Book reviews

69thStreet8
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu, or Revenge Classroom, is about a middle school girl who is inexplicably bullied by her classmates. One day, after being pushed out into the middle of the road and nearly being killed by a car, she decides that she's had enough of the bullying, and goes from being the victim to the hunter.

(Spoilers ahead. Ye be warned.)

Story: Revenge Classroom is...well, it's torture porn. Lots of blood, gore, all that. The plot is fairly predictable as she goes from one classmate to another in her checklist, even going so far as to recruit a couple of them to help her. And by recruit, I mean manipulate one, and blackmail the other.

The ways she destroys her various classmates are...interesting, I suppose, some more than others. Sometimes she acts through other people, and sometimes she does the deed herself.

Art: The art really varies in quality. When looking straight on at a character, it can be quite beautiful, but when viewed in profile, or anything other than straight on, faces tend to distort to ridiculous proportions, from pointed chins that should reach down to a character's collarbone, to misaligned features. And for some strange reason, there's often a line drawn horizontally across any given character's face, beneath their eyes. I have absolutely no idea what that's supposed to be or why it's there.

On the plus side, as characters start to devolve into madness, they develop slitted pupils, which gives them a distinctly sinister appearance. (Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni did this better, I'm afraid, but good try.)

Character: Oh, boy. The characters are pretty much cardboard cutouts there to die/go insane/be tortured in various ways. Many of them are evil just for the sake of being evil, and the few who actually managed to wring a drop or two of sympathy from me were on screen for so little time that they didn't make an impression at all. Even now, I couldn't tell you a single character's name. They're that forgettable.

Enjoyment: Two words: Trainwreck Syndrome. As the chapters progressed, I got more and more frustrated.

Why does it take nearly half the classroom to be absent before any adult starts thinking maybe something isn't quite right?

Why was there no investigation launched immediately after people started to go missing?

Why did no one think that the girl who was terribly bullied [i]might[/i] just have something to do with all of this?

Why do the police not put the remaining classmates in protective custody when it's clear they're being targeted?

Any sympathy I might have had for the main character rapidly evaporated. She goes from a bullied girl to an outright psychopath, becoming far worse than the bullies she wanted revenge on. Even when people start dying, she shows perhaps a moment or two of remorse, but then shrugs it off and goes right back to her hitlist, even targeting people who had absolutely nothing to do with her bullying.

I don't know if she was meant to be a likable protagonist, or if the author just decided to make everyone in this universe batshit insane, but he definitely missed the mark on the former.

Overall: This is one massive dumpster fire of a manga. It's poorly executed, and makes you want to tear your hair out in frustration at times, but it's such a big trainwreck that when you come to the end of a chapter, you [i]have[/i] to see how things could possibly get worse in the next one.
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k_la_anne13
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
Story: 7/10
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu has an unoriginal premise but with an interesting execution, the methodical way the protagonist initiated her quest for revenge makes for a good story and a few chapters are fun to read because of it. Flashbacks are used to provide emotion or context to scenes that would otherwise feel out of place which is good, but ultimately the series suffers from how convoluted keeping track of the history each of the characters has with each other becomes.

Art: 8/10
The tone for the series is set in the art, everywhere seems to be a little morose or disgusting and can make you feel unsettled during particularly emotional scenes. The character's facial expressions stand out and really emphasize moments in the story where you're meant to understand how they're feeling, especially during the more dark scenes.

Characters: 5/10
As mentioned in the story sections, it becomes tedious to try and keep track of who's affiliated with who and part of that is because some of the main characters are so forgettable. A lot of the male characters also suffer from over the top shounen cliches that feel out of place in the story.

Enjoyment: 6/10
It's really fun to read but by the end of it I felt like I had been cheated. Despite so much happening only a handful of chapters felt relevant to telling the main story while the rest may as well have not even happened.

Overall: 7/10
I think Fukushuu Kyoushitsu is definitely worth reading. It's entertaining and intriguing enough to occupy your time, especially if you like stories with dark and depressing themes.
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Zanudikotik9
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
Revenge Classroom is exactly the same thing you've probably seen in many other typical edgy works; lots of gore, shock factor, dumb characters and ridiculous plot twists that make no sense. What truly makes it work is...absolutely nothing actually, I have no real idea why anyone would like this.

The story is basically the main character taking revenge on everyone in her class because...reasons. Like sure, quite a few of the characters are despicable (and by despicable I mean that's their only personality trait), but she basically sets out to murder everyone including bystanders and even people who may have helped her in the past.

What truly baffles me is the LOGIC. She has no reason why she's hurting a good portion of the people she's hurting, and she feels little guilt about her actions. Her motives are basic, but somehow has no problem being every bit as bad as the bullies who murdered her. Actually, I don't think any of her bullies murdered someone, so she's actually worse than they are.

She's extremely self-centered and bitchy, refusing to be sympathetic to other people and their issues, instead preferring to view the world through her shallow and extremely narrow mindset. I can't think of any reason why any sane person would sympathize with her.

The sad part is that the manga portrays everyone who opposes her as though they're evil, savage people who we're supposed to despise, rather than our main character not realizing that, you know, they're human beings with their own set of issues. And yes, some of our victims are simply people our main character didn't try to understand then put the blame on them. It makes absolutely no sense.

The other characters can literally be described with one line; the seemingly perfect class rep who's not so perfect, the dude who acts tough and turns out to be a coward, the clingy (calling yuri undertones folks) friend who helps her out, and so on. All of their traits are taken to extremes, but that's all that's memorable about them. In fact, I marathoned all 14 chapters available at the time of this writing less than 15 minutes ago and I can't even remember their names. Yes, they're so forgettable that you remember their deaths/getting bullied more than their actual personalities. I'm not kidding.

Can I mention how almost everything that happens in this manga is so overblown and ridiculous that it removes reader engagement completely? Seriously, the characters here need to chill the hell out and stop overreacting to everything. Nothing is portrayed in a morally gray, subtle way and everything is just...one dimensional and bland, hoping that we, the readers will fall for this.

The manga also has a bizarre habit of making itself seem way more intelligent than it actual is. First couple of chapters, for example; the main character apparently planned some elaborate revenge for two whole months, and that revenge involved putting a letter in a delinquent's bicycle to beat up another delinquent. Yes, it's just as anti-climactic as I just described it.

Artwork looks alright, nothing to really write home about but nothing too exceptional. So pretty average.

Overall, if you enjoy stupid, self-centered leads who refuse to sympathize with others and see the world through one perspective and refuse to budge on that or care about anything other than herself, as well as ridiculously simplistic strategies, edginess so over the top that it makes Akame ga Kill look subtle, then I can safely say that this manga is for you.

Unless you enjoy intentionally reading bad manga (like I do) please stay away.
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muntasir1239
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
This was literally the biggest waste of time I've ever spent. Spoiler-free, here's my thoughts.

Story - 5 (At best)
When starting out, you realize the character is already in a terrible situation. As with most revenge types, you're interested in how she's going to...well...get revenge. It starts out with minor characters who didn't really do too much getting in trouble. As you progress to the real antagonists, however, it slowly becomes more of a forgive fest than revenge. Which in the case of some characters, don't need to be forgiven but should of been the actual targets of revenge. It's like the author decided to completely change their characters in the middle of a chapter to be good guys. Too many "surprise twists" and hidden villains to actually progress with our main characters. The end was obviously rushed. The author probably realized they messed up any character development they did and wanted it to end.

Art - 7 (Actually isn't that bad)
The art was really clean and well done. It was stylized perfectly for a dark setting like a revenge story. The artist knew how to get expressions across really well.

Character - 5 (Read story section for my issue)
As I've mentioned above, the characters are all over the place that you end up hating them all. It becomes a chore to actually try and care about these characters. When you have characters go from rapist to secret protector, you know the author was just pulling out whatever he could to try and finish the story.

Enjoyment - 5 (I wanted it to end early)
I enjoyed it at first because she was truly planning on revenge. But after the first victim realized that the sword on the cover was just for show. It picks up the pace later on, but at that point most characters end up changing their personalities completely. Too much changes to actually enjoy it.

Overall - 5
What else can I say. If you're very bored and have bounds of money to just spend, then sure buy this and go on a mediocre journey. You can do better though. It isn't even revenge most of the book, as stated earlier. With all that said, I regret this book.
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GGShang9
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
So, what is revenge classroom about?
Well, that's simple. It's about revenge.
Story- 10
I haven't really seen many manga or anime that do this.
They take someone who's been bullied, and in this case, the protagonist, Ayana, is consistently raped and stolen from, among other things.
And then, she's almost killed when pushed in front of a car.
And what does she decide to do?
Ruin the lives of everyone in her classroom. Gather information, and put plans into motion. Simple, yet the sheer anticipation kept me hooked in the story.
It's strangely invigorating, watching Ayana plan and execute her revenge.
Art- 9
The art fits the story and genres of the story extremely well. Ayana just has that sort of "Hey, I might be insane!" Kind of atmosphere. But, when the characters need to, they look cute. The artist also isn't afraid to show blood or death scenes.
So, again, the art fits the tone if the story extremely well.
Characters- 10
The characters are one of the reasons that I can't put this damn manga down, even with only 10 chapters currently out.
So, there's the main character, Ayana, who I've already explained.
Then there's her two sidekicks.
Ai, who is almost as demented as Ayana.
And the other one, who's simply trying to support his family.
The targets of Ayana's revenge are also well-done.
There's hardly a single one that's one-dimensional.
From a girl oppressed by her parents to a pair of suggestedly homosexual Highschool prostitutes, they're all captivating.
Enjoyment- 10
This was a diamond in the rough moment for me.
If it wasn't obvious from the way I went on about it, I really, really, enjoy this manga.
Overall- 10
It's an amazing manga with so much to offer.
If you're looking for a good psychological story, give this a try. I can guarantee that you won't regret it.
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PoisonSunflower10
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
I am legitimately confused. I have several questions, but honestly, I don't think I want any of them answered. In this review, I'll be writing my views regarding Fukushuu Kyoushitsu -- I'll avoid spoiling it, but be warned that this may, in fact, not be spoiler-free.

Story (3/10):
This is the story about a girl who suffered an awful amount of bullying from her classmates, and now she wants to take revenge on them in multiple forms which, initially, doesn't necessarily mean she will resort to killing everyone. After a few victims, the manga seems to attempt to show us the consequences of her acts and how selfish the progatonist was from the very beginning and gives us the expectation that things may not start to go as we initially expected and that her chain of revenge was, in fact, an awful idea.
In the following chapters, however, that seems to have been completely forgotten or discarded, as the entire story surpasses the limits of how edgy a scenario can be and everything is blown out of proportion, along with ridiculous plot twists which makes you wish they never actually happened and the worst possible depiction both of "Cause and Effect" and how serious the story is actually meant to be.
The third act and the ending do nothing to fix that, but instead, transform a certain horrible character into a secret good guy and reveals even more absurd plot twists that lead to an unsatisfactory, frustrating, and completely open conclusion.

Art (5/10):
I'll make this section short: It's OK, there is nothing particularly special about the artwork of this manga, it does just fine but does not stand out and fails to convey emotion.

Characters (1/10):
When I thought I had already seen a story full of horrible characters, Fukushuu Kyoushitsu managed to quite LITERALLY make a story which only contains characters that are completely awful. When I say that, I mean that most of the characters in this manga only have one trait, which is that they are despicable people and that is all that matters, adding to the selfish and unidimensional view of the protagonist, which is also an awful person.
No one is memorable, no one has any trait that makes them stand out or they only have a single trait that is taken to the extreme in an attempt to give them some sort of personality. Try remembering everyone's names, you won't be able to, you will easily forget the names of the main characters. Try describing them with more than two sentences, you won't be able to do that either, because there is really no depth to them at all, not to mention not a single one of them is likeable.

Enjoyment (3/10):
You know, in the beginning of this manga, I was enjoying it and I wanted more, because my expectations were that the story would develop into something far more interesting than just this "revenge chain" and get away from the one-sided, selfish and screwed up point of view of the protagonist. However, that didn't happen and, as mentioned above, became a ridiculous scenario with absurd plot twists and there was no enjoyment left by the end of the manga, because of how disappointing it was.

Overall (2/10):
Need I say more? I was left disappointed in so many levels because of how poorly written and how terribly rushed this manga turned out to be, how you never get to actually like or even remember any of the characters, how your expectations are ruined by the attempts of making a subversive plot, the reader is left confused about many unanswered questions and the enjoyment is nowhere to be found.
My recommendation is to simply ignore this manga and avoid the possibility of serious frustration and confusion.
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Onakatarumi11
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
I don't usually write reviews for ongoing series, especially not so early on, but I feel I should make an exception for the sake of giving this manga a good early analysis. Also, a fair warning, if this review seems excessively long, feel free to skip to "Summary."
I originally found this manga through a series randomizer. This one popped up and I noticed it's genres included "horror" and "psychological," so I thought that I may as well give it a try, seeing as my first impression based on the synopsis and picture painted this manga as a good, enjoyable, dark manga, and in many ways I was spot on. But, as always, first impressions, especially those you form before you even begin to read a manga, are sometimes false.

-Story- 8
Ayana is bullied, hard. Not the normal type where it's a couple kids just teasing someone. Not the teen drama bullying here. We're talking full on physical, psychological, and emotion torture. The other students in her class ostracize, physically abuse, and even rape her, as well as steal her belongings, on a regular basis. So, one day, while waiting on a crosswalk, she is pushed (presumably by one of her classmates) right in front of a car and is nearly killed as a result. This incident, however, awakens a demon inside her called revenge. She wants revenge against every student in her class, including those who stood by and watched as she was constantly abused.
Now, in terms of originality, this story is something very fresh in a stale setting, the classroom setting. The mangaka forces the most extreme case of bullying into a lax school setting and sees what would result. I think it's safe to say that, if executed properly, this manga could become a very interesting, well paced, well thought-out series that could compete even with the higher tiered manga. However, now we run into the trouble of the execution of this original idea, and that is where we run into our first problem, believe-ability. It's difficult to imagine that a case of bullying as extreme as this could exist. Our human nature tells us that we would ideally care for all of those around us, or, by social contract, "pretend" to care for the sake of the relationships we selfishly desire. The story does NOT contradict either of these ideas. The bullies constantly unite against a single individual with the expectation of improving their social standing or, at least, to not be associated with that individual and hold their social standing. The primary issue isn't the believe-ability of the situation that Ayana is in, it is how the situation escalated to the level it is. Basically, why is she being bullied "so hard" and how did it begin in the first place? This question has yet to be answered (which doesn't mean it will not be later on). That is the primary detriment this manga has on me so far

-Art- 10
As with many mangas, the artwork is phenomenal. It can be both aesthetically pleasing and horrifying. This especially enforces the tone the manga tries to invoke. The character designs also reveal a bit about the characters themselves, some of their motives behind their actions, and their social standing.
I do want to mention specifically the character design of Ayana. She is designed very well to look like both, a normal student (albeit, a lonely one) and, what I like to call, a being of vengeance. This gives her a two-way contrast from the rest of her class.

-Character- 8
As I mention in the "Art" section, the characters, while occasionally having little (for lack of an appropriate word) screen time, are shown well in attitude and behavior, as well as their hidden motives being able to be analyzed through their designs, facial expressions, and subtle actions.

-Enjoyment- 9
As stated before through my first impression, this manga looked like an interesting and enjoyable read. I could just watch a girl get revenge against one classmate after another until only she remains on top. This was a misjudgment on my part. While her aim is to get revenge against her classmates, one after another, there are consequences for her actions, and for her classmates' actions. This is probably my favorite quality that makes this manga shine, in my eyes.

Summary:

-Overall- 9
This manga is more cerebral than one may first notice. Each character can be analyzed through a lot of their qualities and actions, and, while the premise may seem unbelievable in terms of the extent of the characters' actions, it is very real.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment on my profile any questions, compliments, or criticisms about my review, about this manga, or anything really.
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TheElfiestElf10
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
How do you describe this manga? What kind of perverse incentive was at play for someone to write, storyboard, then draw this manga? Who thinks of this kind of thing? These were all questions I held in my mind as I decided to take a peek down the deep dark yawning abyss that is this manga of insanity.

Story: 7/10. It gets the job done, moves at a natural pace, and is generally appropriate. It's fairly predictable, however, every chapter reveals another facet of the torturous mind that must have been slaving away to come up with so many ways for people to die. I'm not sure if you're supposed to keep a level head while reading this story, but I certainly felt like I was being roped down into insanity along with Ayano while reading this manga. Its pacing is quite good; it never slows down or speeds up to an unacceptable rate. The story progresses naturally much like a derailing train would generally stay put for most of the journey before hitting something, and, oh s h i t, now everything's exploding. The ending is sudden, and the pacing is incredibly intense, but yes, it felt natural and appropriate.

Art: 9/10. Now the art is generally controversial. Some like it, some love it, some hate it. I personally enjoyed the art quite a bit. The exaggerated, haunting expressions of some of the victims are burned into your mind, leading to a greater emotional impact. Most of the time, Ayano looks generally pitiable, or downright evil, just as the character tends to be. I liked the art, some disagree, all there is to it.

Character: 5/10. There is no character with a personality in this manga. What's Ayano's personality? Her one trait is she gets bullied. There's no reason, she just gets bullied. Ok. What's her response? Hurt everyone. That's it. That's her character, done. What about Ai? She wants to hurt everyone. ANything else? She's also crazy devoted (and also just plain crazy) to Ayano. Ok. Anything else? Nope! They are just there for the shock value. Oh no, taichou's (student council pres) dead. What was her character? Abused by her parents. Oh no, Ren's stabbed. What was his character? He hurts women and somewhat cares about Ayano. Huh. The reason this story was less satisfying as a revenge drama than it could've been, is because even though those characters do horrible things to Ayano, they themselves are always flat and unappealing, like cardboard. Thus, the emotional satisfaction of watching said cardboard character get tortured is also less than a fully-fledged developed character doing the same. Let's take Nidome no Yuusha for instance. Similar story, set in an isekai. The final torture of the mage in volume 2 has been developed for so long you understand the character intimately. This is a character you absolutely despise, and thus, watching her die, is also satisfying. Let's compare this to said taichou. The only thing you know about her, is she said some mean things to Ayano once. Wasn't even that bad. Then, she is shown being locked up by her parents and promptly kills herself. She's probably the most emotional death (except for those Ai lovers out there) in this manga, and even writing it out feels hollow. The characters are this story's weak point. Without characters we're invested in, every death feels hollow, like a chore.

Enjoyment: 7/10. It was ok. I was looking for a revenge story, it satisfied the itch. Not particularly brilliantly; emotional satisfaction was lessened by the massive cast of students we were literally tearing our way through, but it was ok.

In the end, it's a dark, messed-up story about revenge and murder and psychological damage. This manga messes with your head, and generally just pushes the edge factor so far its left the earth. I think that that's the only way to conclude this review: edgy, messed-up revenge.
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Deleb15
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
I really, really enjoyed this manga. By the time I reached the latest chapter -- chapter nine as of currently -- I was nearly bouncing off the wall with adrenaline and demands for more.

Such 'revenge against bullies' type manga often has this effect. Really, it's essentially their purpose. Our hero achieves 'justice' against despicable people and, in the process, makes the readers feel good that 'bad people' get their due punishment and the bullied gets a sense of closure.

Fukushuu Kyoushitsu is exceptionally good at this for a few reasons, but first and foremost is that the main hero, Ayana, uses her smarts rather than a sword to administer justice in a 'reap what you sow' sort of way. That is she often uses the vices of her bullies in order to get them punished.

This is a surprising good method to go about it. To begin, it teaches you what her bullies did to her and, simultaneously, also introduces their method of downfall. From then on, you're left wondering how she will utilize their vice in order to bring them down. It also helps that 'feel good' feeling because you're seeing people sort of bring about their own downfall (even if Ayana does help things along).

The manga does have its flaws. The issue, I think, is that it doesn't weave its subplots well.

For example, shortly after her revenge begins, a series of 'revelations' begin happening. This is expected and normal, but the author doesn't go about it very well. The revelations would have us believe in things that, frankly, seems contradictory/absurd/overly convenient in the context of what happened. If the revelations were to be believe, then had Ayana just waited a week or two, then things would have completely turned around for her. Bullying stopped, possibly a new boyfriend, and etc. Really?

The manga is also building up some other subplots that hasn't gotten far, but it already has that 'conspiracy' vibe going on. It remains to be seen how well the author does it, but I'm not confident so far.

Still, for what it's worth, Fukushuu Kyoushitsu has been a really fun manga to read and I do recommend it. The subplots are enough of a background then that its nonsensical progress won't be a real distraction to the fun of the main plot.
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1up1
Apr 07, 2021
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu review
After stumbling upon this series and seeing a couple of pages I decided to check it out because it looked gory and the name sounded interesting. It's a good thing that I didn't expect much, because that's just about what I got. This is one of the edgiest manga I have ever read.

Story: 2/10
The story revolves around the main character who is bullied for whatever reason by various classmates. It's not really explained, she's just really bulliable I suppose. She holds no dislikable qualities, and hasnt done anything to harbor any ill feelings from her classmates. She passively takes it until she's nearly killed by being pushed into traffic. This enlightening experience pushes her punish all of her classmates, whether involved in her bullying or bystanders, thus the name "Revenge Classroom".

The main character uses various methods to ruin the lives of those around her and destroy the class. She wrecks her classmates socially, psychologically, and physically. One surprising thing is the list of targets excludes her teachers and school staff. You know, people who directly observe school issues and have the authority to deal with it. But somehow the girl so passive about her bullying is now decides to go after those who were as powerless to save her as she was to save herself in the start. Her first realization after getting hit by the car was "kill or be killed" but screw that let's take everyone out whether they intend to harm you or not.

Characters: 1/10
The characters are just plot devices to drive the edginess of the story. There is nothing here. Everyone's crazy, an asshole, incompetent, or a coward, actively screwing themselves over.

Art: 4/10
The art conveys what it needs to in no exceptional fashion. Not terrible, not good either. Fails to convey emotion and is unappealing

Entertainment: 4/10
Will prove to be the manga's only redeeming quality. There is some entertainment to be had in the crazy events of the novel, but they'll grow old quickly because the story backing it is so weak and nonsensical. The main character hatches various plan and is maniacally manipulative which may hold reader's interest and serve as the main reason to read

Overall: 2/10
I'm not going further because the manga just loses it's appeal. And when translations take time that becomes a huge issue. If the whole thing was done I may have finished it to see how everything turned out. Dumb fun at best, this is nothing to look to deep into.
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Fukushuu Kyoushitsu
Fukushuu Kyoushitsu
Author Yamazaki, Karasu
Artist --