Akira Hiramoto

This is a twisted series about a small group of female students at a private high school holding a small group of their male classmates prisoner for crimes of perversion, all with the okay of the school administration. I read the first volume a couple years ago and found it a guilty pleasure despite its skeevy fan service, as the boys made an escape plan under the scrutiny of their sadistic guards.

There is still some excitement as the plan is executed this volume, but as before, there is an show more extreme amount of transgressive material: up-skirt shots, homophobia, bullying, and more. I now lean more heavily toward feeling guilt than pleasure, but I still want to check out at least one more volume. show less

The first two books in this series had outrageous, over-the-top storytelling and a certain perverse pornographic appeal that kept me reading despite the general offensiveness, but the energy in this volume goes limp as the series settles in for the long haul -- there are 11 more omnibus volumes in this series -- and begins what will probably be a drawn-out, seesawing battle of capers and schemes between the prisoners and jailers.

I think I'm going to grant myself a furlough from this series.

Oh.
My.
God.

I cannot believe this exists.

It's just your typical high school story about peeping, false imprisonment, forced labor, sadomasochism, water sports, pornography and homophobia.

It is purely tasteless and entirely wrong.

I cannot believe I sort of want to read the next one.

Wait, there have been 25 volumes of this released in Japan?!?!

Oh!
My!
God!

A strong, promising opening tells the folk tale of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil, and adds some interesting twists. About 1/3 of the way in, though, the plot derails and doesn't really recover. Much of the time, the panels are confusing and the transitions head-spinning, ignoring the strengths of the comic-book medium (the page-turn as a powerful edit) and cutting between plots randomly. The art is effective during the many psychedelic sequences, and only so-so the rest of the show more time. show less