This Ultimate Shoulder Wars bout may need the death of the opponents for it to finally end, and it looks like it may just happen!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Akira Hiramoto
Translation/Adaptation: Ko Ransom
What They Say
The Shadow Student Council’s “horse” is in shambles, their allies falling one by one. But as Andre reaches out to take Mari’s headband, a bond between girls bubbles up from deep down! Charging through the narrow gap between life and death, the hard-working boys and girls of the Ultimate Prison Shoulder Wars are a sight to behold!!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This volume continues the quick shifts back and forth between the shoulder wars battle and the Chairman’s wacky adventures with the hot blonde woman he ‘rescued’. It gives a very cinematic feel to this volume and one that I hope we someday see in an anime adaptation.
While Mari’s team somehow leveled the playing field to set up a battle between just her and Kate, it is still a David versus Goliath situation. Their attempt at tricking Andre into believing Meiko was back to her old self has backfired. Meiko can’t drink any more soda without puking and Andre has seen through their trickery. Which is surprising considering Andre has reverted to full beast-mode with no human intelligence peering out from his dead shark-like eyes.
Mari’s team finds themselves in an even more precarious situation when her horse falls apart. The boys helping Kiyoshi, Meiko, and Hanna act as Mari’s horse have fallen. A quick Andre attach shreds Meiko’s shirt! Now Mari finds herself with a hobbled horse in the face of Andre’s attacks. Not only have the number of teammates forming Mari’s horse been halved, but the current Meiko could never handle the embarrassment of the whole school seeing her breasts. It is a dire predicament that needs to be rectified immediately before Mari’s team crumbles completely!
Things go from bad to worse to dire for the Shadow Student Council. If Meiko let’s go of Mari, then Mari’s horse crumbles and they lose the war. This forces Mari to drop her rider position to hide Meiko’s breasts with her hands. They manage to keep the horse from collapsing, but Mari is now in an awkward position as the rider and it eliminates her ability to grab Kate’s headband for the win.
The author is great at ratcheting up any situation. But I’m disappointed when Mari also loses her shirt to an Andre attack. No, no, not for the reason you are thinking. I’m disappointed in my man, Kiyoshi. Mari orders him to use his hand to hide (grab) her breasts so they can keep battling. It is a golden opportunity given that he can get in a feel and not face any repercussions. Unfortunately for all of us, the humiliation and near death experience Kiyoshi experienced from showing the world his boner is too much for his current fragile state of mind. He just can’t risk another boner without losing his mind or life.
Meanwhile, the Chairman and his lady friend have been scampering around the forest like horny squirrels. Their luck has run out as the angry fiancé finally pins them down in a secluded meadow. Amazingly, somehow the hunter and the prey all end up as prey when a bear breaks into their midst! The fiancé makes the ultimate sacrifice of life and pride to save his woman. Thus, laying the foundation for the weirdest freaking faceoff between two naked men, a bear, and a dog that my eyes will ever see!
If all that craziness in the forest and on the field of shoulder wars wasn’t enough, there’s more! Somehow the Chairman manages to one up all of that with his entry to the school ground before the Shoulder Wars can be decided. It is just too bizarre to even explain, so you will have to read it for yourself!
In Summary:
While this volume continues to be funny, for me the shoulder wars bout is dragging on too long. I think the hilarity peaked in the previous volume and this volume is stretching it out more than it needs to. However, on the other hand, the Chairman’s misadventures in the jungle build to a goofy conclusion in this volume. That is right before he enters the center stage of what should be the conclusion of the shoulder wars and steals the scene. Considering the complete insanity of a couple of events during the shoulder wars, it takes the Chairman reaching next level hysteria to outshine the earlier events. Well done Chairman, well done.
How can the Armageddon setup at the end of volume 12 possibly pan out in the next volume? I have no freaking guess at this point, but I can’t wait to read it!
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: February 19, 2019
MSRP: $20.00
