I started reading this cos I wanted to try something different for a change. And it's different all right, just not in a good way. I think this manga has received a lot of undue praise for its dark psychological themes, but that alone doesn't make it good. There are a lot of problems with it.
First of all it is so confusing! Lots of characters introduced all at once and the whole system wasn't really explained until later on in the manga. That might have worked nicely as a stylistic device as the reader learns the rules along with Hiro but it could have been done way better.
Then the plot was all over the place! I actually quite liked the main idea of the manga. Hiro joining this crazy school of bullies and sex maniacs to find out about his brother and all. So far so good but it just wasn't well written. Sometimes it's the writer's decision to purposefully make it confusing, like real life with no apparent plot with beginning, plot turns, climax and ending. In this case, however, it just felt like bad writing. Even real people have motives for the things they do. Here it seems like nothing makes sense or even needs to make sense as long as it's as brutal and cruel as possible. Overkill!
What irked me the most were the characters. Deep? That's questionable... Someone said no one in this manga is one-dimensional. Well I think it's more like they're bi-polar! There's no consistency with any of the characters. It's all completely random. Rika might have been an interesting character who isn't what he seems but since all the characters are kind of hard to figure out in all their randomness even this trait kinda falls flat.
Not to mention that none of the characters were really even likable, at least for me. Maybe Natsume but he was all over the place too. Caring and good but the next minute cold, cool on one hand but then again surprisingly naïve and weak (I mean, if you've been warned someone's gonna push you down the stairs, watch your back, right!?)
The art wasn't completely awful but nothing to rave about either. I think this manga is pretty much a good idea with potential badly botched up... And this is coming from someone who doesn't mind themes like rape with or without love, bullying, torture and brutality. I just had the nagging feeling the entire time while I was reading this that the whole thing was the mangaka's desperate attempt to write a psychological, dark and twisted story. It wasn't a good story that had these characteristics but rather these characteristics crammed in a story, so in the end it didn't seem to flow naturally but was forced full of as much gore as possible whether or not there was any basis for it in the plot.
I did read it as far as it's been scaslated so I guess it wasn't completely without merit (though I kept asking myself why am I still reading this.) I can't say I'd recommend it though even if it wasn't a complete waste of time.