By Dustin Cabeal

What continues to be amazing about Prison School is how it rotates the gags throughout the series. In some volumes, the gags are all sex related or themed like the S&M volume. There is of course always multiple themes and layers to the story, but in this particular volume one gag/theme stood out… urine.

There is a lot of peeing going on in this volume, and it is all pretty damn hilarious. It is a callback of sorts to the early volumes of the series in which Hana ends up peeing all over herself and vows revenge on Kiyoshi. Which of course leads to their very… very… delicate relationship. That relationship is one of the main reasons I look forward to the book. The series itself has numerous reasons to read it and enjoy the outrageous comedy that always seems a little unbelievable, but then brilliantly finds a way to ground itself in reality.

You could almost say that it has an idiots plotline, especially in this volume that finds Kiyoshi constantly in situations that seem easily avoidable. The one thought that should occur to you is that Akira Hiramoto has excelled at keeping these characters believable high schoolers. They know stuff, but they don’t know shit. Sure they know about sex and stuff, but they’re all terribly inexperienced and don’t even have an inkling of an idea what to do with each other.

Which is perfectly highlighted at the beginning of the volume in which we find Kiyoshi and Chiyo alone, with Chiyo waiting for Kiyoshi to fondle her boobs. What seems like it would be a quick segment, either with him going for it or correctly choosing not to instead becomes complex graphs and charts on how to properly fondle her boobs. Kiyoshi must quickly decipher what the proper technique to fondle her is while realizing that he has no fucking clue what he’s doing. Even more, the other battling thoughts of should he or shouldn’t he is going on in the form of a political election. The layers, the commentary, the comedy… is all brilliant.

You’ll spend most of this volume waiting for the escape plan to reveal itself. The suspense is masterfully built by Hiramoto. He could have easily blazed the same path as the previous prison break out, but it has been vastly different. The key factor has been the cast of course. Different characters, different scenarios, and different diversions. It has made something that seemed redundant at first, incredibly fresh and funny in different ways. Once again Hiramoto’s writing is top notch, from the plotting to the dialogue to the character development. Especially the character development.

The artwork continues to be marvelous. There isn’t anything new to say about the artwork; it’s quite possibly the most detailed and consistent title being published with only One-Punch Man being tied for the title. The level of detail is always impressive. The only thing I think that has improved more is the physical comedy. There is one scene in particular that you can see unfolding before your eyes and yet it’s still just hilarious because of how amazing the artwork portrays it.

By now you’re reading this series, or you’re not. Well, if you’re not then my god how much more do I need to tell you? There are sexual hilarity and a lot of dick and piss jokes. Not to mention the fanservice that’s still present and yet not overbearing in this volume. If the price tag has you scared away, trust me… it’s worth the 20 bucks. You’ll get way more story and content here than spending 20 at your local comic shop this week. Now we just have to wait until February for the next volume… which is painful to think about considering it’s the start of November.

Score: 5/5

Prison School vol. 8
Creator: Akira Hiramoto
Publisher: Yen Press