy which was interesting but then she kind of gets sidelined for these two abusers and suddenly two of the boys become the prisoners guards it's very out of hand. Like they suddenly go from one day being nicely nice to getting a uniform and being hard nuts, with no progression.
What I did really like surprisingly was the President and Meiko's childhood flashback, it was sweet and felt kind of real, in comparison tot he rest of the series. I'd love to see a lot more of that, think the series will take a little readjustment due to the narrative swerve.
I love the backstory on Mari & Meiko. I like them so much better now, and feel so sorry for them. Especially Meiko. (Who would've thought,..) And God, how I hate Risa & Kate. They're so awful. And them getting Gackt and Andre involved...!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The main arc ends, and the boys are free. What will happen next?
Prison School settles down a little, but the eerie feeling from the prison. Kiyoshi and friends adjust to living outside the prison. Joe struggles the most that draws a similarity to the ants he keeps. Andre and Gakuto enjoy the most of life. They have the most development.
The official student council make their grand debut. Each character has their own personalities, similar to the underground student council, but taking a different direction. It is interesting to see the take on the personas that Hiramoto is showing. The volume does take a considerable amount of time to settle, readjust, and set-up a future plot. It is very acceptable considering the toll the characters were experiencing.
"...I was satisfied. Yes, I want to read more, but I’m in no rush. It’s like getting a delicious, good steak. You don’t want it every night, but when the moments right, you’ll have it again and savor it once more" (Cabeal, comicbastards.com).
Is there anything worse than when a manga wraps up the main arc and the writer has to tread water while setting up a new storyline? That's what this volume is. The boys finally get out of jail and and the story turns into an almost conventional (though pervy) school comedy for a full volume before finally reverting to form in the second half.
Wait, Prison School just became heartfelt and phycologically compelling? I guess so! It's still pretty funny, I'm amazed at how well the author mines this gag, but in this volume we get new characters and a ton of rich backstory for the Shadow Student Council. I'm genuinely compelled.