Prison School vol. 5

The saga of the boys’ stint in the school’s prison finally comes to an end in this volume.  It’s not a spoiler to say that their efforts to find evidence of the Shadow Student Council’s “Expel Boys Operation” is successful.  But you’ll have to read the volume itself to find out how clothing switches, impersonations, Gackt running around campus in his underwear, and a USB drive he hid up his ass all factor into it.  It’s all very ridiculous, and (as usual) all the funnier for being played completely straight.  That’s also true of the mini-arc that follows as the boys adjust to life back on the outside.  This turns out to be great for Gackt, who acquires a female friend named Mitsuko with a penchant for unintentional fanservice that is cleverly localized in pegging her as a “Boob Goldberg.”  Unfortunately, Joe finds no happiness in his return to normal school life and is soon angling to find ways to return to prison life.  Only Andre is clued-in enough to his friend’s despondency to help, and it all comes down to a high-speed exposed-flesh dash down a waxed hall in the end.  I guess what I’m trying to say here is that the first half of vol. 5 is as gloriously dumb, tasteless, and funny as anything the series has produced so far and a worthy finish to the story it has been telling since vol. 1

Whether or not the arc that follows it will be as successful… Well, I’m skeptical based on what I’ve read so far.  As a result of the “EBO,” the three members of the Shadow Student Council are placed in the school’s prison by the actual student council.  And boy does its president have an axe to grind with Mari, the leader of the Shadow Council.  This latest arc looks to be just like the previous one, only with its antagonists serving the opposite role.  The volume also makes an arguably ill-advised trip into sentimentality as it flashes back towards the end to showcase how Mari and the ridiculously busty Meiko met back in elementary school.  There are some amusing bits to be found here and there:  The reasoning as to why Andre really gets into his role as a prison guard for the girls is clever, as is seeing young Mari’s unadulterated love for her father (before she realized how creepy his fetish was).  You’ll be hearing me talk more about this series on Wednesday, but that’ll mainly be in relation to the ingeniously stupid joy that “Prison School” has brought to me this year prior to the back half of this volume.