Prison School (Review)
Prison School Takes Detention to a Whole New Level.
I’ve seen some pretty sexually suggestive anime over the years, but Prison School definitely leaves one hell of an impression. The anime is less “suggestive” than a full-on fetish party exploring all kinds of kinks to comedic results. Prison School is definitely not a series for children or prudes as it unapologetically lets it’s freak flag fly high and proud. While I might be a little on the shier side when it comes to that sort of stuff, I still found myself laughing hysterically at the NSFW situations so many of the characters found themselves in. More than that though, Prison School is a prison break anime filled with plenty of twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seat. In other words, I’ve never seen anything like it.
It seems like most anime take place in Japanese High Schools and there have been some pretty crazy ones over the years. Compared to a lot of series out there, Hachimitsu Academy is pretty normal. The formerly all-girls school finally opens its door to boys and as luck would have it the five who enroll just happen to be a bunch of perverts with dreams of getting laid by their classmates. The thing is that not all the students are excited about allowing y-chromosomes on campus and a secret underground disciplinary committee decides to dish out some pretty insane punishments on the men after they’re caught, well, being perverts. Forcing them to build a prison in the middle of the campus and live in cells, the boys are forced into menial physical labor to serve time for the crimes they committed. These guys aren’t going to take this lying down though and soon hatch a plan to not only escape, but to clear their names as well.
Prison School is filled with more sexual anime tropes than you can shake a stick at. One of the main characters is Meiko Shiraki (Whitney Rodgers), the vice president of the Student Disciplinary Committee whose breast are so big it’s a wonder that she can even stand up straight at all (which she proudly displays since more modest clothing is much too “restrictive” for her). As if this wasn’t enough, she also has a habit of humiliating and beating the men in the series with a riding crop. Think that’s pretty intense, well that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Prison School. The series also includes a masochistic character who just wants to be beaten and berated, a character intent on getting a chance to watch the protagonist (Austin Tindle) pee, and a principle who likes big butts and he cannot lie. All in all, it’s pretty jaw-dropping at times, but never quite crosses into the same realm as, say, Seven Mortal Sins. That’s because Prison School keeps a sense of humor about it all at its core. It never forgets that the characters are “human” first and foremost and sexual deviants second. That let me feel a little less dirty watching the series overall and made it all the more enjoyable overall.
What I enjoyed most about this series is the fact that while a lot of the students frown upon any sort of outward sexuality in the slightest (the President of the Disciplinary committee is quite a prude), director Tsutomu Mizushima chooses a perspective that implies that while it might be uncomfortable to talk about these things, it’s all perfectly natural. The male characters especially seem very accepting of all their comrades’ kinks. While they start the series off in a pretty scummy way (peeping in the women’s showers) they manage to mature and grow quite a bit over the course of the series, which serves to undermine their adversaries plans to get them all expelled from the school. Of course, they still get into some pretty awkward situations, but more and more it seems to be because of the female characters trying to trick them more than their own raging hormones.
Despite the absurdity of Prison School the animation is pretty grounded overall. The series was produced by J.C.Staff (responsible for series like Ghost Hunt and Nabari no Ou) which is a studio that isn’t known for a lot of frills or stylized shows. However, that doesn’t stop Prison School from having some pretty strange designs for a few of the characters. It’s a little jarring at first considering just how mundane so many of the others seem, but they quickly grow on you after a while. Personally, I think the, while detailed and fluid, understated animation helps to make the series a bit more palatable when it comes to the sexual themes throughout it. It also helps to drive home a lot of the more extreme sequences. The contrast helps to ensure that the series never desensitizes the viewer over the course of the series and keeps it fresh right up til the very end.
As I said earlier, Prison School is not a series for kids or prudish. It’s an ecchi series, which means you kinda have to find it funny in order for it to work. Luckily, I found the series to be quite amusing. It’s a crazy concept that’s executed fairly well, even during some of the more problematic parts of the series (though the dub does call out those Gamergate jerks, which is nice). Part of the problem is that while it’s accepting of the sexual nature we all have, it comes dangerously close to subscribing to the old “boys will be boys” mentality. While it doesn’t simplify it quite to that point and does make sure you know that the guys do deserve their initial punishment, it’s a little quick to forgive them. Still, at only 12 episodes, Prison School is a unique and pleasantly twisted series that manages to leave quite an impression.
