Okay doubt anyone is going to read this since there is only 9 comments at the time of posting this, but to those who stayed to read welcome and I hope you enjoy my review. I'll first start with a more generalist approach talking about the formatting of the chapters, and the overall theme that I identified, if your not interested in that then just skip to paragraph three if you solely just want to see me tell you why I think this is shit.
The Format
Every chapter of this manga is all set in one setting and is told from the perspective of a certain character or characters. It's sort of like a collection of short stories but all in one setting. What this means is that these chapters all have individual messages that it conveys depending on which chapter you read, this format fails for this particular manga not because the format is inherently flawed but how the format was used and how the author wrote these short stories. The concept was pretty cool each protagonist for each chapter is someone of a different status in the prison, showing us their thoughts on the situation they are in.
The Message.
The author puts a lot of effort in cementing how horrible the prison is and the amount of harm and exploitation that it brings to people, both emotionally and physically. The obvious theme is the concept of for the greater good. It's brought up through the history of the prison. The prison has underwent a disastrous event through an uprising that cost the lives of many, the authorities hoping to avoid such tragedy caved in to the inmates desires and prostitute orphan girls to curb another riot, after all if the prisoners are satisfied with their conditions then an uprising won't happen again its unfortunate for the girls but its for a good cause right? The theme is explored through the experiences of the girls we see them horribly mutilated and deaths aren't an uncommon occurrence, it's readily apparent that the action the authorities took is wrong.
My Criticisms
My biggest criticism is through the end of these chapters it usually goes against the message that it displays. Take chapter six for example. Chapter six is told from the perspective of a guard. This is a particularly interesting view because it not told from the victims of the establishment but from a member of said establishment. A brief synopsis of the chapter is that a guard saves an orphan girl from committing suicide and pitying the girl sought help from his superiors, his boss is only interested in keeping the status quo, leaving the guard with the one option left, to take matters in his own hands. The theme of this is a conflict of the greater goods helping this girl here or upholding the system that supposedly prevents riot. One particular moment of this chapter that I found interesting was the guards conversation with his superior on what the better choice was. The choice being is it better to tell a sweet lie that if you last more than a week your free to leave this hellhole or tell her the truth that your here until you die. Not once did his boss consider that what they are doing in upholding the prison policy is wrong. The manga seems to agree that the former rather than the ladder is the correct assertion to make so the guard goes on a rescue mission to get that girl out, okay all good so far until you reach the end where the plan fails and the guard gets executed for treason. What! an ending like that implies that the prison was right in the theme of this chapter of a battle of for the greater good. upholding the policy or saving this girl. A lot of this chapter was doing set up for this guards character and showing how bad this policy is.
The Good ( Sort of)
What I find the most intriguing in chapter 6 is the representation of this dissenting grunt guard. The most evil people are usually told to be the masterminds of tragic events. But we don't really hear about the grunts the ones doing the actual leg work of these operations, after all these people are the ones at the bottom they are the ones who see and willingly do the most horrific actions you'll learn in school or hear on the news. Take the holocaust for example most people know about Hitler, Himmler and the likes but what I question is how those at the bottom can do the actions that these men spout, after all the men at the top just push papers they're not the ones pulling the trigger. Seeing the perspective of the dissenter and not the another member of a hive mind is what I enjoyed most about this.
@Megane2426
Judging from your comment I think that you enjoyed reading this in contrast to me, This is my first time really doing this and want to know your thoughts?
@AMetroid
Well here's a review of what I thought that doesn't have to do with an outright rejection of depictions of graphic violence. Can you give me your thoughts of my review?