Age Rating: Mature
Genre: Horror
Price: $9.99
Publisher's summary of volume from the back cover: Madness takes hold as the teachers and students realize they are stranded in a lifeless world! Sekiya, the cafeteria worker, takes control of the school's food supplies, enforcing his authority with a gun. As the adults start to kill one another, sixth-grader Sho makes a startling discovery--the truth of where they are and what has happened to them. Soon, Sho and his classmate Nishi are forced to venture into the wasteland beyond the school gates...and choose between a slow death from hunger or a quick death at a killer's hands...
In many ways, The Drifting Classroom is the original Battle Royale: teachers are burned, students are stabbed, adults are hanged, and children are run over by cars. The great thing about having an entire school at your disposal--a 862 body count--is that there will always be fresh bodies to murder and mutilate. Whereas the first volume was still restrained, volume two gives a clear signal that this is a truly terrifying situation and Kazuo Umezu takes off the training wheels.
What's effective about this manga is from the very first page, the escalation of the threat is made clear as it opens with a violent scene. It also marks the start of the recurring theme in this particular volume, which is the descent into madness of the adults. We're not yet at the Lord of the Flies moment, but we're getting there. The antagonists so far are clear-but and geuinely feel threatening. Another element thrown in for good measure is the science fiction element which explains the drifting classroom premise. Here, old age shows its hand. Is it a plausible explanation? Critical minds will find it unconvincing or merely a useful plot device. However, at least the said plot device is seeded as it'll play a role in the subsequent volumes.
What I disliked about this volume is the radical shift in personalities of some of the characters. Whereas the paranoia of some of the characters is believable, some of the actions in this manga, especially the eventual antagonist, feels contrived. While it is agreed he would have made a great villain, and Umezu makes the most out of his change of heart, it still feels too much out of character. For the sake of the story however, I let it pass, although this lacking prevents The Drifting Classroom from being timely.
Overall, it's not bad and there's a steady progression of horror that's evident. Umezu knows how to play up the psychological fear and uses it to his advantage.
7