Zekkyou Gakkyuu

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I decided to pick up Zekkyou Gakkyuu because I wanted a horror manga in a cutesy style. I was not disappointed by Emi Ishikawa as I really enjoyed the series and it is still a series I would go back to anytime. The art work is great, the stories are amusing and the overall series caught my interest enough to have me read all of it through and still hope for more.

But enough with the sweet talk and compliments, it's time to give my critique. While the series started out with straightforward horror stories where it was a routine with the main girl to die ... by the end of each lesson, it seems that at some points the creator has lost her inspiration for horror as those chapters lean to a different genre more then horror.

None the less though, every chapter gave me the chills, either with the main 'monster antagonist' of the chapter, the crazy deeds of the characters or the plot-twists.

Overall, despite some quirks, the series was enjoyable for me.

Don’t worry, this will be a spoiler-free post.

Have you been interested in reading old horror tales mostly made and believed by children? This is probably a manga for you. Come and join the screaming lessons into a class you have never experienced before, different stories that was experienced by multiple youngsters, you’re in for a ride.

I found this while I was trying to look for another Shoujo Manga I had in mind that had more of a lighter feel to it, but when I stumble upon this one I can’t help but peek interest because of the tag Horror and Mystery which are, fun fact, ... one of my favorite tags to read in a Manga.

It’s a combination of different stories, beliefs, stories, that children would tell one another. Some may believe it, some may not, but what’s unique about this manga is how different each stories are and each characters, which I’m glad to see. I could see the maturity with other characters, how others were more selfish and how others were able to get a happy end and a terrible ending. Each of the stories shares different elements as well that children are usually being punished for, an example would be a story about a child not being grateful for their parents, for their siblings, and this as well goes to their own food. This is practically a way to as well scare children and make them learn a valuable lesson.

Zenkkyou Gakkyuu (or Scary Lessons) is a manga about Yomi, a girl without legs, who tells you storys about little girls - more often than not they're going to middle school - who do something stupid and then be punished for it by some supernatural powers.


STORY 8/10

So actually there are many short stories which always have a moral, just like in 'Struwwelpeter', but Scary Lessons is much more creepy. The stories usually follow the same pattern:

A girl is almost satisfied with her life but has something she doesn't want and wishes to go away / wants to change. Therefor, she tries something which causes some ... ghosts or stuff to help her, but in the end she is punished by the ghost / killers herself.

Yomi then tells the reader not to do the same thing the girl did, for example if she was jealous of her best friend and wanted to be better but died in the end, Yomi says that you have to love your best friend, no matter if he / she is better than you or not.

Though there is a pattern, the stories are all different, you won't read the same stuff over an dover again. it's pretty scary, also because of...


ART 9/10

If you skim through the manga, there is one thing you're deffinetely going to notice: The art style changes during the storys.

At first it's always pretty cute and happy, it looks like a shoujo manga. The further you scroll, the more disturbing will the art look. Emi Ishikawa is good in drawing cute things, but she's even better when it comes to insanity, ugliness, gore and dolls / blank stares.

I almost shit myself when I was reading it before going to bed and suddenly looked into a mad women's eyes.


CHARACTER 6/10

You can't really say anything about the characters because the only character who is there in every volume is Yomi, and she doesn't do anything but to tell you the stories. But the girls in the story are often very dumb and selfish, and that's why I just gave it 6/10.


ENJOYMENT 9/10

I really like these little short-storys. They all start with a situation everyone has been in before and never have a happy end (I hate happy ends :|) It is also one of the few mangas that are really creepy. If you enjoy the horror genre, you'll enjoy this manga.


OVERALL 8/10

To me, it's one of the best mangas ever. But it's just a collection of many short stories, so it can't be too epic. Still, the art style is awesome, it's cute, it's creepy and it makes you think. 'This situation seems very similar. Maybe I should think about it before I wonder how I could be better than my friend...'


Please excuse my grammar mistakes, I'm German. It is also my first review.