School in anime is usually a place to train superheroes, warriors, or at least the main characters.
But what if school is like a prison? There will be scenes of violence, horror,… Here are the top 10 anime schools that are exploited by this theme that you should check out.
10. Hachimitsu Academy Takes Gender Roles And Power Exercises To Punishing Heights
(Prison School)
Prison School is an utterly absurd premise, but because of its extreme deconstruction of gender stereotypes and excessive fan service, it has attracted a lot of viewers. Five male students arrive in the Hachimitsu Academy, an all-girls school, to start Prison School. This brings out their much more lecherous tendencies.
These characters are reprimanded with a sentence to Hachimitsu’s prison block and suddenly this school bears a much greater resemblance to jail. Constant fights for a sliver of power and absurdist spins on serious ideas make Prison School’s Hachimitsu Academy wildly entertaining, but it’d be stressful to attend.
9. Hyakkaou Private Academy where students have to gamble with their own lives
(Kakegurui)
Kakegurui has turned into a surprisingly robust franchise with both a sequel, prequel, as well as a live-action adaptation – all of which properly celebrate the heightened chaos that congregates at Hyakkaou Private Academy. This distinguished school is a home for the children of the nation’s most affluent and influential families.
Egos and insecurity lead to extreme exercises at Hyakkaou and an intense hierarchy system decides who calls the shots. Status is acquired through high stakes gambling and a single loss is enough to wipe out a student’s entire bank account or reduce them to a servant for the school’s Student Council.
8. Cursed Kills at Yomiyama North Junior High Bring New Horrors
(Another)
Another is a 13-episode psychological horror series that excels in atmosphere. It’s never easy to transfer to a new school and Another begins with Kouichi Sakakibara’s transfer to Yomiyama North Junior High’s Class 3-3. Kouichi’s standard apprehension compounds in frightening ways after he learns about a series of murders and a cryptic curse that surrounds his class.
Kouichi’s lone friend, Mei Misaki, exudes creepiness and Another keeps the audience on their toes regarding whether she–or Kouichi–is actually a ghost. The fact that an ongoing curse continues to torment the Class 3-3 students at Yomiyama North Junior High makes it an extremely volatile place to get an education.
7. Students at Hope’s Peak Academy become murder suspects
(Danganronpa: The Animation)
Based upon the popular video game series of the same name, Danganronpa: The Animation traps 16 students in their high school, Hope’s Peak Academy, where murder is the only means of escape. A strange anthropomorphic bear named Monokuma calls the shots at this ironically named school where friends are forced to become foes. The only way students can gain their freedom is through the murder of one of their peers, but to also not get caught during the subsequent trial. It’s a tense premise that highlights the worst impulses in people.
6. During a deadly epidemic, Fujimi Academy Develops Into A Strange Sanctuary.
(Highschool Of The Dead)
There are hordes of zombie anime that try to breathe new life into the undead. Highschool of the Dead is a fun spin on these genre staples that follows a bunch of high school students who do everything in their control to survive a zombie apocalypse. Zombies are a danger everywhere, not just these students’ alma matter, the Fujimi Academy.
Highschool of the Dead initially positions this school as a boring punishment that the students are desperate to escape. Ironically, Fujimi Academy becomes their safe haven once they’re on the run from brain-eating zombies. Despite the supposed sanctuary status of Fujimi Academy, it’s still prone to its own dangers.
5. Students of Kunugigaoka Junior High are forced to kill their alien teacher.
(Assassination Classroom)
Under typical circumstances, Kunugigaoka Junior High is a respected private school that’s a great place to buckle down and get a good education. Assassination Classroom puts a unique pressure on the underachieving class of 3-E. Nagisa Shiota and the rest of his Class 3-E peers are instructed to perfect their assassination skills for the express purpose of taking out their alien teacher, Koro-Sensei.
Koro-Sensei pledges to destroy the Earth in one years’ time unless his students complete their task. Nagisa and the rest of Class 3-E leave this experience stronger than when they started, but it’s still a sick situation to be in.
4. For Hopeless Brutes, Cromartie High School Is A Reckless Home.
(Cromartie High School)
It’s a popular trope in gag anime when a seemingly normal individual finds themselves shackled with worthless delinquents in a no-nonsense school of hard knocks. Takashi Kamiyama is Cromartie High School’s main character, but he’s largely a blank slate who helps the audience acclimate to Cromartie’s unusual student body, which includes everything from robots to Freddie Mercury.
Students might enjoy themselves and the lack of responsibilities that accompany Cromartie High School, but it’s unlikely that anyone is actually going to leave the school with a decent education. Four irresponsible years at Cromartie is enough to ruin anyone’s zest for knowledge and destroy their post-secondary prospects.
3. Good grades at Fumizuki Academy translate into benefits for quality of life.
(Baka And Test)
Japan puts a tremendous amount of pressure on test scores, which has helped fuel plenty of anime. Baka and Test is set at Japan’s Fumizuki Academy, a preparatory school that translates top test scores to everyday privileges. Fumizuki Academy splits its students up and the Class F crop includes the lowest of the low who lack any basic amenities at school.
Additionally, Baka and Test gives its students the power to summon monstrous avatars whose strength is dependent upon their user’s grades. These stressful circumstances are restrictive, but Baka and Test’s protagonist, Mizuki Himeji, matriculates with the Class F crowd simply because she gets sick and misses a test.
2. U.A. High – Where criminals attack students the most
(My Hero Academia)
My Hero Academia is one of the better anime where groups of special kids congregate at a school that’s designed to hone their skills. Admittedly, My Hero Academia’s U.A. High is the most prestigious of the series’ educational institutions and it’s Izuku Midoriya’s dream school. U.A. High isn’t the anime’s only hero school and budding crimefighters also study at Shiketsu High School, Ketsubutsu Academy, and the Seiai Academy. U.A. High has the best reputation of the lot, but it’s also subjected to the greatest dangers as a result. U.A. High provides an excellent education, but random villain invasions are also par for the course.
1. Honnouji Academy turns students into alien fighters
(Kill La Kill)
Kill la Kill is a visual extravaganza from Studio TRIGGER filled with stunning visuals, hyperbolized battles, and compelling characters. Kill la Kill also has a lot to say on the conforming, restrictive nature of boarding schools and standardized education.
Ryuko Matoi joins the Honnouji Academy to get answers regarding the death of her father, but she finds herself in a much more complicated revenge scheme that brings extraterrestrial sentient school uniforms into the mix. Kill la Kill’s use of Life Fibers is a smart way to deconstruct the rigid rules of private schools, like uniforms, and how they can instill toxic tendencies.
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