Caste Heaven

Description

Today’s top could be tomorrow’s bottom when playing the caste game! School is hard enough as it is, but when students are forced to play a cutthroat game to determine their social ranks—and subsequent treatment—all bets are off.

Official English Release: SuBLime

Type

Manga

Related Series

Kuzu (Side Story)

Mesuochi BL (Side Story)

Associated Names

Heaven of School Caste

Kaasuto Hevun

Каст Диваажин

กลรักเกมชนชั้น

カーストヘヴン

Groups Scanlating

Latest Release(s)

v.7 c.30 by April rose 4 years ago

v.6 c.29.5 by April rose 5 years ago

v.6 c.29 by April rose 5 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

8 Volumes (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

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User Rating

Average: 7.7 / 10.0 (387 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7.6 / 10.0

35%

18%

16%

Last Updated

May 24th, 2025 7:49pm PDT - 1 month ago

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Genre

Drama Mature Psychological School Life Slice of Life Yaoi
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Tsugaru Sangenka - Onryou Juusanya

Single Not Ready to Mingle

Usagi Yojimbo

Waisetsu Missile

Shingeki no Kyojin dj - Sekai-sen Bad End

Recommendations

N/A

Author(s)

OGAWA Chise

Artist(s)

OGAWA Chise

Year

2014

Original Publisher

Libre

Serialized In (magazine)

Magazine Be x Boy (Libre)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Sublime (8 Vols - Complete)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #682

(-141)

Monthly Pos #1187

(-459)

3 Month Pos #2227

(+258)

6 Month Pos #2283

(-192)

Year Pos #2565

(-226)

List Stats

On 1495 reading lists

On 423 wish lists

On 301 completed lists

On 87 unfinished lists

On 495 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

User Comments [ Order by time added ]

Ogawa in usual top form

by brrow
10 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

This is not a rape-is-love manga. Rape-is-love is done with little effort to achieve believability because it's done for people who kink on that and they don't want pages and pages of justification before they get to the stuff that really gets them going, which is the shy, repressed uke being overwhelmed by the seme's passion before the inevitable happily ever after. That's a very common, perfectly harmless fantasy, but it's not what's going on in this manga.

Here, everything is grounded in perfect psychological realism. The characters are nearly all sick, flawed people and yet the reader can easily get in their shoes and feel sympathy for them. Their feelings are ambiguous and twisted and I suggest you don't listen to anyone who would reduce them to something so simple as "guy falls in love with his rapist", because anyone who would say that either wasn't paying attention or didn't understand the manga. No one here is in love, no one's feelings are pure, everyone uses and manipulates the object of their affection, obsession and lust to some degree. Even Atsumu, who is the most decent of them, would gladly play a role to keep Kuze's attention. It's a manga about the exchange of power, cruel tyranny and debasement by turns, and there's a subtle power play between Kirino and Asuza at every moment, underscoring or undermining the more visible reversal of power between them.

That said, because everything seems so believable and bleak, when Atsumu in particular shows bravery and incredible generosity of spirit it seems way more significant and moving than in a manga that's all sunshine, roses and knights in shining armor.

It's a great, dark tale, typical for Ogawa Chise, and well worth the read.

... Last updated 10 years ago

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So messed up, but I can't stop reading?

by JHax9999
7 years ago

Rating: N/A

I clicked on the first chapter expecting some senseless yaoi smut I could indulge in for a little bit, but I couldn't stop reading and ended up blowing through 3 volumes worth in a day. The story and characters here are so messed up that I couldn't stop wanting to read more. It's like staring at a car wreck. No one in this mnaga is mentally well-adjusted or have normal relationships with one another---but that's part of the fun, no? This manga is a guilty pleasure for me. I don't read it for the feels or to be moved, I read it to indulge in some warped, kinky psychological games between a bunch of pretty boys. It's a lot of fun if you're into that.

... Last updated 7 years ago

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Good and yet I'm disappointed

by FeyPhantom
11 years ago

Rating: 6.0 / 10.0

Honestly, I don't know how to rate this one yet. There is a lot I like about it. The art is beautiful. The dark themes and twisted personality of the protagonist are right up my alley. The way the students function in a self-induced caste system is interesting and portrayed better than in some other manga with a similar hierarchy in the school. Even the rape theme is something I enjoy in a psychological story (and the bit of SM there's been is usually something I'd look for in a BL). But that's what's bothering me the most here.

It's obvious by chapter 4 Karino's the main love interest. But I kind of feel like Kuse and Kusakabe have been tossed by the wayside a little as characters. It's like the mangaka was developing them and then part way through the first chapter figured out who was going to turn on Azusa and then pushed them into the background.

As for the ending of the first chapter, it really impacted me. I have read a lot of manga that have had rape themes in them, but this one stood out to me, a LOT. I felt thoroughly empathetic with the main character and fully understood his shame and anger. But then the story started to go towards him having feelings for his rapist and honestly I'm incredibly disappointed. I am never the first to complain about rape=love in a BL, but here, I can't help but feel let down.

The mangaka had developed what I felt was a strong cast for the first chapter, very clear feelings from the protagonist, and a solid story I was really falling in love with. I wanted to see how the protagonist would grow and climb his way out from the bottom. But then having the mangaka make the story shallower by focusing solely on Azusa with

Karino I feel like I've been robbed of a very good and promising story.

I will still continue to read it, but I'm feeling really let down.

I'd say I'd still like to see Azusa not get with Karino, but I feel like his character's changed too much in the wrong direction to recapture the feelings I had in the first chapter.

/Edit:

I would just like to add a bit to my earlier comments. I think the reason I’m so perturbed by the rape=love theme here is because the mangaka does such an amazing job of characterization that it feels too realistic to work with these characters. Azusa was pushed down the stairs, bound, blindfolded, gagged, raped and his reaction upon finding out it was Karino was to repeat that he’ll kill him over and over. That works perfectly for his ego and stubbornness.
Even afterwards when the mangaka reveals he felt pleasure when he was originally raped works. Just because someone feels pleasure doesn’t mean they weren’t raped. Rape is violence, dominance and a pure power play. And that’s exactly how it comes across in this story in the beginning. Not love, but violence. Karino wanted to dominate Azusa and that's what he did - taking what he wanted and using violence to shove Azusa off his high horse and into the mud at his feet.
Karino might be obsessive over Azusa, but he doesn’t love him. He treats him like a toy and he’s still too immature and self-centred to even care about Azusa. He seeks fulfillment for himself (and that includes moments where he has seemingly been kind to Azusa – don’t forget he’s still holding all the cards and doesn’t actually care about Azusa as a person but more as a plaything to enhance his own personal life. Yeah, he’s kind to Azusa when he’s feeling down after getting punched, but Karino doesn’t want Azusa to be completely broken. He won’t be any fun that way).
Another reason I’m not fond of Karino as the main love interest is because I feel there’s a bit too much of a discrepancy in his character from the beginning of the first chapter to what we later on learn is his true character. Seriously, he’s the one who should get the Oscar for acting! The way he blushed ‘like a virgin’ in the beginning and some of his facial expressions don’t match at all to the point that when I reread the first chapter, it didn’t feel like the same character at all. If Karino had turned out to be obsessively crazy in the sense that he wouldn’t let anyone but himself have Azusa, I could believe the two sides to his personality. But that’s not his true character at all.
Karino is calculating and bored with his life (actually, he has a lot in common with Yagami Light from Death Note). He finds relief and entertainment in Azusa, not an obsessive love that puts Azusa at the centre of his life (he's the only one at the centre of his own life). If Azusa really did become like how he acted in the fourth chapter – all obedient and pitiful, Karino would lose interest. Because Karino wants to play with someone who acts prideful and domineering the way Azusa has – it doesn’t necessarily have to be Azusa. And that’s only at school. He doesn’t want Azusa in his life. What Azusa thought – about Karino wanting to eventually leave this behind at school when he steps out into society – is completely true (to this point in the story anyways). Karino isn’t expecting some kind of relationship with Azusa. He is just trying to get more excitement out of life for his own sake.
So, I’ll reiterate again and again, even if in the future the characters change, right now Azusa has been falling in love with his rapist for no real reason but plot development (at the expense of the great characterization that the mangaka did on his particular character) and Karino does not love Azusa but obsesses over him as a favourite toy. And rape=love here bothers me so much only because the story started out so well that I am holding it to a higher standard than most other BL. The mangaka did a great job and in turn, because she did a great job, I’m disappointed. It’s perplexing.

... Last updated 11 years ago

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It is interesting

by nonightshades
8 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

To be completely honest, I went into this thinking that I'd hate it. Turns out that this series is actually pretty good. The characters are even likeable, too (despite their HEAVY flaws). Should have known that this woul b okay since it's an Ogawa Chise work. This manga artist has not published a single story that I have disliked up to this point.

When reading this manga, there are a few things to bear in mind:

None of the characters in this manga are normal. They all have something twisted about them (no matter how nice or smart they are), therefore all of their intended partners are equally as messed up. Each character provides their respective partners with something they are lacking. No matter how twisted those "somethings" are, it is what it is, and it works well here.
You can not go into this expecting "realism" at all. Read the summary. A school caste system? Yeah...I recommend you lower your expectations of realism in this series ASAP.
This is not for those who are looking for lovey-dovey hook-ups. These encounters are cruel, twisted and gritty. S&M themes ensue regularly. There was even an instance in which

Atsumu was forced to penetrate Azusa. That was the only instance where something like that happened, but it further demonstrated the perversion of this series, so read with caution.

Azusa is quite an interesting, solid-minded fellow. Despite having some obvious hick-ups and strokes of bad luck, he is still fighting tooth and nail to not lose himself to the pressure, always holding his head high. He may not always feel good, but he never lets it show--even in the face of danger. Karino, his "partner," is an ass; an entertaining one, but an ass regardless. But if I'm being totally honest here, so is Azusa, so I guess the coupling makes sense. They're both jaded and stubborn. They suite each other.

Atsumu is an all-around "good guy," and I did like him very much. What I also like is the fact that he reigned himself in when he realized that his lust was starting to change him. He also means it when he tries to help others, so hats off to him. His love interest...you know, on the surface, he comes off as easy-going, but I just remember thinking "his smile does not meet his eyes" as I was reading. That dude just comes of as psychotic. shivers Hang in there Atsumu. They do make for a rather interesting (albeit it scary) couple.

I'll be the first to admit that I laughed at the little dude with the yandere friend. Trust me when I say I am not losing sleep over this character--especially given his bully/sniveling attitude. Also, when

Tatsumi's lover (Tatsumi is Karino's step-brother) suddenly picked a fight with Karino, ready to kill him because Tatsumi said he wished the pressure in his life would disappear, it was awesome. Karino is an ass, so that served as nearly instant gratification for me as I was reading. Thanks for that one Ogawa-sensei. ^__^v

All in all, this series is not bad. It's actually quite amusing.

... Last updated 8 years ago

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Completed. My first review.

by YanaLiana
4 years ago

Rating: N/A

I couldn’t believe this is the final vol. Everything was concluded in a dramatic, poetic way.
Everyone get their own deserved ending. It’s all end in a happy way. Am I happy with the ending? I would say yes. Everyone else has confessed love to their partner, but for KarinoxAzusa, there is never a proper confession. And if they did, that will be too much out of their character. But their actions speaks volume, you can see eventually both shows love towards each other. But in KarinoxAzusa own way.
I believe this isn’t the end, sensei said their journey is still ongoing after graduation but may the journey in the fans imagination or sensei will make something. I’m not sure. I mean, spoiler, it shows 10 years after. Will sensei make something during that time or something in between after graduation and before 10 year time, I totally don’t wanna guess.
This manga definitely a worth reading. Maybe there are parts that is shaky, parts when I doubt the logic or whatever but still. This manga pulls you in, make you scared, angst, wanna cry and then happy. Ahhh, finally this done but I don’t wanna let it go yet 😭

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Different

by Bugle
11 years ago

Rating: N/A

This is very different to anything I've read before. I can't stop reading it and am constantly checking to see if it is updated again. I like the different layers this manga has. The main character (can't remember his name) and the relationship he has with his "friend" and how it changes almost with each new chapter.
I like the fact that his mother is in the manga too and the relationship he has towards her is once again different to anything I've read. I am eager to see what will happen with the two of them too.

I also like the fact that the plot revolves around a game the whole school is participating in. It is a ranking system which allows the students to act differently, depending what rank they have. i.e - you are allowed to bully certain people in a lower rank.

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Dark and engaging

by Sanna888
5 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

I love this author. She creates these amazing, dark, and twisted stories that make me want more. I think the plot in this story is unique. I have never seen it before. There are psychological elements here, such as mind games. The students are all trying to survive by playing these messed up games.

The author did her job very well.

... Last updated 5 years ago

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I will properly review this when it’s completed

by Ahzinal
10 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

People commented plenty on this so I’m just gonna go through what I wanna add then I’ll come back and edit this when I want later.

First and foremost, I prefer the second couple just because of my personal tastes. The whole time they started in such a sweet manner, my tummy was increasingly aching just waiting for shit to hit the fan because it simply must do so in a manga like this. I loved how Ogawa Chise sensei took her time sweetly building it rather than rushing anything. I dare say that when the bomb was finally dropped by the end of chapter 7, it was perfect in so many ways. Also, I appreciate how there are no annoying love triangles or clichés with either couples. I enjoyed the first couple plenty in a messed up kind of way. This manga is quite original (a rare word in yaoi land).

If I may fangirl, I’m attracted to the character design of Tatsumi (that delinquent/prep guy). Can I get a side story about him please…

P.s:

I totally call that Kuze killed the bunny himself. That lovable sadist. The best of all though is that Atsumu is proving himself to be more than a wimpy character. I can’t wait to see what will unfold in the near future for them. Atsumu is going to be a great character, I can so feel it.

... Last updated 10 years ago

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ogawa chise, my goddess!

by YanaseRyoko
7 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

I love this with all my heart so much it hurts.
when I found it I was literally jumping around cause I love ogawa sensei works, her way to made a story is so fantastic and also dark so it's difficult to not get caught by it and the art style is so beautiful. I love how she creates the characters.

okay let's talk a about this masterpiece.
what can I say... I freaking love karino and azusa-kun relationship, but this bastard (karino) I don't know when he's going to confess his love to Azusa-kun. Get ready dude, cause the new teacher is coming and he wants to have Azusa so badly.
I'm expecting something really really good for those three.

... Last updated 7 years ago

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Uniquely Good

by ladyknight1998
10 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

This is one of my favorite yaoi mangas it's different in a twisted way and I love it. but it might be a trigger warning for people so look at the tags so you're prepared. the relationships are amazing also. I recommend this to anyone who isn't looking for cute fluffy yaoi.

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