Fukushuu Kyoushitsu (Revenge Classroom) Manga Review

Ayana has been burned, beaten, and pushed into traffic by her school's bullying. Driven insane from the realization it will never end she plots to return her hell to each of her classmates. With each new victim comes consequences which will leave casualties in their wake. Ayana's revenge will not be stopped until the final price has been paid.


My Review (Part 1)
School is starting for many of my readers and some will be facing bullying on a daily basis. In grade
school I faced ridicule for having a body different than my classmates. Though the long-time boyfriend thinks what was said was ridiculous it does not change how it affected my view of myself for years afterwards. Revenge Classroom stuck in my mind until I sat down to experience it. Before I get into the review I am warning readers this manga contains rape, references to self-harm, disturbing imagery, and has been described as 'f***ed up. 

The Characters
Ayana Fujisawa: Before the bullying Ayana had a
kind, sociable personality, and cared deeply for her friends. She initially endured the beatings, burns, and harassment with a stoic resignation believing it could change. After the pivotal push into traffic Ayana grows increasingly unstable. She is psychotic with a manipulative personality reveling in violence. Ayana does have moments where she appears to display a sense of remorse and guilt but over time they turn into twisted reasoning. She never loses the passive victim mentality when attacks are happening and foregoes self-defense. The girl is so many contradictions it is downright terrifying.

Ai Nomura: After being manipulated into Ayana's first plot she grows to see her as a tragic-heroine. She is sociably awkward admiring the 'popular' girls from afar. Ai is a follower who latches onto Ayana's strength offering herself as a tool in the girl's plots. Some readers may see her as having a female love interest in Ayana. Realistically it's more of a sick fan girl who adores her hero.

Ren: Sadistic POS who calls Ayana his 'toy.' He is

regarded as a friend by many of the class's boys but has no true feelings of friendship for anyone. Ren controls the class from the shadows manipulating his choices through threats. He 'protects' Ayana by only allowing abuse from the other boys when he is present. This boy is f***ed up in more ways than one can comprehend.
 

Mari:Unlikely ally and former tormentor of Ayana. She admits to her jealousy playing a role in bullying Ayana. She rescues her past victim but doesn't want friendship. Her goal is revenge.


Mao: Female leader of the girl's bullying of Ayana. She hates her with undisclosed passion and shows it. Mao faces rejection with anger and leads by demanding others follow. Any opposition is met with severe consequences which her flunkies help her carry out. She is one sick SOB.




Daisuke: Leader of the male bullies he only answers
People like Daisuke make me sick. I will never understand them.
to Ren. He takes enjoyment from making Ayana's life a daily hell of beatings and harassment. When she tells  him 'he should have died' he loses control and rapes Ayana. There is no remorse in Daisuke.

The Art
The side of Ayana you do  not want to meet
The depiction of Ayana in color on the manga made her appear something unique. She does have several unique features in the manga. When particularly ruthless or deranged her eyes appear to have cat-like pupils. Overall though her hair is really the defining feature appearing stringy and kinda emo(?). If it were not for those two features she would be  like the rest of the manga characters.

Almost all the manga characters are reminiscent of
Manga character Deja vu
so many other mangas I have read. They have nothing particularly wrong about them and are well drawn. My problem is they are the looks which my brain goes 'hey! isn't that the girl from .......?'  Not a problem for those new to reading mangas but distracting when you see it so often. They are well done but hardly unique. Even the blood scenes are a bit meh in design. Again not a problem for those unused to the horror genre but I have a fondness for it which makes it a challenge to not compare it to the ones which stand out.

My Review (Part 2)
It's still to suspicious!
Revenge Classroom fascinated me with its description Then I began reading it and found a LOT of holes in the beginning victim story lines. Read Death Note and you get spoiled with Raito/L's indepth plans which make sure to close every loophole. Ayana's plots are very basic relying to much on trusting her manipulated partners. One confession could have derailed her carefully laid plans. If each chapter had continued with a victim punishment relying solely on her it would have become a bland read.

Revenge Classroom rescued itself from averageness when Ayana's plans began to have unintended
What are you doing Emi? She's not on the roof!
consequences. There is a fascinating beauty in seeing humankind's response changing what one person assumed would be their end game. This is not saying there are no issues with this. I am still unsure of exactly how and why Emi was climbing a drain pipe to somehow stop Yuuko from her fate. It was a bit like....um....what...explanation please. The fact that somehow so much of what was happening was ignored by any decent police work was also a bit troubling. Some of Ayana's plot happenings don't quite make sense. The results make the manga fast-paced. I love that. My brain not so much it wants to know more of the lead up (another side effect from Death Note).

The manga is still ongoing so the final results have
yet to make themselves known. I enjoy seeing the alliances building on something different than friendship. Ayana lost her respect for that a long time ago so it makes sense a kind action would not put the brakes on her plan. Her plots are sickening. Some might say she should have only cherry-picked those who actively bullied her. I agree with Ayana those who ignored he bullying or rarely
took a stance are also to blame. All it took in one bullying instance was a single person standing up to the bullies to stop them. If no one cared enough to reach out a helping hand then they aided the bullies in believing they have a right to act with cruelty.

From an emotional standpoint this manga saddened me a great deal. Ayana's actions are wrong. No one
Bullying has no beautiful ending
should do any of what she does no matter how a human being hurt them. The saddest part is this was a girl who was full of life and kindness. Had bullying never happened I am positive she would never have done this. Revenge Classroom felt like a very f***ed up warning. Bullying can lead to self-harm even suicide. Then there are those rare individuals whose mind just snaps. They become the bully who lose all sense of reason. What they do doesn't solve the problem and innocents will face consequences. Every person who becomes a casualty has a family or friends whose life will never be the same. It's enough to make you want to give up on the belief any good exists in humanity. It doesn't have to be like that. For goodness sake, be the one person who stands up for someone like Ayana before sh*t goes down.  You get me? You got me? Good

To the Reader
I consider Revenge Classroom a mature read. I don't
This image stays with me. No one there to save her.
label it mature for the violence because most manga readers, unless romance junkies, have come across brutal violence before. Revenge Classroom's maturity is for suicide, rape, and overall serious subject matter.  This manga took the reviewer to a sad place which is best left untouched. Maybe this is only a personal experience, maybe not, just be aware it's not only a horror manga but a tragedy as well.

Readers who enjoy horror will have a lot to
experience in Revenge Classroom. The suspense is a definite part in this as one doesn't know what will happen as a result of Ayana's actions. Interestingly this is clearly a school life manga with the whole premise involving classmates. There is almost zero comedy in the manga. Romance could potentially be said to exist but I found it difficult to spot any which could be considered a good thing. To sum it up: if you are looking for a happy break from reality in a school life genre then read 24 Colors, Orange Marmalade, or Ouran High School Host Club because you won't find it in Revenge Classroom.

Final Score: 7.5
I have no words to describe it

Details
Name(s): Revenge Classroom; 复仇教室; 復讐教室; Fukushuu Kyoushitsu
Author(s): Yamazaki Karasu
Artist(s):Kaname Ryu
Year: 2013
Chapter(s) 16 as of 8/12/2016
Genre: Tragedy, School Life, Suspense, Drama, Psychological
Status: Ongoing
Anime: No (if there is I couldn't find it)