Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu (The Drifting Classroom)

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Japanese: 漂流教室

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 11

Chapters: 44

Status: Finished

Published: 1972 to 1974

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Theme: Survival

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Sunday

Authors: Umezu, Kazuo (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.38¹ (scored by 7,691 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #4131²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #797

Members: 26,336

Favorites: 381

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7.38

Ranked #4131Popularity #797Members 26,336

MangaShounen SundayUmezu, Kazuo (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /11

Chapters: /44

The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition

Vol. 1
$19.99

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Synopsis

Sixth grader Shou Takamatsu is a troublemaker who refuses to grow up. However, one fateful day, his world is turned upside down, forcing him to quickly mature—or die. When Shou arrives at school that morning, an earthquake of mysterious origin strikes, and the campus is teleported to an empty wasteland, far removed from society. Not only do Shou and his peers face an immediate crisis of food shortage, they must also contend with other problems, including new and dangerous external threats, and rising conflict among the student body. With the adults having a hard time adjusting, Shou finds the immense responsibility to quickly adapt to his new dystopian reality a heavy burden on his small shoulders.

Written by the horror specialist Kazuo Umezu, Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu is regarded as a classic in its genre—a unique blend of the riveting mystery behind the entrapment of Shou and his classmates on the barren, hostile world, and their struggle for survival.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu won the 20th Shogakukan Manga Award in 1975. It received a live-action film adaptation on July 11, 1987, as well as a loosely adapted television drama called Long Love Letter on January 9, 2002.

The series was published in English as The Drifting Classroom by VIZ Media under the VIZ Signature imprint from August 15, 2006 to April 15, 2008, and as omnibus volumes from October 15, 2019 to June 16, 2020. It was also published in Spanish by Ponent Mon from October 2008 to August 2010.

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Characters

Takamatsu, Shou

Main

Sekiya, Kyuusaku

Main

Shibata

Main

Nishi, Ayumi

Main

Kawada, Sakiko

Main

Onna Banchou

Supporting

Reviews

Aug 13, 2025

lexpendragon

Recommended

If you want a horror manga that's closer to the traditional horror genre (Sci-fi alien looking creatures, giant bugs, old minded societal views...), or a horror manga that gives you a pretty unique story, then you should check it out. OR if you want a manga that shows adults beating the absolute sh*t out of children, then you def need to read it, I found it very funny.

Don't expect a fancy story, nor great characters, or impressive plot twists. But for what it had, and the way the main event's explanation was put, I think it was great. The main characters are children who have ...

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Apr 28, 2023

bergars

Recommended

I love “Lord of the Flies” style narratives.

A group of kids transported into what seems nothing like our world. The what, the when, and how the world reacts to it. Along these narratives, we slowly unravel the dangers of this new environment, the rules, and just when we actually understand it, it usually ends. It's a formula, and here we revolve around the critique on people. Rationality ends lives, and being able to make sense of your world, sometimes doesn't allow for anything new to get in. Chaos, murder, and the sad knowledge that children are in a horrible situation, and for being a 70s ... manga, it didn't relent at all.

If we go in terms of story, I enjoyed most of it. The way it's drawn childishly contrasts so horribly with the reality of the situation. These kids have to discover the root of this new world, how it works, and how to battle the concepts of a working society while being horribly murdered by it. Sickness, lack of resources, disagreements, the knowledge that every adult can go insane if put in a situation of power, as well as any kid, and something else lurking in the world. Presented with a very active protagonist that isn't the smartest, but he's the shining beacon of trying your best, even to the detriment of those around you.

Our protagonist is one that evolves from the very beginning, all the way to the bitter end. The people around him are many, and most of them blend into the background, or are horribly killed, which heightened the stakes. We experience death ALL the time. There isn't a series of chapters that doesn't depict how horrible this world is, as well as the sacrifices kids have to do to control a situation. Panic occurs at every single episode. Every moment is all about how nobody is in control, and how small villains appear from time to time as more problems come around. Villains range from okay, to pretty good, not being a single one I didn't hate appropriately, and there were characters I hated, but others that are very logical and well written. I don't have anger towards how the characters were written, more so with this world's concept.

As a concept, there wasn't any proper establishing rules that seemed perfectly logical. It went through the route of sci-fi, and horror fantasy, without committing to any of them. Could be a plus in terms of mystery, but even as was explained, we needed more consistency. Maybe a little detrimental. Lastly, even if it's very well written, the dialogue and some reactions from characters is extremely outdated. Rules are absolute bullshit sometimes, including plot armor that occurs in the most obtuse ways imaginable. It legitimately caused me to stop reading for some time.

Overall, it's a great manga that contains amazing art for its time, but feels dated in terms of character expressions. It goes to pretty disturbing levels, and sports horrible situations in a panic attack style of narrative that doesn't let go, even if the plot armor helps the protagonist way too much for my liking. The rules are unclear, and the situations feel extremely random for the sake of padding. The story could've ended way earlier than it did, and worked just as much. Some horror was slightly bad, and other times it felt pretty eerie. Very solid 7/10.

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Apr 8, 2022

ren0080

Mixed Feelings

Well... that was a unique experience. It really feels like a horror version of "Lord of the Fireflies".
One thing that I learned from this manga... Sakiko is too precious for this world. She's the Best Girl in this manga BY FAR. As well as the Best Character in extension.

The story is quite good and bad at the same time. The story beats, the plot, was fine. But the execution and the pacing was kinda bad. It definitely didn't aged well.
The premise was pretty unique (for the time) and the problems that was thrown at the main cast were good and kept the story interesting ...

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Poll: Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu Chapter 16 Discussion KoniginElle - Jul 16, 2020	2 replies	by AugmentedTurnip »» Aug 22, 6:01 PM
Otomo twerp_ - May 29, 2015	1 replies	by UglyBastardNTR »» Jun 21, 1:57 PM
Poll: Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu Chapter 4 Discussion gfsdfgsdgsdfgs - Mar 21, 2018	2 replies	by KAP494 »» May 21, 8:35 PM
Poll: Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu Chapter 2 Discussion gfsdfgsdgsdfgs - Mar 19, 2018	2 replies	by KAP494 »» May 3, 7:12 PM
Poll: Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu Chapter 3 Discussion KoniginElle - Jul 9, 2020	3 replies	by KAP494 »» May 3, 6:49 PM

Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu
The Drifting Classroom
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Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu
The Drifting Classroom
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