School Judgment: Gakkyu Hotei is one of the more unique shonen tales as it focuses on the world of the elementary school justice system. Yes, you read that right—little kids prosecuting, defending and judging each other. A court of law...in a classroom! Of course, this is all tongue and cheek, and the manga doesn't take itself too seriously, although it does get rather dark at times. The star of the show is Inugami, and he's one of the best child lawyers in the business with his uncanny ability to ronpa (argue someone into submission). But the cases he must solve are quite complex, and he's up against other child lawyers who are also talented and determined. Oh, and the judges are toddlers that look like middle-aged men.

The first volume introduces us to the crazy world of the School Judgment System and the main character, Inugami. Among the child lawyers, he's one of the best. Not only in court but also in doing legwork and getting to the bottom of the various crimes that are committed in grade school. Crimes like the first case...the case of the chopped up classroom fish! What kind diabolical mind would dismember a helpless little fish? And why? Seeing how Inugami goes about solving the mystery with his brilliant deductions and then watching him prove it in court is a lot of fun. And because the manga's drawn by the great Takeshi Obata of Death Note fame, each page is filled with some of the best manga art in the business. The first volume ends on one of the craziest cases in the whole series, the case of the very addictive Magical Happy! A strange powder that kids are going crazy for! 

The second volume wraps up the Magical Happy mystery and gets into a plagiarism case. Art plagiarism! Yes, in this world's grade school system there are world-class artists that make art so good, fakes are an issue! Making the matter even funnier, the artists involved in this dispute are called Da Vinci and Picasso. Even though the second case does take some interesting turns, the real story is the rivalry between Inugami and the ninja lawyer, Sarutobi. Sarutobi is not portrayed as the legal genius Inugami is, but he has won more cases. In a strange way, Sarutobi’s interest in ninja arts makes him the character most easily identifiable with as a child. I bet you can count the kids you know who want to be lawyers on one hand. Kids who want to be ninja outnumber the stars in the heavens.

From a plotting standpoint, the great thing about a story totally centered on children is you can make all the adults completely insane! Writers who wax nostalgic for their childhoods forget how strange even the most well-meaning grown-up rules can seem to children.

The next story is a good mystery unto itself and provides some clues about the main overarching mystery of the entire series. The reader now knows that Sarutobi was at the Bloody Classroom, which is exactly what it sounds like—a murder scene where many children died. But why was he there? What does it mean? The last case in this volume returns to a favorite motif of the writer—dead fish in unexpected places. One wonders if Enoki Sensei was frightened by a large fish tank as a child...  This story differs from the others Inugami faces since he's now up against a grown-up! It plays merry hell with reader expectations. An adult...in school court? He’s gotta be a bad guy...right? Yes! I mean no...well, read the book!

The third volume of School Judgement is naturally very busy because it's the last in the series and needs to wrap up the Bloody Classroom mystery. Who was the Bloody Classroom killer?! Well before they are revealed, they get a cool new name—suddenly “The Bloody Session Killer” is the "Red Ogre.” You will notice I use the word “they” when talking about the Red Ogre. I don’t want spoil the mystery. Writer Nobuaki Enoki sets up four suspects—two are male and two are female, so gendered pronouns would be a big clue. Enoki subverts the formula of the first two volumes. Readers may expect the kind of surreal twist that softens the crime. You don’t get that—the Bloody Classroom is a very straightforward murder. The trickery comes in with the name “Red Ogre” and why that name is so symbolic.

The neat thing about the final volume is it comes with one-shot drawn by the writer, Nobuaki Enoki! It's fun to see his work even if the art isn't quite on the level of Obata Sensei. And it's pretty long, taking up a good one-third of the book. Cool to get his thoughts on the ending of the series as well. 

If you're looking for something completely off the beaten path as far as Shonen Jump manga goes, listen to this sweet, but short ronpa—buy this manga! 

You can check out the world of child justice by picking up School Judgment:Gakkyu Hotei vols. 1-3, available here!

by Rob McCarthy