Drifting Classroom volume 1 (of 3) Kanzenban Edition
Pretty interesting read so far, grim and depressing, even claustrophobic at times.
The setting of an entire school getting sent into the future with no real explanation as to why, but with some
hints here and there trying to link it to that broken watch and the fight between Sho and his mother, put into the story as rumours between the young students, which also begs the question as to where these kids would have gotten the rumours and in my head I link it to the young and mysterious tricycle kid.
While the story is intriguing to read, watching the teachers trying to keep control of the students until they go mad, watching the students govern themselves, watching what they find in this barren future and how there is still a feeble link between Sho and his mother... I feel that the storyboarding is pretty weak. Actions and reactions feel too...
over the top and in a way, inconsequential (even if this word probably doesn't convey what I'm trying to convey) to me and that somewhat detracts from my enjoyment, though it feels like something intrinsic of most old manga, given it is something I also dislike in Tezuka's works for example.
The story is quite dark (and at times gruesome), not just for the depiction of dismembered kids or murdering psychos, but especially because of the social aspects depicted which did feel on point. As a survival manga, I'm enjoying it a lot and it's where it shines the most, together with the relationships between the kids.
A mention about the Italian edition for this first volume, which is pretty great (nice paper, good translation, no ink left on my fingers as I read through the volume) though given the 29€ price tag it's the least I would expect. Also, despite being a huge book and me disliking huge manga books because they tend to be unwieldy to read, I feel like the format fits this one well, if not format wise (big pages are nice tho) page-count wise, as it helps the pacing a lot not having to stop reading while some of the most egregious moments were happening.
