Young love blossoms, along with shocking love triangles!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Akira Hiramoto
Translation: Ko Ransom
What They Say
An unthinkable “nightmare scenario” is brought down on the Shadow Student Council, shaking the Prison to its core…!! Kiyoshi falls into the trap laid by Kate, the Regular Student Council President, and finds himself behind bars once again! Now Mari, Meiko, and Kiyoshi must share a co-ed Prison. Meanwhile, Kate’s plan for revenge is quietly set into motion…!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The relationship between Kate, Mari, and Meiko goes all the way back to elementary school. It began poorly with Kate bullying Meiko for having breasts even at that young of an age. Interestingly, it was Mari that stepped in to protect Meiko early on and they have been close friends ever since. This also explains the feeling I have always had that Hana is a bit of an outsider in the Shadow Student Council because she just doesn’t have a long-standing relationship with Meiko and Mari. Those early interactions between the three girls ultimately caused Meiko to toughen up and become a workout freak.
Considering the way their early years happened, it seems Kate was always just a mean-spirited kid. There wasn’t ever an element of her being jealous of the friendship between Meiko and Mari. That still leaves us wondering why they formed the Shadow Student Council, to begin with. Was it just to undermine Kate’s position as the President of the official Student Council for all the years she was mean to them?
Now Kate is finally getting her revenge. With the Shadow Student Council girls imprisoned and the boys acting as their sadistic guards, everyone’s world has turned upside down. Hana begins to lash out at Meiko and Mari, Andre has gone from masochist to strict sadist and Meiko finally snaps under the pressure and reverts to a wimpy girl. Everything seems to be coming up spades for Kate. These things begin a downward spiral for so many characters.
Meiko’s reverting to her childlike wimpy self completely shatters Andre’s being. He was enjoying his role reversal with Meiko in hopes that when she was released she would really beat the hell out of him so he could reprise his role as the masochist. However, thinking that he “broke” Meiko causes Andre to lose all hope for life and just give up. Then the official Student Council’s enforcer, Risa, comes to pay back Andre for a favor and he begs her to beat him. Risa is only too happy to oblige but then shocked when Andre laughs at her weak attempts to inflict pain. All of this begins an amazing journey for Risa as she tries to research and implement the role of the sadist for Andre. Stuff gets real weird and I love it!
But things get even weirder between Gackt and Joe as they explore Boys Love genre manga. Gackt is desperate to learn why his lovely Mitsuko would be into Romance of the Three Kingdoms BL. He thought they just both genuinely loved the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Things just spiral down for Gackt as Joe agrees to “research” why two men would put themselves in awkward embraces. But, are they secretly liking their one-on-one man time? It doesn’t surprise me too much considering how Joe has sort of remained an enigma throughout this series. Joe just seems like a lonely person, so receiving such focused attention from Gackt must be messing with his sexuality.
If all of that isn’t weird and entertaining enough for you, Kiyoshi getting thrown back in prison is the icing on the cake. He gets busted and his punishment is to spend a week in jail with the girls. All part of Kate’s plan to force the Shadow Student Council into a compromising position. Kate has already been spreading rumors about the other girls around the school during their incarceration. Will Kiyoshi be the unwitting instigator in some sexy series of events that rocks the school? Maybe, if Hana has anything to say about it!
In Summary:
Honestly, I love this series and this volume nails everything for a complete A ranking across all categories. For fans of the anime, we are completely in new territory for this series with this volume. Kate’s plan is rushing to a climax, successful or not, fans are treated to great entertainment as the Shadow Student Council girls dangle on Kate’s fish hook. Then, on the periphery, an odd love triangle blooms between Gackt, Joe, and Mitsuko. Plus, Risa tries to figure out why Andre likes being a masochist. She thinks simply smacking him around is all it takes to be the sadist in their odd relationship, but she quickly learns that there is a strong mental aspect to any type of sado/maso roleplay. These two side-stories between Risa and Andre, and Gackt, Joe, and Mitsuko are some of the most interesting in this volume. These characters spend a surprising amount of time delving into why the other characters like the things that they do. Great stuff here to explore.
Hiramoto continues to share an entertaining tale of high school hijinks that ranges from innocent encounters that many of us struggled with all the way too outlandish scenarios great for laughs. More than any other series I’m following, Prison School continues to leave me in desperate need of the next volume release.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: March 28, 2017
MSRP: $20.00