Consumer Review
Score: 3/5 (Worth Watching)
Prison School tells stupid jokes so smartly that they work even on an incubator.
Critical Review
Spoiler warning: spoiler free! It feels bad to retell and reexplain jokes, so this review will cover the show’s overall style.
Prison School elevates its juvenile humor not by making the subject “smarter” (which would miss the point, it needs to be crude to be juvenile humor). Instead, the show makes the viewer more vulnerable so that the stupidest punchlines hit with surprising impact. The active ingredients of this technique are the stressful emotions usually seen in the genres of suspense thriller and horror.
This is apparent from the art direction. The show uses a muted palette and majority of the character designs have body and facial proportions that lean towards realism. Given the slightest opportunity, the show shrouds faces in as much believable shadow as possible even in the most innocuous of shots. This sets the baseline mood to be serious, which grants a sharper edge to uncomfortable feelings like fear, tension, disgust and pain.
The discomfort is consistently maintained by the show’s pacing. There’s always something to worry about, whether it’s the immediate possibility of discovery or a looming deadline. And moment-to-moment, the show preserves momentum by never pausing too long after a punchline. Unlike typical anime comedy, there’s seldom a “straight man” who interrupts the flow with a reaction to a joke. Instead, the show highlights the moment with an exaggerated, high-detail still, then moves on.
But discomfort on its own isn’t funny. The show’s magic happens when the heavy mood is combined with silly character motivations and scenarios: humor becomes the viewer’s coping strategy against the stress. It becomes natural to laugh uneasily in the midst of danger and let it all out in catharsis when the threat has passed.
That’s why every serious moment in the show is accompanied by an absurd subtext. Usually, it’s the fact that the characters’ motivations (wet t-shirts!!!) are disproportionately shallow compared to the gravity of the presentation. Other times, the absurdity is more subtle, such as the behavior and presence of Andre and the vice president. That’s exactly why their character designs are so exaggerated compared to everyone else. It allows their simple presence in a scene to add silliness without distracting from the scene’s main purpose.
But even if the dominant style of humor works and is shaken up with different scenarios, I have to admit that it gets old. Like every joke, it’s inevitable that it wears down when told too much.
To its credit, the show is aware of this and makes it a point to pull a new trick out of its sleeve every now and then. For example, a cut to a faucet after a piss joke, hidden messages in board game layouts or the morbid metaphor of Medusa. These flourishes happen very quickly, though, and are only used once or twice in the whole show. I can’t really go into detail about each of them because their humor is too straightforward to waste words on.
Unfortunately, these comedic gems are too rare to spice up the core content. By the last quarter, only the drive for closure and the escalation of lewdness carries the show to the end. It’s a relief that the show stops right before it could overstay its welcome.
So is the continuation worth watching? Sure. But I suggest waiting for around a year or so, to let the memories of prison fade. Until then, enjoy your freedom. There’s a lot more anime to watch.
3 Comments
tapos na ba season 1 nito? nakakabitin e
You wish to know if the first season is finished? I can grant this wish.
The first season is finished.
The contract has been made.
Your wish has prevailed over entropy.
Now, I release your power as a magical girl!
i agree <3