School Judgment: Gakkyu Hotei, Vol. 3

I decided that even though I had a few misgivings, I would push on. I felt that the previous two volumes had some inappropriate panels involving 12-13 year old children. With that, I thought long and hard whether or not to read volume 3 in order to finish the series. Since I also review works to inform parents and guardians about the age appropriateness of comics and graphic novels, along with journaling about my reads, I decided that I needed to complete School Judgment in order to determine if things continue to skirt the edge of decency or not.

So does volume 3 over-sexualize middle school children, especially girls? Oh yeah, it does.

This final volume introduces readers to the third survivor of the classroom massacre, The Bloody Session, that inspired Abaku Inugami to become a lawyer. Named Yui Kijima, she's a ruthless attorney who has never lost a case. And she dresses as a dominatrix which reflects her vindictive and heartless nature. Kijima has arrived because sweet little Tento Nanahoshi is in serious trouble once again! School Madonna, Reiko Shiratori has been attacked, falling into a deep coma and Tento is the prime suspect!

It will be Yui vs Abaku for the fate of Tento Nanahoshi. Should Abaku lose this case, Tento will be sent to Onigashima Elementary, the harshest school penitentiary in all of Japan!

Then fans finally learn the identity of Red Orge, the savage killer of Abaku, Yui and ninja lawyer Kotaro Sarutobi's classmates. It's a resolution that will stun readers. But it will also answer some lingering questions for fans because the final two chapters were never published in print until now! So unless you subscribed to Weekly Shonen Jump's online app Shonen Jump+, first run readers of School Judgment were left in the dark as to the identity of Red Orge! 

Also appearing in print for the very first time is the 2-part prototype of Nobuaki Enoki's vision for School Judgment. Featuring very primitive art from Enoki, there's some elements of the Suzuki Murder and Dismemberment story but overall, it's a new case, with some new characters, between attorneys Pine Hanzuki and Abaku Inugami.

Here we are with a storyline that involves a history of a bunch of first graders being slaughtered, a youth bent on murderous revenge for their killing, and all kinds of fights, assaults and drug use and here I am freaking out over the sultry parts of this book. I don't know why. Maybe it crosses a line for me. As a high school teacher, I witness fights and assaults all day. There's been a couple of incidents of drug use, but it's mostly cigs and vaping that get my students into trouble. Thankfully, nobody has died. But we've had so many freakin' lock-downs that we've all become desensitized to them due to overuse. But when it comes to portraying youths as sexual creatures, as realistic as premarital sex and teen pregnancy is at my school, it's a huge line in the sand that I don't want to be anywhere near.

I know that there's a ton of Manga out there that are a lot more adult than this book. The same goes for American comics and graphic novels. But the fact that the sensuality and T&A that appears in this book involved elementary students was something that gave me a lot of pause. And to have adult men crafting these stories just doesn't seem appropriate to me. If it doesn't seem appropriate for your family, then consider this review my advisory. But will I demand it be censored or banned? As a supporter of the CBLDF, absolutely not. I just hope parents, guardians and adults who might not be in the know are made aware should they deem such work as School Judgment as not right for their families or themselves.

Worth Consuming based on the quality of the storytelling!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.