Manga Review: "Kangoku Gakuen"
Manga: Kangoku Gakuen (2011-2017)
Mangaka: Akira Hiramoto
Publisher: Kodansha (27 volumes)
LB Rating: 3/5 (old rating: 6/10)
Kangoku Gakuen is an ecchi comedy manga that brings crazy dumb fun but is also surprisingly clever. Also known as Prison School, the manga tells the story of five freshmen in Hachimitsu Academy, a female exclusive high school that recently became co-ed. One night, these five healthy freshmen--Kiyoshi, Gakuto, Shingo, Joe, and Andre--tried to peep on bathing girls but they were caught by the Underground Student Council. To their surprise, their punishment was imprisonment in a detention facility within the school grounds. As prisoners, they would do manual labor in between their classes and are subjected to sadistic punishments by the USC. In order to save their high school lives, Kiyoshi and the gang would try to escape the prison.
For an ecchi manga, this plot could've been a springboard for perverted sadomasochistic skits--but it didn't. Instead, the plot leaned more towards slapstick comedy with sprinkles of obligatory ecchi panels or pages. I generally avoid ecchi manga and anime because they're full of stupid stuff that becomes an excuse to show some nudity. In the case of Kangoku Gakuen however, the plot and comedy are pretty clever to the point where the stupid forced nudity becomes almost negligible. Actually, there are moments where the plot does so well with making the ecchi panels pretty effective. Let me talk about these elements in detail:
Visuals - Okay, let's just get this out of the way. I really like the art of Kangoku Gakuen because it's my type of art: the characters are drawn with somewhat realistic body proportions. That said, I loved Mari Kurihara's character and body design while I dislike Meiko Shiraki's. Also, the face art in Kangoku Gakuen were what made the slapstick comedy sell very well to me. I find it extremely hilarious when they do the Gintama faces (those grotesquely drawn serious or shocked faces that Gintama does so well). Overall, I find Kangoku Gakuen's general art style aesthetically pleasing.
Plot - The trend that the plot follows is to: 1. Show how ridiculously high the cliff is, 2. Push the main characters violently to the edge, until they fall, 3. Reveal that the main characters didn't fall because they grabbed on to the smallest protruding rock near the edge that they would then claim was planned all along. This trend produces so much tension in each chapter as if the main characters were always walking on the thinnest line possible. When the tension is released, the result is a sense of victory along with crazy laughter. To illustrate, there was a time when Andre had to arm wrestle Meiko, who was unbelievably strong. The aim is to buy enough time so that Gakuto can sneak out of the prison room and steal files that would prevent their expulsion from the school. Meiko could win easily, but she wasn't able to: whenever Andre's arm would come down, she would get distracted by the peeking lone nipple hair of Andre. That kept her in the arm wrestle, buying enough time for Gakuto. Yes, the nipple hair saved their butts. That and many other scenes like that in the manga were stupidly hilarious for me.
However, the plot's quality started to decline during its second half, particularly during the sports festival story arc. It dragged on for so long to the point that it became a chore to read them. The comedy still worked, but I started to not care about the tension that was well-maintained in the first half of the manga. Furthermore, the ending didn't save the manga from its decline. It deliberately reset any character development that seemed to have occurred. The manga forcibly concluded that Kiyoshi is purely perverted after all, despite the entire series painting how gentlemanly he could be. Finally, (Spoiler warning!) there was no wet t-shirt contest, just some shirts-that-got-wet picnic. Goddamn it. The wet t-shirt contest kept the gang from giving up to their metaphorical deaths throughout the series and yet, no justice has been served. I might be exaggerating, but that was what's lacking with the ending: justice.
There are also story lines within the story arcs. These are genuinely funny but some can be a waste of time. The best example of a story line that is merely a waste of time is Chairman Kurihara's random expedition, which felt like a manga filler. I also disliked the AndrexMeikoxRisa story line not only because I don't find the sadomasochist joke entertaining but also because it was too stretched that I stopped caring. On a brighter light, I loved the KiyoshixHana story line. I never thought I would find this pairing very romantic despite all the perverted things that went on between them. The KiyoshixHana story line was one of the reasons why I kept reading Kangoku Gakuen despite the declining quality of its second half.
Comedy - Kangoku Gakuen is funny because of how the plot sets up the seriousness of the main characters' predicament. Kiyoshi and the gang were on the face of expulsion from their high school which is bad for obvious reasons. Such gravity of the situation makes it understandable for them to undergo any method to prove their innocence. The funny part is how they undergo the most ridiculous methods for the sake of outsmarting the strict USC and proving their innocence. For instance, Gakuto had to take a loud shit during computer class so he can record the sound, which is vital for Kiyoshi's escape. While I understand the tension, I find the tension silly if they're gonna solve it in ridiculous methods anyway--the joke is then delivered.
Another comedy style of Kangoku Gakuen is the piling up of misunderstandings usually involving sexual innuendos. This style is similar to School Rumble's comedy minus the perverted parts. I really enjoyed School Rumble's comedy, which means to say that I enjoyed this comedy style by Kangoku Gakuen as well.
One more thing I appreciate about Kangoku Gakuen's comedy is how previous punchlines are used as set up for other jokes later in the series. For instance, prisoner Kiyoshi told his freed friends that for his escape, he would need a plastic bottle rocket that can fly through water pressure. His friends would create a gigantic rocket model made out of plastic bottles, which was hilarious. Later in the series, the rocket, or as they call it, PBR-sama, would recur as a running gag and an essential plot element in the sports festival conclusion. I enjoyed the reprisal of jokes in Kangoku Gakuen because it shows how they can show fresh angles for a single joke.
In conclusion, I generally enjoyed Kangoku Gakuen. I liked the artwork except for certain characters. I was interested with the plot despite its declining quality in the second half. I found the comedy effective. Kangoku Gakuen gets a six out of ten because while it didn't fail to bring out a laugh or two in the majority of its run, it suffered a lot from a plot problem especially with a really shitty ending. I definitely recommend this manga for people who like ecchi but cannot stand the genre's stereotypical ecchi tropes: Kangoku Gakuen stands out as a fresh take on the ecchi-comedy genre.
P.S. Apparently the epilogue was released and it was still as disappointing as the finale. I'll keep my rating.
Mangaka: Akira Hiramoto
Publisher: Kodansha (27 volumes)
LB Rating: 3/5 (old rating: 6/10)
Kangoku Gakuen is an ecchi comedy manga that brings crazy dumb fun but is also surprisingly clever. Also known as Prison School, the manga tells the story of five freshmen in Hachimitsu Academy, a female exclusive high school that recently became co-ed. One night, these five healthy freshmen--Kiyoshi, Gakuto, Shingo, Joe, and Andre--tried to peep on bathing girls but they were caught by the Underground Student Council. To their surprise, their punishment was imprisonment in a detention facility within the school grounds. As prisoners, they would do manual labor in between their classes and are subjected to sadistic punishments by the USC. In order to save their high school lives, Kiyoshi and the gang would try to escape the prison.
 |
| The volume cover for the fifteenth volume of Kangoku Gakuen featuring Kiyoshi Fujino, the main character. (Image source: Google). |
Visuals - Okay, let's just get this out of the way. I really like the art of Kangoku Gakuen because it's my type of art: the characters are drawn with somewhat realistic body proportions. That said, I loved Mari Kurihara's character and body design while I dislike Meiko Shiraki's. Also, the face art in Kangoku Gakuen were what made the slapstick comedy sell very well to me. I find it extremely hilarious when they do the Gintama faces (those grotesquely drawn serious or shocked faces that Gintama does so well). Overall, I find Kangoku Gakuen's general art style aesthetically pleasing.
 |
| Gintama and Kangoku Gakuen style of overly serious faces. They crack me up every damn time! |
Plot - The trend that the plot follows is to: 1. Show how ridiculously high the cliff is, 2. Push the main characters violently to the edge, until they fall, 3. Reveal that the main characters didn't fall because they grabbed on to the smallest protruding rock near the edge that they would then claim was planned all along. This trend produces so much tension in each chapter as if the main characters were always walking on the thinnest line possible. When the tension is released, the result is a sense of victory along with crazy laughter. To illustrate, there was a time when Andre had to arm wrestle Meiko, who was unbelievably strong. The aim is to buy enough time so that Gakuto can sneak out of the prison room and steal files that would prevent their expulsion from the school. Meiko could win easily, but she wasn't able to: whenever Andre's arm would come down, she would get distracted by the peeking lone nipple hair of Andre. That kept her in the arm wrestle, buying enough time for Gakuto. Yes, the nipple hair saved their butts. That and many other scenes like that in the manga were stupidly hilarious for me.
However, the plot's quality started to decline during its second half, particularly during the sports festival story arc. It dragged on for so long to the point that it became a chore to read them. The comedy still worked, but I started to not care about the tension that was well-maintained in the first half of the manga. Furthermore, the ending didn't save the manga from its decline. It deliberately reset any character development that seemed to have occurred. The manga forcibly concluded that Kiyoshi is purely perverted after all, despite the entire series painting how gentlemanly he could be. Finally, (Spoiler warning!) there was no wet t-shirt contest, just some shirts-that-got-wet picnic. Goddamn it. The wet t-shirt contest kept the gang from giving up to their metaphorical deaths throughout the series and yet, no justice has been served. I might be exaggerating, but that was what's lacking with the ending: justice.
There are also story lines within the story arcs. These are genuinely funny but some can be a waste of time. The best example of a story line that is merely a waste of time is Chairman Kurihara's random expedition, which felt like a manga filler. I also disliked the AndrexMeikoxRisa story line not only because I don't find the sadomasochist joke entertaining but also because it was too stretched that I stopped caring. On a brighter light, I loved the KiyoshixHana story line. I never thought I would find this pairing very romantic despite all the perverted things that went on between them. The KiyoshixHana story line was one of the reasons why I kept reading Kangoku Gakuen despite the declining quality of its second half.
 |
| Aren't Kiyoshi and Hana the sweetest? Along with all the borderline hentai and piss-fetish scenes. (Image source: Google) |
Comedy - Kangoku Gakuen is funny because of how the plot sets up the seriousness of the main characters' predicament. Kiyoshi and the gang were on the face of expulsion from their high school which is bad for obvious reasons. Such gravity of the situation makes it understandable for them to undergo any method to prove their innocence. The funny part is how they undergo the most ridiculous methods for the sake of outsmarting the strict USC and proving their innocence. For instance, Gakuto had to take a loud shit during computer class so he can record the sound, which is vital for Kiyoshi's escape. While I understand the tension, I find the tension silly if they're gonna solve it in ridiculous methods anyway--the joke is then delivered.
Another comedy style of Kangoku Gakuen is the piling up of misunderstandings usually involving sexual innuendos. This style is similar to School Rumble's comedy minus the perverted parts. I really enjoyed School Rumble's comedy, which means to say that I enjoyed this comedy style by Kangoku Gakuen as well.
One more thing I appreciate about Kangoku Gakuen's comedy is how previous punchlines are used as set up for other jokes later in the series. For instance, prisoner Kiyoshi told his freed friends that for his escape, he would need a plastic bottle rocket that can fly through water pressure. His friends would create a gigantic rocket model made out of plastic bottles, which was hilarious. Later in the series, the rocket, or as they call it, PBR-sama, would recur as a running gag and an essential plot element in the sports festival conclusion. I enjoyed the reprisal of jokes in Kangoku Gakuen because it shows how they can show fresh angles for a single joke.
 |
| Behold, PBR-sama. (Image source: Google) |
In conclusion, I generally enjoyed Kangoku Gakuen. I liked the artwork except for certain characters. I was interested with the plot despite its declining quality in the second half. I found the comedy effective. Kangoku Gakuen gets a six out of ten because while it didn't fail to bring out a laugh or two in the majority of its run, it suffered a lot from a plot problem especially with a really shitty ending. I definitely recommend this manga for people who like ecchi but cannot stand the genre's stereotypical ecchi tropes: Kangoku Gakuen stands out as a fresh take on the ecchi-comedy genre.
P.S. Apparently the epilogue was released and it was still as disappointing as the finale. I'll keep my rating.
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