School Judgment: Gakkyu Hotei, Volume 1

Starred review from January 25, 2016
Obata, artist of the controversial Death Note, teams up with a writer new to American markets in this decidedly adult courtroom drama series, featuring elementary school students, that brilliantly plays on genre tropes. In order to combat rising discipline and bullying problems in schools, Japan now has Classroom Arbitration: conducted by the children, for the children criminal courts. Abaku Inugami, a demonic defense attorney with a dark past, and high-strung prosecutor Pine Hanzuki (both sixth graders) battle each other in bombastic ace-attorney fashion (complete with decisive pointing and flouncy artwork) over the course of four episodic school cases, which take typical classroom problems to whole new levels. This manga knows exactly how ridiculous it is and meets the readers’ expectations, launching into absurdity so perfectly it’s hard to put down. Despite the fluffy case endings, it seems to be taking the story line of the video game Ace into a twisted, dark direction that’s a precursor to the prison world of the manga Deadman Wonderland. The book should leave readers eagerly awaiting future revelations.

May 1, 2016

Gr 7 Up-To fight crime in schools, the government creates the School Judgment System, which allows students to work as attorneys to defend and prosecute cases in classroom arbitration sessions. The concept is cute, funny, and fairly ridiculous. Kid lawyers transfer in and out of schools to work on cases such as the "Suzuki Murder and Dismemberment Case," in which a boy named Tento is accused of killing a fish that his class had been raising. These adorable children use ronpa (arguments) to fight their cases with all the legal gravitas of Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind, posing dramatically with fingers pointed in the air when they feel victorious or when they want to make an objection. The judges are preschoolers who look much older than their years. Prosecutor Pine Hanzuki and defense attorney Abaku Inugami go head-to-head in several cases that unfold very intensely, with lots of twists and turns. Most of Obata's artwork is in the traditional manga style, but some panels are illustrated in much greater detail for effect.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.