Within the world of manga , there's a name that evokes both passion and hatred among fans: Akira Hiramoto ( Prison School ). This name might not sound familiar at first, but you've certainly heard of one of his most famous works: "Prison School." What self-respecting otaku doesn't know or at least haven't heard of this series?
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However, it's quite possible that you only came into contact with the anime made by JCSTAFF back in 2015, during the Japanese summer. Perhaps you even felt the urge to dive into the manga, but were bombarded with warnings not to. That's where Akira Hiramoto's bad reputation comes in, as fans complain that "he doesn't know how to give his stories a decent ending."
"Prison School" revolves around Kiyoshi Fujino, one of five boys enrolled at Hachimitsu High School, which is basically a girls' paradise with a touch of hell for them. Things get complicated when these guys end up trapped in the school by the tyrannical Student Committee.
But this story isn't just about a battle of the sexes. "Prison School" is known for its different scenes, bold design, and a range of other things. And you can't deny that the illustrations of the female characters are striking.
Typically, manga focused on girls fall short in terms of plot, but "Prison School" breaks that stereotype. Despite progressing at a slow pace, the story is punctuated by moments of comedy and sensuality, one after another. However, some argue that the author ran out of creative ideas to maintain the manga's tone, although there was an intriguing love triangle between Kiyoshi, Chiyo (the student council president's sister and Kiyoshi's love interest), and Hana (the student council secretary who falls for Kiyoshi after several interactions).
Just when it seemed one side would win, the other played its last trump card. In the end, neither emerged victorious, and the author concluded the story abruptly and confusingly. Many argue that this ending was consistent with the absurd tone of the narrative from the beginning.
Fans themselves began to nurture hopes that a comedy manga like "Prison School" would suddenly transform into a story of love and relationships, which didn't fit the essence of the work. However, most were disappointed with the ending in which Chiyo becomes student council president to continue tormenting men, something completely out of character for her, and this is considered one of the worst endings in manga history.
The impact was so great that, even when trying to create new stories like "RaW Hero" and "Futari Switch," the author never managed to replicate the success of "Prison School" because his entire fanbase turned their backs on him.
Fans commented on the anime in recent days:
- The ending is a big "fuck you," there's no logic behind it, the characters act in contradiction to their original personalities.
- Chiyo thought Kiyoshi was a nice guy, that he wasn't a liar or a pervert. When Chiyo saw him wearing Hana's panties, her perfect image of Kiyoshi was shattered. Realizing this and receiving a shower of gold on her own birthday from a guy she respected pushed her to the edge. We can assume that all that trauma turned her into a misandrist like her sister, and that's why in the end Kiyoshi said that she hadn't changed at all since the beginning. "He was always a liar, and only Hana accepted him as he was from the start.".
- Well said, Chiyo had the exact opposite development to Mari, who started hating the boys for childish and insipid reasons until she was forced to work with them, especially Kiyoshi (the real one, not the invented one she played for Chiyo), reaching a point where I couldn't hate them anymore.
- If this were a normal anime series, I'd agree with you, but for an ecchi comedy, I didn't want anything profound that would leave me sad for days; I just wanted a happy and satisfying ending. "I'm the type of person who gets obsessed with the characters and the possible futures for them after it's all over.".
- Somehow, the author managed to find a way to make all the characters in the love triangle unhappy and end it in the most unbearable way possible. It's rare to find a manga with a worse ending than Usagi Drop (because it throws away all the character development that happens before), but here we are.
Many fans enjoyed the ending of the story:
- The truth is, I really enjoyed the story, with all those plans, counter-plans, and contingency plans! The author even managed to transform something as common as a kiss into something huge and overwhelming (at least for me). If it weren't for the extreme graphic violence, the first arc would be a masterpiece. I can only assume that the torture was introduced as a power fantasy for female readers, an attempt to lure them into an ecchi manga they wouldn't otherwise be interested in. I even read comments from some where they happily declare that they are like Meiko or Hana. Yes, truly something to be proud of.
- I love Prison School, but that ending annoyed me. So much time and effort invested in the characters only to throw them away feels almost like a "Fuck you" from the author. I'm convinced he did it on purpose.
- I just finished it and… it left a bad taste in my mouth. Hana and Kiyoshi were the best, and although I wanted them to end up together, I didn't want it to be because of the sabotage of Chiyo. I wanted Kiyoshi to start appreciating what he had with Masa. In fact, Masa didn't even end up confessing, and the last emotion we saw from him towards her was anger. And that last "men are trash" panel was unnecessary. And since I'm complaining, the Cavalry Battle arc gave a new definition of how to make a very slow manga.
Finally, comment if you've read or watched Prison School.
Source: Reddit