Nanbaka

If you can’t get enough about series that has its characters breaking out of prisons but find the one about a high school that imprisons boys to be too pandering to feminism and too much hot fanservice spamming in your face, then perhaps breaking out of a real high security prison would seem more reasonable. Sort of. Nanbaka isn’t just about prisoners breaking out of their cell. Oh no. That would be just boring to see every episode about them trying their devious and cunning ways to beat the system to get out. Because it will be like the Coyote and Road Runner show. The same never ending stuffs. So we’ve got lots of action, lots of comedy, lots of drama learning more about the prisoners and wardens past and character and a whole lot of conspiracy to go about. Wow. Prison is more than just locking up somebody and leaving them to rot and die.

Episode 1
Nanba Prison is supposedly the most secretive and high-tech prison in the world that nobody has ever escaped before. Oops! Said too soon because inmates from Cell 13 of Building 13 have escaped. They are No. 25 AKA Nico, No.69 AKA Rock, No. 11 AKA Uno and No. 15 AKA Juugo. They run through all the traps and security layout like ease. As if this is just an easy game show for them. Building 13’s guards, Hajime Sugoroku and Seitarou Tanabata are monitoring their movements. They thought Yamato Godai could help catch them since he is on scene but this training maniac easily got lost. Bad sense of direction? When you want things done, you have got to do it yourself. So when the quartet finally reach the end gate to freedom, they are stopped by the only man who can stop them: Hajime. He easily beats them up and sends them back to their cell. So close, yet so far. Even in their cells, the inmates are happily living there. Wow. Like it is the best place to live ever? I mean, they are guaranteed 3 meals a day and follow a healthy routine. They can even read manga, watch TV and do some so why would they want to ever leave? Well, as Juugo puts it, even if he escapes (which he does as a past time in other prisons), he has no home to go. When they hear a woman is going to visit this building, they get excited to go see her. So they break out to see this beautiful blonde lolita chick. Woah. Hajime, we didn’t know you have such a cute sister. Guys, meet Hitoshi. His cross-dressing brother! OMFG! Not so keen now, are they? Hajime is then summoned by the warden of Nanba Prison: Momoko Hyakushiki. She is sceptical about no troubles surfacing from Cell 13 since Juugo, the son of a very troublesome prisoner is housed there. They named No. 610 as the Eternal Fugitive. Juugo continues talking to Hitoshi that he can escape from any lock except the ones on his neck, hands and feet. He doesn’t know how it got there nor how to remove them. Nobody could. But he thinks that this guy with a scary scar on his back neck might be the one. Therefore he has been going from prison to prison to find this dude. Now, there is nowhere left for them to run. This is the last stop, the end of the line. He will find him.

Episode 2
Hyakushiki again summons Hajime to confirm if there are no troubles from Cell 13. No ma’am. In actual fact, Hyakushiki is in love with Hajime! On the outside, she looks like a serious tough nut but on the inside she is swooning like a teenage girl on how cool Hajime is! And Hajime is like really scared of her despite putting up his cool façade. He almost got into trouble again when he gets back to his room because Juugo just escaped! Yeah, he was sleeping in his room. We see Rock enjoying the cafeteria’s food since the big shy chef, Shiro loves making food for him. There is no escape puzzle that Juugo cannot solve and today is Cell 13 inmates to assemble furniture. Too bad their creativity isn’t appreciated here. Now we see Hajime go through all the silly security layers just to enter Hyakushiki’s room. Outside her room are other guards from other buildings waiting for their turn. Yup, a big bunch of weirdoes. When it is Hajime’s turn, he is supposed to bring the files of Cell 13 inmates. What Hyakushiki is interested is why they are not breaking out considering their habit from jailbreak in other prisons. Hajime says it is hard to put it on paper. He explains for example, Nico the American was arrested for being a drug mule. Although he had a light sentence, it seems he didn’t like the injections and needles to treat his uncanny ability of being immune to poison. Because of Nanba Prison’s oral medication, he likes its flavours and thus no motivation to escape. Fellow American Rock was arrested for starting gang riots. He escaped from prisons due to bad food. Now he loves it here because of Nanba Prison’s good food! British Uno is a compulsive gambler. But his escapes are due to because he has dates with women! Because he now has no dates, thus his lack of motivation. Finally Japanese Juugo escapes prison as a hobby. Speaking of which, he almost escaped again. Is he trying to break the record for most escapes in a day?! The quartet discuss if they really should stay here because Nanba Prison is like their home. It’s nice and comfortable.

Episode 3
Seitarou complains to Hajime that Cell 13 inmates are bullying him for being weak. He thinks of quitting but Hajime chides his low resolve. If he can work here, he can work anywhere else. So Hajime suggests this method to handle them. Just give Uno surveys from women’s magazine, manga to Nico and a food menu to Rock to keep them occupied. With them preoccupied, this will make Juugo less motivated to escape since his inmates aren’t. Thanks to that, Seitarou now becomes their errand boy. At least he is motivated. A new inmate is to be placed in Cell 13. He is a ninja, No. 99 AKA Tsukumo. The non-Japanese guys are so happy to see a Japanese ninja. Apparently he got arrested for trespassing. Because Tsukumo is a bit like a show off, he challenges Juugo to see who can escape this prison first. But it seems Tsukumo is just following Juugo around. The rest too because they are the audience and judge? So when they finally bump into Hajime who expected this antic, Tsukumo tries to use his ninja moves but blunders idiotically. Since he is no threat, he will be transferred to another cell block. Later the inmates have to clean their cells as this customary for the New Year. The guards like Hajime are to clean the warden’s building. Hajime could feel Hyakushiki’s piercing eyes watching his every move. But we all know she is just admiring him. Yeah, look at his skin, his sweat. What a man! Once done, Hyakushiki has made up her mind on the cell representatives for each building for the New Year’s Tournament. Building 13 will of course be Cell 13. Because Hajime did mentions if they get chosen, it will be more work for him to clean up their mess. The more chances she gets to see Hajime, the better, right?

Episode 4
The annual tournament hosted by Mitsuru Hitokoe will have building guards and inmates team up and the winner will get prizes. The guards will get bonuses and prisoners one wish. So we see a few of the potential rivals like Building 5’s Samon Gokuu and his Cell 8, Building 3’s Kiji Mitsuba and his Cell 6 as well as Building 4’s Kenshirou Yozakura and his Cell 10. The first event has them write calligraphy. Yeah, everyone is pining for Juugo since he is Japanese. He sucks! Luckily Hajime and Yamato can write better. They win because Hyakushiki abuses her power to give them high marks. The next is pounding mochi on a daruma. Yamato teams up with Rock to fight Building 5’s Inori Hakkai and No. 2 AKA Liang. The latter is Rock’s ex-cellmate before he was transferred to another block. Seems Liang has some sort of grudge on him and wants to beat him up. Therefore he has trained hard to be the strongest and wants a training ground. However Rock fights back and defeats him. All he wants is a stone oven as fighting doesn’t fill his stomach. Yamato also beats up Inori after being motivated by Rock’s win. Next up is karuta. A guard can pair up with up to 2 inmates. Hajime selects Seitarou and Cell 13 inmates mock him that they never knew he could do anything! Juugo fears he will be picked since he is Japanese but surprisingly Uno volunteers. Well, it’s a card game, right? Seitarou faces off with Kiji who also looks down on him. But Seitarou’s hand is faster than the eye! It’s gone before you can even move! A complete sweep for Seitarou. The problem is now Uno as he is up against the queer guys of Cell 8, No. 3 AKA Trois and No. 8 AKA Honey. Uno is also getting his ass handed to him. Uno notices the card disappears into their hand before he could reach them. They believe they’ll win before he discovers their strategy and cheats.

Episode 5
Uno is more than capable of cheating. In a short while, Uno turns the tables and gets all the cards before his opponents could move. Uno has this great observation ability and he has deduced their bad habits. Therefore as long as he can see their traits, he can figure out their next move. Uno wins the game as he tells wish is to get a game room. Next match is top spinning. Building 13 will face off with Building 5. Samon sends No. 71 AKA Qi and No. 58 AKA Upa to fight. Nico is eager to enter this match and drags Hajime in since he earlier saw Upa floating in a cell. But Qi leaves Upa to fight since he doesn’t feel like it. Samon targets Hajime instead of the top. He is suspicious that he is hiding something from his report regarding Cell 13. Hajime fights back as he doesn’t like being interrogated. He hates most that people suspects him. Meanwhile Nico is impressed with Upa’s fighting skills and wants him to teach him. Upa refuses so Nico makes a deal if he beats him, he will be his disciple. Upa calls his wish insignificant so Nico says his wish is to have the latest gaming system in addition to anime and manga. Those make the world go round! Upa is surprised that Nico is able to copy moves from Liang. Though, many had to be censored since he is blurting out trademark moves from other anime. In the end, the might of Hajime and Nico finishes off their opponents. The final match will put Building 13 against Building 4.

Episode 6
This final which is a repeat of last year’s final has the first to open this sake barrel wins. Juugo didn’t want to enter but the rest kick him in. It’s his turn. Hajime also wanted to sit this out since he is tired but noticing Hyakushiki giving him death stares (we all know it’s her high level delusions), he changes his mind. It seems Kenshirou has a crush on Hyakushiki and plans to crush Hajime to prove he is her man. Yeah, he is assuming all that. Juugo is shocked to see inmate no. 634 AKA Musashi. He knows him as an ex-cellmate from another prison and isn’t too happy to see him here. As the battle starts, Hajime is owning Kenshirou, bringing joy to Hyakushiki’s inner heart. Kenshirou has his invisible whip trick but that too was easily seen through. However it is not so good going for Juugo. He is getting owned by the blind man. It might seem that Musashi wants to take Juugo’s sight since he was the one who destroyed his eyes but actually he is interested to have his shackles. Juugo would love to give it to him if he knew of a way to be freed. When Musashi notes it is that man with the scar who only knows, Juugo becomes mad. Does he know more about that guy? He becomes a mad dog trying to extract more information. Musashi surprises everyone by throwing flames. Some human combustion theory here. As Juugo is desperate to do what it takes to get info about that guy, this causes his shackles to transform. This is the reason Juugo hates his shackles and the man who put it there because he took away his freedom and tampered with his body’s structure. His hands are now sharp blades and he is looking more like a monster.

Episode 7
We take a detour and go back a bit in time. Tsukumo is surprised he got a visitor but it is his manager, Hanzou Hattori. Yes, Tsukumo is a famous actor and Hattori has gone through lots of trouble in the media claiming he has gone missing as jail time could spell the end of an actor’s career. However Tsukumo doesn’t want to go back to the life of deceit. He accuses him of kidnapping and more appropriately the director who is his mom. Or so he was made to believe. When Director wanted a new ninja movie, she wanted a real ninja to helm the role. She actually managed to find a hidden village but was chased away. However she found young Tsukumo training in the mountains himself (and failing). At first he was sceptical but soon opens up. When he reveals he is ostracized by the village and hoping his training would bring his missing parents back, Director took the chance to play his mother. Her fine acting made the little kid believe so. And so she groomed him up to be a talented actor. Hanzou claims that it was her who brought him up so it is rude to bite the hands that feed him. He ‘threatens’ that he doesn’t like being alone, which is what this prison is about. If he quits acting, what does he have left? Once Tsukumo leaves, he realizes Juugo has been eavesdropping. So he continues the rest of his story that he ran away once he found out the truth. He tried to return to his village but got lost and arrested for trespassing. As he acted as an escaped convict, he tried it and this landed him in Nanba Prison. This opened his eyes of how useless he is other than being in front of a camera. Juugo’s advice is to be himself. Nobody here will force him to become what he is not or treat him differently. This gives Tsukumo motivation to stay true to himself and hopefully will be able to smile truly next time.

Episode 8
Back to Juugo’s mad transformation, the epic super power battle between them is enough to rock the stadium. Everyone is evacuated while the wardens try to apprehend them. They will not listen and continue to fight each other. But the Nanba Prison guards show why they are the best wardens ever as it took Kenshirou, Kiji and Samon to stop Musashi. Meanwhile Hajime is trying to make Juugo spill the beans about his intentions but Juugo is just desperate to find more info on that man. Juugo’s pals intervene to try to stop him but to no avail. He is a rampaging monster. I suppose talking him out of it won’t be any effective. Before Uno gets killed, Hajime takes over and beats him up to a bloody pulp. He only stops when Hyakushiki orders him so. And with that, the tournament also ends. A few days later, Juugo is still in coma. Hajime visits Cell 13 but apparently Uno is still mad about him overdoing his job. Hajime shows no weakness and he admits he will even kill if it is his job. Hajime can’t catch a break as the other wardens also chastise him for going overboard. Then the ‘worst’ hits him. An order from Hyakushiki that he is to be suspended for 3 days. He goes into shock mode? Apparently Hajime is a workaholic so being on leave means… But his pain is nothing compared to the pain Hyakushiki is experiencing. Yeah, she’s crying in her heart over this punishment she has to mete and hopes he would forgive him.

Episode 9
Now Hajime is back, he wants to interrogate Juugo. But Kenshirou states that Musashi won’t talk till he speaks to Juugo. As they want to learn about their powers but can’t risk putting them together, they talk via walkie-talkie. Musashi asks Juugo’s objective. He laughs when it is just to find the man with the scar. He wants Juugo to give his shackles as it is his goal to find that man and kill him. That shackles will lead him to him. Musashi was a monster who can’t control his flames. But this guy claimed he could solve his troubles in exchange to become his experiment. Too bad he became an even bigger monster. He became mad and tried to kill him but he sliced his fire with his sword. So Musashi claims this man has technology that no other possesses. That is why he is willing to find him and fight him with his own technology to stand a chance. It might not look plausible but he is willing to risk his life and he gallows for it. However ever since he came to Nanba Prison, doctors put some chip into his body that controls his fire. So it’s impossible to take his shackles for now. He just wanted to tell him this to see his reaction. Now it’s Hajime’s turn to lecture Juugo. He is empty and lacks greed. Observing his numerous prison break, his lack of greed has him escape not even for fun. Because he has no objective, his escape somewhat barely prolongs his objective, his reason to live. This makes Juugo realize he never wanted anything. So the shackles somewhat gave him a sense of wanting something. Then he realized the lighted up faces of his cellmates. That face of when they have something they want. However the more he feels that, the more he fears of turning into that monster and killing them. So it’s back to ‘running away’. Hajime tells him Building 13 won the tournament so he can name whatever he wants. However Juugo can’t think of anything. After all that brain racking and eye opening thoughts, he screams he wants another chance. Hajime throws his number tag and warns about his harsh life awaiting that will never be the same. Juugo isn’t fazed. He won’t run away and face them head on. Welcome back.

Episode 10
We go back in time to see what happened to our Cell 13 inmates while Juugo was out. Hyakushiki orders Kenshirou, Kiji and Samon to take turns supervising Cell 13. On the first day, Kenshirou escorts Nico to see Dr Okina Otogi for his check-up and medication. It seems the reason the others follow is because of his super sexy android nurse, Kaguya. It is Kiji’s turn on the second day. Seeing how easily they get depressed just thinking about Juugo, he thought of lighting things up by telling the general layout of Nanba Prison. It’s so huge it has a shopping complex and indoor ski?! Soon Kiji and Uno get into an argument over who is more beautiful/handsome. Till Seitarou steps in and they get even more upset because he is the prettiest boy in prison! Samon goes in on the third day but finds them missing. He finds them hiding because Yamato wants to take them for training and they don’t want his hell training. They try to give excuses and delay but eventually they can’t escape his hell training. Meanwhile Hajime who was suspended, brought home work, finished it, finished work of other wardens and even helped in some building construction! Hardcore workaholic! Back to normal time, Juugo still doesn’t understand what Musashi is trying to tell him so Hajime is forced to explain he is betting on him to find the man with the scar since he lost his powers. Juugo feels awkward returning to his cellmates. But they are more than happy to see him back. Because they act like normal, this makes Juugo feel bad as he apologizes for all that has happened. He is sorry for not understanding them and always trying to run away. Sorry for always hiding something. Don’t sweat it. They’re cool with it. Hyakushiki is glad Hajime is back. Because Mitsuru tried to troll her by wearing a mask of Hajime, she beats him up. Hajime is nervous to hand her the report on Juugo’s recovery. The moment he enters and sees her scary face as well as Mitsuru’s bloody body (her scary smile doesn’t help either), he quickly gives the report and dashes out!

Episode 11
Rock’s stone oven is here. He invites Liang over to taste his pizza and Chinese food. Liang is shocked that Rock is even concerned about his health after the tournament and thus baked these foods. He even gets philosophical about the joys of eating. Of course he attributes this to Juugo. Had he not met him, he wouldn’t have changed. Rock was a rich kid. He ran away as he refused to become like his dad. He became a delinquent, thrown into prison and the wardens starve him. Juugo gave his bread but he refused to eat crappy food. Thus Juugo breaks them out just to let him eat at a better place. Food never tasted so good. Nico is under Otogi’s treatment. Everything is well for him except that Otogi is quarrelling with his mad scientist wife, Kazari over this morning eggs. Don’t ask. Nico’s requested games are here. Heck, he’s got an entire arcade. He invites Upa over to play. Upa didn’t like the idea of Nico being his disciple. Kazari passes a handphone that has all the games Nico wants to play. But he notes that it is better and more fun to play with others. Of course Nico also attributes this to Juugo. Trapped in a room and starring at nothing but a white ceiling, he thought he would die like this but Juugo freed him and introduced him to manga. Thanks to him, Nico never felt more alive and wants to carry on living. Musashi passes by and Uno still doesn’t forgive him even though Juugo doesn’t mind it all. But since Musashi does say sorry, Uno forgives him and becomes his friend. He invites him to his game room tomorrow. But there is a strict rule that Musashi is not allowed outside his underground cell. Kenshirou is willing to overlook that provided he tells him about his past.

Episode 12
When Musashi was born, his temperature was higher than others. He led a happy life till his teens when his fire goes out of control. When he became human combustion but survived, that is when people accused him of arson. Things took a toll for the worse when his home burnt down, killing his parents. It wasn’t his fault but the police tried to arrest him but he burnt them. Since there were witnesses, it was the end of the line for him. In a prison in Germany, that is where he met the man with the scar. Of course we already know what happened. It was there he too learnt that his assistant, Elf was the one who framed him and the culprit who started the arsons. They do so because human experiments are illegal in every way. But if such is done on inmates, nobody will care about them, right? Eventually, that prison burnt down and he was transferred here. Although Musashi lacks the power for revenge, his desire to kill him won’t. Musashi thought Kenshirou won’t believe him but he does. Kenshirou was once a cop investigating experiments in prisons. His higher ups would always dismiss his findings. Thus he had no choice but to become a warden to continue his investigations. He promises to bring the culprit to justice because he can’t forgive those who violate the law. Uno invites all the inmates and wardens from the tournament to his new game room. Looks empty. Will slowly build it? Well, those guys from other blocks too donate some of their games. When they are to go back to their cells, the inmates protest too short a time. They get beaten up and sent back. Juugo can’t sleep that night but it isn’t something unpleasant. Uno talks to him and despite naming all his negative traits, it gives him character. It doesn’t matter where they are. As long as they are living happily, they’ll take it slow and enjoy tomorrow. Juugo goes outside to think and never has he felt like looking forward to tomorrow. But he is interrupted by Elf.

Episode 13
Could it all be in Juugo’s mind? But Elf is real. Though, he can pop up anywhere and despite stabbing Juugo, the pain is real but in a flash it is all gone. Juugo tries to act he doesn’t care about Elf but the latter ‘laments’ how cruel for him to forget the guy who saved him. The guy whom some consider as saviour and others as traitor. Juugo might not have clear memories of his past, but there is one that he remembers about a guy telling him to run. Could it be that guy whom Elf is describing interfered in their research and freed some specimens? Elf reminds Juugo he is a puppet and has some very cool stuffs. Juugo acts he doesn’t care so Elf pins him down and hints he is going to cut out his brain. Juugo fears being killed and struggles. He frees himself by transforming his hand as a sword. Juugo accuses him of doing the same to Musashi but it seems Elf doesn’t know what he is talking about. Elf is only here to check on his status. He is here to take some new samples but after seeing Juugo’s angry face (he thinks Elf is gunning for his friends), he has a better idea and will leave for tonight. Juugo is now overcome with guilt it might be his fault again. He fears for tomorrow. That night, Juugo and his cellmates escape again. Once more, they have to face Hajime as the final boss. However Juugo locks down his friends behind and goes to fight Hajime alone. He looks dead serious in escaping this time. Though he won’t say it, Juugo’s logic to escape is so that Elf will keep chasing him and leave his friends alone. They try to tell him to stop but Juugo is rampaging. Still, his blade hands are not match for Hajime’s might. After much pleading to Seitarou they want to stop Juugo, he lets them out. They come in between the brawling men. Juugo stops as he doesn’t want to hurt them. They use this chance to pin him down. End of fight. They reconcile and argue like they’ve always been. Of course one final beat up from Hajime to return to their cell. After Juugo apologizes to them, he vows to protect their future and his.

Episode 14
Hyakushiki fawns over Hajime again. Mitsuru plays another prank on her and she beats him to a bloody pulp. Hajime comes in and sees this bloodbath. He gets freaked out and leaves. Déjà vu? Mitsuru seems to be searching for something interesting to happen all over Nanba Prison but watching the inmates and the wardens, just boring and ‘funny’ stuffs happening. Then we have Building 13’s pet cat, Kuu who is also somewhat a warden since Hajime picked it up a long time ago and let it stay. Kuu is such a friendly cat even Cell 13 takes a liking for it. Kenshirou cursing his height because shorty Samon got a pet from Hyakushiki after doing a good report and because he is smaller than her. Finally we got something ‘interesting’ happening when suddenly a syndrome has everyone swap hair colour. Everything gets chaotic as many do not like the hair colour they swap wife. Of course the one who is not infected by this is Hajime. Guess why? At this point he is the most invincible man in Nanba Prison.

Episode 15
Hyakushiki addresses the new recruits for Nanba Prison. It looks like Building 13 will be getting a new warden. Wow. Who is that cute babe?! Oh wait. Looks familiar… It’s Hitoshi! Hajime is in shock. Worst nightmare? Uno and Rock start their conspiracy theory if Hitoshi is really a guy and related to Hajime. Because there is no way this cute rabbit is related to this brute gorilla, right? Because of that, they start to play a game of tag and if they manage to catch them, they’ll believe. Of course Hitoshi lacks endurance so Hajime wants him to go home instead of being a bother. But he is adamant he wants to help despite being slow and clumsy. However Uno and Rock realize there might be more than meets the eye for Hitoshi. Because when Hajime starts throwing his brother and nothing happens to his body when slabs fall on him, they better believe this cross-dresser is Hajime’s brother now. Looks like Hitoshi has a very strong and durable body. Hajime continues to chase them down by swinging him around! But when Mitsuru is here to get Hitoshi, it seems Hitoshi is only here as he asked a favour and only to be a warden for one day. Hitoshi finds everyone interesting and fun and likes Nanba Prison even more. Am I hearing this right? A person liking prison? So as he says his goodbye, his cute perfect smile has Uno and Rock doubting if he is really a guy. That distraction has Hajime catch them. Hitoshi is now assigned under Kenshirou. Didn’t see this coming too, eh? Honey and Trois try to hit on this hottie without realizing his true identity.

Episode 16
Rock tries to spar with Samon. However he is quick to dodge his punches and enough to inflict damage just by poking. Eventually Rock loses since all he does is swing blindly with brute force. Samon might look cool but the moment Rock wonders why he always loses to Hajime, he loses his cool. Hyakushiki informs her wardens that she is being called for an emergency meeting at the HQ. It is regarding data on Juugo and Musashi. She will be away for a while so she leaves it to them to watch over Nanba Prison. As the wardens discuss later, Mao Nimajita, the substitute deputy supervisor of Building 8 believes that everyone is still suspicious of Nanba Prison because of that incident. He accuses of Samon trying to make a move when Hyakushiki is gone. This irks Samon as he doesn’t want him to put him the same as that person. Mao further accuses him of becoming a supervisor to replace his own brother, Enki who was the former supervisor for Building 5. Seems Enki killed an inmate and then fought his own comrades when they try to stop him just to show off his superiority. After Samon storms off, Kiji slaps Mao for labelling others when he himself isn’t there. He tells Mao off for being jealous that Samon outranks him, act resentful without acknowledging his efforts and insulted his family. He is the worst. Samon laments his fate of always being compared differently from Enki but ever since that incident, everyone now compares him as the same. He is then visited by Noriko Sanzou, an old friend. Her brother, Houzuki was recently posted to Building 5 and she is quite worried about him. She hopes Samon can look after him. She seems to think Enki is still the supervisor since Samon lies that he is the deputy and came in his place. Seitarou reports to Hajime that Juugo is acting strange ever since he seriously tried to escape. It is like he is forcing himself to be normal. When Juugo sees Rock, the latter suddenly attacks him! Similarly when Yamato returns to his office, he attacks his colleagues.

Episode 17
Rock and Yamato continue to attack. While Hajime easily overpowers Yamato, Juugo gets a real beating till he needs some saving from Tsukumo. Even so, Juugo continues to blame himself for not being able to protect Rock. When they spot a weird talisman behind Rock’s neck, Tsukumo tries to grab it. Not sure if Juugo still want to talk through Rock because it isn’t getting through. Rock faints when Tsukumo takes off the talisman. The same when Hajime for Yamato. After seeking treatment, they believe they have seen this talisman somewhere. It is from Building 5. Trying to deduce the culprit’s ulterior motive is no use so what else is there but to head to Building 5 themselves. Initially Hajime will not allow them but because Uno the smooth talker claims he has no manpower and it would be dangerous to leave these escape experts alone, he is forced to take them along. Inside Building 5, Hajime gets trapped in a huge cage. Uno laughs his ass off for the swap places before the inmates get their own karma as they fall down the trapdoor pit. Hajime is confronted by Inori.

Episode 18
Hajime is handcuffed and locked in a cell. Opposite him is Samon in a similar predicament but messed up. The inmates drop into a cell and find Liang and Upa there. They explain that they are in this situation because a former supervisor escaped. They tell what they know and heard about Enki. Flashback shows Samon was trying to find missing talismans when a guard informs him that Enki had escaped. He couldn’t inform earlier because somebody messed up the communication system. Samon decides to handle this himself since there is no time to go back to HQ for backup. He is warned that not only Enki escaped but 2 others as well: Former guard Ruka Gojou guard and also a former boss of an assassination organization. When Samon entered the garden, he saw Ruka frolicking around in the pool before Enki beat the crap out of him for being weak. Ruka mocks Samon how everyone couldn’t stand working under him ever since he took over Enki’s post. Samon is shocked to see Inori on their side. He was the one who messed up the communication system and has never liked Samon. More flashbacks showing Samon was hesitating to take down Enki when he went on a rampage. It was Hajime who stepped up. It is perhaps why Samon is always desperate to surpass him. Because Samon sees nothing else but himself, thus why Inori could always deceive him. Juugo and co try to make their escape when they find Hajime’s nametag on the ground. Uno hatches a plan to save Hajime and Samon because if they escape, harsher penalties would only await them and this will cause Samon more problems. Going deeper underground they find Honey and Trois locked up too. They were invited here but were caught in a trap and Kiji taken away. They join in their plan since the more reinforcements the better.

Episode 19
After dodging the zombie guards, they rest in the ex-supervisor’s management room. While looking around, Juugo stumbles upon a confidential file in which states he is a human experiment. As they head down to the next level, Liang is attacked by a warden, Rokuriki. They notice he has an attack talisman on him and is under the manipulation of Enki. Upa had to finish Rokuriki off since Liang hesitated. The duo let the rest go ahead as Liang places his hopes on Juugo to free the wardens. Do they have to destroy the entrance too just to force them to continue? Liang reminisces how Rock told him Juugo saved him. He didn’t understand his meaning of freedom and he thought it was getting out of prison. Liang trained every day despite being a criminal is because he wanted to repay his mentor (Samon). However he couldn’t do anything when Enki made his move. He started thinking what he could do and realized the meaning of freedom. It is the fact he can do something. Liang faces off with resurgent Rokuriki and this time easily knocks him out. The duo are now faced with Hachiman who is their former boss. He reminds them about the rules of the underworld in which they lived by. People are trash and the strong make the weak submit. He is going to teach them again they are just his tools. Upa quickly beats him up and tells him off they don’t know anything about joining society. That is why they are here to learn and make a fresh start. Besides, they are never his tools. If he wants to go back to a world where power is everything, he’ll have to beat them first.

Episode 20
Upa is surprised that Nico is still around. He puts him aside so as not to let him be influenced by their fight because if he starts imitating them, it will put a strain on his body. When Hachiman unleashes poison gas, he reveals that Qi made it for him. Flashback shows Qi was taken to Hachiman to work for him. In return, he would have his debts cleared. Qi happily did that as long as he could make medicine. He also made sleeping medicine for Liang since he doesn’t want to kill the enemies he is supposed to take out. Liang on the other hand, witnessed his master on the verge of getting killed by Hachiman. Fat pig made a deal with him he will spare everyone and his temple if he just gave Liang to him. He did. A life lesson Liang learnt about being human. While it looked like his master obeyed his teachings and saved a lot at the cost of one kid, it also meant he did whatever he had to in order to save himself. When Qi realized he was making poison instead of medicine, he blew his top. Hachiman had mixed his medicine with drugs and sold them for money. Qi would have wanted to quit but after Hachiman showed him how he brutally beat up Liang for letting go his targets, Qi realizes he doesn’t have the power to defeat him. Without power, you can’t protect anything. If it was so easy to live the right way without really meaning it, villains like Hachiman wouldn’t have existed. Nico tries to help fight Hachiman but without his medicine he grows weak. However he revives when Hachiman sticks lots of poison into him not knowing his special body. Despite so, Nico is still physically weak and Hachiman overpowers him. Nico starts to feel pain when he is strangled. With the remnants of his medicine waning, Nico seems like he has died. But then he comes back alive but with a different dangerous personality.

Episode 21
Nico turns into some wild beast attacking Hachiman furiously since he has got some medicine smell. Nico acts like this because of a side effect of an old experiment where he became a guinea pig to test different poison. Qi then pops up to let Nico attack him so that he can jab him with a serum. This is the medicine that Hachiman forced him to make. Qi also injects one into Hachiman. However this guy is too big for it to take effect. Qi was never on Hachiman’s side as he tells his former boss how he is quick to judge and use others. There is one thing he will never forgive him for. When Upa was brought in, his organs were stolen and presumed dead by his clan. Despite so, Upa continued to work hard under him to buy them back. Angry Hachiman punches Qi. Upa and Liang come to his rescue. Qi explains himself he was just playing the villain. To deceive your enemies, deceive your friends. Upa still doesn’t like Qi because he transplanted his own organs into him after realizing Upa will not live long. The trio team up to fight Hachiman. But they’re not aimlessly missing him. Qi uses poison in the form of gas to slow him down and then paralyze him. Then some flashback of Qi with Samon. Because the latter believed in him, Qi doesn’t understand why he was called a traitor after that Enki incident. It makes him believe he can start over again. The poison takes effect as Hachiman starts to fear for his life. He is choking and strangling himself to death. But don’t worry. The drug is only strong enough to render him unconscious.

Episode 22
Upa can’t help wonder when he removed the talisman on Rokuriki, he felt it wasn’t from Enki. Nico learns of Upa’s reason to protect Building 5. After Hachiman’s organization fell and all of them thrown in prison in China, that is where Upa first met Samon. He sent gifts from Upa’s clan after he told them Upa is still alive. Thus Upa has this principle of returning the favour when someone does something for you. Trois enters a room housing those zombie guards. He checks out the parts that builds them. The rest are then confronted by Ruka who won’t let them go further. Ruka gets mad when they call him a queer as he does not want to be classified the same as Kiji. He sets Youriki and Kokoriki (Building 5’s wardens under control by that talisman) to go after them. Kiji is complaining about his captivity because it is ruining his makeup?! Kiji tries to bribe Ruka by letting him out in exchange of some custom made 100% hyaluronic acid formula makeup kit. Ruka is in a dilemma to betray Enki over this. Trois has dismantled and assembled those zombie parts to create a bazooka and blows the wardens away. Oh, he also modifies it as a flamethrower. As they move along, Juugo seems to be spacing out so they remind him he is an important key to unlock the doors. Ruka heard that and takes Juugo hostage to make them reveal their intentions.

Episode 23
Trois dumps a fire extinguisher on Ruka’s head and they all make a run for it. At a safe distance, mad Honey seems to be unimpressed with Juugo. He tells him to go away. How are they going to unlock doors then? That skill might be convenient but when it comes to anything else, Juugo is practically useless. This means if he is dead, he can’t use his unlocking skill. With Juugo hit hard by his words, Uno gives him assurance about the burden he has to carry, etc. Yeah, he trusts him. Too long their talk that Ruka has caught up. He uses the target to target and get rid of Juugo and Uno. As expected, Juugo is useless when caught and takes a beating. Honey doesn’t want to save them but when Trois tells him how ‘unattractive’ he is now, change of heart? Honey reveals his secret technique which he was supposed to save up to escape prison. Each bullet has strings sewn into them. Look closely and you’ll see that everywhere is riddled with those strings in which he can manipulate like a puppet. Trois is able to deduce Ruka popping up anywhere. Beneath the floors is a pool where he can swim freely. Plus, the floor panels are not fixed and can be shuffled, hence why ‘puddles’ can pop up anywhere. Using this knowledge, Trois is able to pinpoint Ruka’s location as Honey smokes him out (strings him out, rather) and then entraps him between the concrete walls. Ruka can’t escape since Trois literally threw a spanner into the works (the floor) and the ground cannot reshuffle easily. At the end of all that fiery badass explosion, Ruka emerges alive and is going to get real serious in fighting to the death.

Episode 24
Honey uses all he’s got to bring the slabs together to protect everyone from Ruka’s death winds. Better hurry and think of a next plan since he is bleeding out. Trois suggests Uno and Juugo run ahead while they distract Ruka. After all, what can they do? Before Ruka’s death winds could kill Honey and Trois, Juugo turns back to turn the tables in their favour. He is in blade form. He could even absorb Ruka’s death winds and throw it back at him. Juugo almost drowns in the attack so Honey jumps in to pull him out. As they move along, they are now confronted with Youriki and Kokoriki. They are not controlled anymore. However they do not believe the inmates when they tell what is going on and are going to arrest them. Trois and Honey stall them so Uno and Juugo can run ahead. But Uno gets captured by Ruka. Juugo reluctantly moves forward to complete their mission. Youriki and Kokoriki are confused after seeing Ruka. They are in a dilemma to capture which side first. Shouldn’t they capture both? They decide to go after the inmates. The prisoners buy some time by collapsing the walls. They are a disadvantage and can’t attack the wardens because that would only extend their sentence. Trois mentions that Kiji is held on this floor since he can smell his perfume. Uno then hatches a plan that is guarantee to succeed.

Episode 25
Juugo cuts down zombie guards in his bid to find Hajime. Trois reluctantly uses his special charming skill to win Ruka’s heart. It only works on girls but Ruka is an exception because he thinks he is a girl at heart… But I wonder why Trois couldn’t have just used this in the first place? With Ruka under his charm, Honey is able to steal the key to Kiji’s cell. Once they free him, he becomes a nagging monster to put the wardens and inmates in their place. Yeah, this might be worse. We see Kiji isn’t more than just a tranny concerned with his looks (he still is) as he makes Ruka tow the line after a slap (Ruka can’t beat him after all). Kiji leads the way to head back up and reunites with Nico’s group. They are now faced with more zombie guards. Hajime can’t sit around do nothing and wants to bust out. Is he going to risk his limbs? He came here to work and can’t be bogged down by just losing a few limbs. WTF?! But so manly! Luckily Juugo has found him and stops him. However Hajime chastises him for being down here. Juugo shuts him up that he is here on his own will. And there’s that lecture on how his life changed thanks to meeting those guys, blah, blah, blah, he wanted to really escape but the truth was he didn’t want people to hate him, blah, blah, blah. Then Juugo has his turn mocking Hajime for being easily captured and it’s rare to see him in cuffs. Hajime just noticed Samon is here and can’t risk showing his skill. However Hajime doesn’t see the point of it now. After Hajime is freed, at first he wanted to leave Samon behind but thinks about the consequences and his reputation if he escapes alone with a prisoner. Samon is shocked to see Juugo easily removing the handcuffs. Immediately Samon tackles Juugo down. He is mad that Hajime knew about this all along and this means he endorsed an inmate’s escape. Juugo punches him for being too noisy. Oh, but there are more zombie guards here for him to take out his frustration via brute force. Kenshirou makes his way here and Enki prepares to go face him.

Episode 26 (OVA)
Cast away all you know about the series because it is Nanbaka high school version and the characters recast! Seitarou is a new teacher of a delinquent school but often gets bullied by his students who are the Cell 13 guys as well as Hitoshi. Falling for the same tick every morning? They also don’t pay attention and whenever he tries to correct them, they get mad. Hyakushiki is also a delinquent in this school but she rarely makes her appearance. Seitarou notices that Juugo is docile unlike the rest but is warned that he is more than meets the eye. Musashi soon becomes a transfer student to his class and they soon end up fighting. Seitarou tries to stop them but gets beaten up in the crossfire. If you consider him bandaged up from head to toe as alright… Juugo and Musashi are to be expelled for that but Seitarou passionately stands for them because they are his precious students. I guess they like his passion so they agree to let this slide. The delinquents now respect him a little. Seitarou feels glad to be a teacher but he might have said it too soon because the worst delinquent will be back tomorrow as his suspension is over. Yup, that guy is Hajime. Oddly, Hajime sits in front of class and attentively listens to his lessons. Cell 13 guys try to sneak up on him and beat him up but he beats them all up using Hitoshi. So that was a greeting? More so, Hajime strictly makes them pay attention in class and those who try to slip out gets dragged back in. He is also well liked by other students and teachers so what is wrong with him?

It seems a rival school whose delinquent leader is Samon heard about Hajime’s release and his gang is going to pick a fight soon. Seitarou thought he could prevent it by talking to them but they don’t give a damn. Later he learns that Hajime got suspended because Samon and his gang harassed him at his part time job as he fought back. Apparently Hajime was working to earn money for Hitoshi’s surgery. Seitarou tries to talk to Hajime that fighting is bad but that guy is living in a rough world and has come to expect people will look at him with prejudice. The inevitable fight is here. Samon and co have stolen their school’s flag. Before anything could happen, Seitarou comes in between them. He slaps Hajime and got punched back instead. With him being adamant because they are his precious students, Samon and co back down from this farce. But they wish they had a teacher like that too. In the aftermath, Seitarou got fired for hitting a student. It has been a year as Hajime writes a letter to him and he is sorry for that. He studied hard and is now a correctional facilities officer with the Cell 13 blokes often getting into trouble so as to regularly ‘visit’ him. Seitarou looks forward to his next teaching job but discovers this isolated underground prison school that only houses 1 student: Enki. He fears teaching in a school like this again. What are the chances of him dying on the first day?

Nanba Wonderland
WHAT THE HELL???!!! WTF???!!! Nani kore?! Baka?! What in the world is this unsatisfying ‘ending’???!!! Just when I thought things are starting to move again after taking too long with this ‘rescue Hajime’ arc, and here they end the season and the series with this totally f*cking atrocity. This is a crime and they should make it a law for ending an unfinished anime!!! Instead of lightening their sentence, I am very tempted to increase their life sentence! Everyone who made this anime must be sent to prison and locked up forever!!! Ahem… Sorry for the outburst but I need to let that all out instead of keeping inside me before it explodes. But really, those were my sentiments and shock when this series just suddenly ends like that. Nanbaka might not have been perfect but I was overall enjoying it and that ender really took a dive for this series’ reputation. It’s like a sucker punch to say that oh, you’ve been enjoying this anime? Here’s a reminder that prisons aren’t supposed to be fun. Blam. This ending. WTF. Bad endings are one thing, but if there is one thing I can’t stand more than those are the ones that are like this. Unfinished (that atrocious Mahou Sensou comes to mind). It’s like they ran out of budget to even make one more proper closure episode. Sheesh. Sure, there are lots of potentials for it to run for another season but was it necessary to be left hanging like that? I mean, heck, they didn’t even start the final fight with Enki or even do some warming up. Sighs. So yeah. It was fun. And then boring. And then sudden disappointment. Time to move on…

From the way the plot and series is going, I thought it could go on forever since there are quite a number of potential developments. Heck, I was thinking it could go on as far as triple digits in the number of episodes but I think it is a good thing that it ended only 25 episodes. I might sound contradicting but actually it isn’t as based on my paragraph above but from this context that I will be saying it is. Don’t get me wrong. It is not that I did not enjoy the show but at the way the second half has been going, my interests started to wane. Now, I particularly like the first half where they introduce the characters as well as the plot and the mysterious guy in the mask whom I was just really curious and wanting to know how he is connected to all of them and his ultimate goal. But by the time we get to the second half, at first it sounded interesting with the return of badass Enki.

However this final arc (which I somehow feel they want to showcase some Chinese stuff and Journey to the West reference) has been taking too long and it feels like forever. I have a feeling it is to help give other supporting characters like Liang, Upa, Trois and Honey some screen time, to know more about their background and for them to showcase their skills. Yet the progress of this plot feels like it is slowly inching forward. That is why I said it could be on par like One Piece or Bleach who can dedicate an entire episode for one lousy minor plot or drag out a particular fight. Besides, it wasn’t as much fun since the usual quartet of Cell 13 isn’t together (Rock has been out cold ever since right till the end) and Hajime’s presence has been sorely missed as he became a prisoner. Not to say that Hyakushiki was part of the main casts but knowing that she went away and ‘never came back’ (as far as the season ended) felt like we are missing one of those top ‘demons’.

Looking at the heads of Nanba Prison, somehow it reminds me of Bleach’s Soul Society’s Gotei 13. It is like as though they ripped a few familiar elements and mashed them up to get some of the characters you see here. Like Kenshirou feels like a mash up between Byakuya, Zaraki and Kyouraku. Kijin feels like he was taken after Mayuri and who could forget Hajime has this uncanny looks to Madarame because of their shiny bald head. Despite having the same number of heads, this series unfortunately doesn’t show all of them. At least not in this season. It would have been interesting to see all of them because of how weird all of them looks and hence they will equally have some sort of weird personality to go with. Yeah, Nanba Prison is a freak show for both wardens and inmates. So this is where abnormal people go…

Therefore if you start looking properly at Nanba Prison, you really wonder if this is a prison facility. Because the prisoners here are treated more equally than those treated outside and living freely and perhaps even more rights. That is the irony that I came to think about while watching this show. It is no wonder why none of the prisoners don’t really give it a serious thought to escape. No wonder they all look so happy and having fun. Why the hell would you want to leave a place that takes good care of you? Sometimes I feel it gives the wrong message that crime pays. Of course, these prisoners have been to the sh*ttiest prisons all over here before being landed in this final stop. It’s like saying, you’ve been through hell and now be at ease because at Nanba Prison, we treat you like a human being. Yeah, basically that is all what everyone in this world wants. To be treated fairly like a human being. With certain wardens and inmates having ‘close knit’ relationships, it is no wonder they can just walk anywhere within the facility like as though it is some huge gated community! It is a good thing its location is a secret because once people find out how cool it is, they might purposely commit some crime just to be admitted into here. Yes people. Nanba Prison is that good!

With so many characters other than the main ones, it is no doubt that with the limited number of episodes, it is the series greatest asset and liability. Each of the prisoners and wardens have their own past and stories to tell. Through its pacing, we get to discover and learn more about them. Sometimes it makes you feel that they aren’t really such bad people and were put in here under circumstances. Wrong place, wrong time. While some characters have been decently fleshed out, some are just briefly covered. I know it is greedy to want to know about everyone’s past and that is just not possible right now. It could if this series ran forever. But then again, I would have complained that they’re overdoing it and prolonging the series with more episodes to drag out the plot. But with each of their individual traits, it helps make the series funny overall as their silly personalities and ideals clash.

Like the quartet of Cell 13, once you get to know them, they are really fun guys and not as bad as you might have think of them. Like Rock who loves to eat, Nico with his infatuation of Japanese otaku culture and Uno loving to gamble and flirt, everyone is just so freaking positive and sunshiny! They can all attribute this big change to Juugo whom ironically I feel is the one having the issues of battling his inner demons. Despite changing the lives of others, he still finds it hard to change himself. Mostly I see him as confused and trying to find a place where he belongs. He is trying to justify and find a reason why he needs to exist. Can’t blame him after learning what he has gone through but sometimes looking at him trying to play the considerate guy by not getting his pals involved can be annoying. You just want to scream to him to get over it and open his damn eyes because it makes him look like he doesn’t put his faith in his buddies.

Then there is Hajime who is the only one who can deal with the Cell 13 quartet’s shenanigans. Nothing but a bit of violence to help? Maybe because he is a workaholic and the only way to take out his frustrations is to rein in those troublemakers? Yeah, it sounds like a good excuse for a good punching workout. Because anybody who will have to deal with Cell 13 breaking out daily and multiple times would have been fed up by it all and would just quit or request a transfer. Not Hajime. He might not look like it but I have a hunch he enjoys it. Maybe that’s why he ‘likes’ work. Like I’ve said, who else can do this job? Being a male dominated series, Hyakushiki is the only female character (I know there is Noriko but she is neglectable), her running joke seems to be putting up an commanding presence but deep down inside her heart she is just a teen girl in love fawning all over how cool he is. Whether it is a good thing or not her inner feelings do not translate to her outside expression because she always seems scary in the eyes of others, especially Hajime who too also puts up a brave front before her but inside he is scared sh*t.

There are probably a lot more things I would want to say about the other characters but that would feel like rehashing what I know about them so I’m not going to go in depth about it. (Yamato getting lost and his eternal positivism plus relentless training, Seitarou’s pretty boy looks, Hitoshi the cross-dresser, Kijin the queer, etc). The diverse characters not only showcase their personalities but also their abilities which is essential to make the action parts work. It would have been interesting to reimagine that this series would become dark and serious like another prison themed anime, Deadman Wonderland. So we can see how the characters use their unique abilities in battles. Personally, the fight scenes are just ordinary and nothing much to shout about. The series is trying to find a balance between action and comedy (albeit not perfect) so there are decent amounts of fights to go about without getting bored easily. Despite all their silly persona, don’t let that fool you since they are still capable and skilful in their very own right when it matters.

On a trivial note, you might have guessed from the course of watching this anime that all the characters’ names are based on puns off numbers. Mostly are Japanese numbers but there are others whose number punned names are in Chinese or French. So it is safe and more accurate to say that all the characters especially the inmates, we do not know about their real names since we call them based from the number that they were assigned in this facility. Yeah, it would be one big hell of a coincidence if they that name was real and they got a prison number that is a pun of it. Or maybe the prison decided to mess around and gave them a number based on their name. Otherwise, why is there such a large gap between the numbers of inmates in the same building? Unless they assign the number randomly but then again, too big of a coincidence.

The art and drawing are quite bright and vivid. It really doesn’t feel like Nanba Prison is really a prison. Even more so, the very colourful characters. And I don’t mean just their personality but you can see how the prisoners are colourful on their physical appearance. Besides, they all don’t wear the same prisoner uniform. I don’t know if this isn’t part of the rules because if you look to other buildings other than Cell 13, it’s like those prisoners are free to dress in their own clothes they like. Is this a fashion show? I know, if everybody ends up dressing the same prisoner uniform, it would look boring and monotonous. Even without their trademark clothes, they’ve got all sort of weird and colourful hairstyles that make them stand out. Yeah, it’s never visually dull in Nanba Prison. Oh, I also want to mention that doesn’t Hajime look a bit like Saitama in One Punch Man? And doesn’t Hyakushiki look like Akame Ga Kill’s Esdeath? I also noticed that Nanba Prison is one freaking clean prison. You might have noticed that there are this sparkling effects in almost every scene! Yes. Not kidding. I thought they were trolling us or something but you will notice those shiny effects. However in the second half, it seems it has lost its shine. I don’t see them anymore and no wonder the scenes look dark, gloomy and depressing.

There are quite a number of casts here. A few recognizable ones such as Tetsuya Kakihara as Uno, Yu Kobayashi as Upa and Kenjiro Tsuda as Mitsuru. The other casts are Yuuto Uemura as Juugo (Tsukito in Kamigami No Asobi), Airu Shiozaki as Rock (debut role), Daiki Kobayashi as Nico (Oochuu in Reikenzan series), Tomokazu Seki as Hajime (Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile), Satomi Akesaka as Hyakushiki (Esdeath in Akame Ga Kill – wait a minute…), Souichirou Hoshi as Samon (Kaoru in Ai Yori Aoshi), Kimeru as Kiji (debut role), Shouma Yamamoto as Kenshirou (Jun in Amairo Cocoa), Shunsuke Takeuchi as Yamato (Guildenstern in Servamp), Keito Okuyama as Seitarou (debut role), Takao Mitsutomi as Honey (debut role), Yuuto Adachi as Trois (Bruno in Oushitsu Kyoushi Haine), Yuuki Fujiwara as Liang (Shinji in Chaos;Child), Genki Okawa as Qi (Moemoemoe in To Be Hero), Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Tsukumo (Mikado in Durarara), Yoshimasa Hosoya as Musashi (Rom in Show By Rock), Takaya Kuroda as Enki (Renjou in Kurenai), Naozumi Takahashi as Ruka (Bunta in Prince Of Tennis), Kouji Takeda as Hachiman, Eishin Fudemura as Hitoshi (Roman in Tsuki Ga Kirei), Daisuke Kishio as Elf (Suginami in Da Capo series) and Masanori Ikeda as the man with the scar (Shishio in Rurouni Kenshin).

There is something very catchy about the rock opening theme, Rin! Rin! Hi! Hi! by Hashiguchikanaderiya Hugs The Super Ball (say that band name again?!). It feels like fun and groovy. Something that suits the overall theme of the series. As for the ending theme, Nanbaka Datsugoku Riron by the Cell 13 quartet with Hajime sounds very weird. It sounds very messy since they are singing all over the place. And it feels like Hajime’s ‘role’ in ‘singing’ this song is to rebuke and scream his head off. Wait. I don’t think he is singing in most of the parts. Hear him let loose his usual scream at the end of the song. So I guess to distract you from all that messy weirdness, hence they distract you with the synthesizer effects.

Overall, despite its very unfinished ‘ending’ that is hard to ignore by the time you reach the end, this is still quite a funny and entertaining series. It has its potentials and interesting characters but even if the draggy second half took a lot of the fun out of it, the series is still worth watching. Just hope that people don’t get the wrong idea that going to prison is good and hoping for first class treatment as seen here. Nor should they see that breaking out of prison is such a fun excursion and if you get caught, you’ll get another chance to try it again. However, in today’s world I believe with the technological advances in modern society, we don’t even have to commit and crimes to be put into prison. We are all already prisoners of our minds as we are all hooked and influenced by social media. Like how I am serving a life to eternal sentence watching animes… It’s so fun… No wonder I’m not trying to escape from this eternal sentence.