After School Nightmare (Manga)

Aka: Hōkago Hokenshitsu / After School Infirmary

Writer: Setona Mizushiro

Volumes: 10

Original Run: 2005-2008

Language: English

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural

Synopsis:

Mashiro Ichijo is a girls' idol, handsome and kind, but he has been hiding a secret all his life: he's neither a true male, nor a true female. He has the upper body of a male but the lower body of a female. When a mysterious school nurse introduces him to a new class, he finds that in order to graduate he has to go to a world of dreams to find a mysterious key, competing with other classmates to find it. Struggling with his orientation issue he starts having mixed feelings regarding whether he wants to live as a male and go out with one of the prettiest girls in school, or if he wants to live life as a female and be with the cute male slacker; both of which are madly in love with Ichijo.
(Credit: Wikipedia)

Characters:

Mashiro Ichijo:

While he is the apple of every young girl's eye, Mashiro hides a tremendous secret. He is neither a man nor a woman, with the upper half of a male and lower of a female . Mashiro claims to identify himself as a man, however he is constantly doubting himself. He frequently does things that he thinks "men" would commonly do. When Kureha professes her love for him after learning of his secret, Mashiro begins to date her.

Dream Self: In the dream world Mashiro appears as himself in either a male or female school uniform, depending on his emotions. At one point in the series Mashiro creates two blades to protect himself, each blade representing that side of himself. Both blades are feather shaped, but the male side is a long sword and the female side a short sword. The two swords are connected, symbolizing that he cannot get rid of the female aspects of himself, much like he can't get rid of the short sword. The strength of the blades is determined by Mashiro's ability to essentially will them into sharpness. Later he shows signs of abilities similar to Ai Mizuhashi's.

Kureha Fujishima:

She is cheery and bright, but has a strong dislike of men. Since Mashiro is very protective of her (and is not entirely male), Kureha soon falls for him. Kureha is very distrustful of Sou, and will take any opportunity to separate Mashiro and Sou. It is revealed in Chapter 2 (Mashiro's second dream in the class) that her distrust of men stems from a brutal rape done to her during a walk home from kindergarten, plus the harsh words she overheard her father say to her mother afterwards. However, as the story progresses, she and Sou team up and become friends, which is part of her plan to get revenge on Mashiro for their break-up.

Dream Self: In the dream world, Kureha appears dressed as she was after she was attacked, wearing a ragged cloak and dripping with rain, her face and eyes concealed by the cloak's hood because of shame and rage. She is very vengeful and quick to attack. Later in the seventh or eighth book she becomes a knight after overcoming her difficulties.

Sou Mizuhashi:

He is mysterious and very protective. Ever since he found out that Mashiro Ichijo was a woman, he has been trying anything to get Ichijo to love him, even going so far as to admit his love to him in the second volume. It is revealed he lost his virginity to his sister, Ai.

Dream Self: In the third book it is suggested that Sou is the hand, that was keen to help Mashiro in the dreams. By the fifth book, however, it is discovered through Sou's sister, Ai, that Sou is indeed the Black Knight that has been constantly tormenting Mashiro. In the ninth book, he tells Mashiro that he was merely hiding behind the knight armour, thus implicitly corroborating the fact that Kurosaki was indeed the Black Knight. He also tells Mashiro that he thought it would be better for Mashiro if he believed Sou was the knight. Sou's dreamself is revealed in the ninth book: his dreamself is Ai Mizuhashi. In the tenth book Sou's dreamself is a dog.

Ai Mizuhashi:

Sou's older sister, she is dark and a tad sadistic. She has a serious brother complex, claiming she can only graduate once Sou has found the right girl to take care of him while trying to keep him dependent on her. It is later discovered that Ai and Sou have sexual relations with each other and that Ai doesn't go to school with Sou and only sneaked into the dream class to keep him from graduating.

Dream Self: Ai takes the form of a young girl in Gothic Lolita style clothing and is almost always carrying a teddy bear. Wandering the dream world in lace and sometimes blood, she has considered her as the most important to the dream class. She has proclaimed herself as the strongest dreamer in the class and displays a great deal of power in the dream world. Ai takes this form because during her childhood is when she lost Sou and the teddy bear represents Sou. In the ninth book, she is revealed to be a ghost of sorts, a creation of Sou's mind upon his betrayal by his (real) sister when he was young. Although he wishes to get rid of her, it seems Sou lacks the willpower to do so.

Review:

I didn't read this manga yet so I can't make a review but if you did please let us know what you think :)

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DDL:

Volume 01
Volume 02
Volume 03
Volume 04
Volume 05
Volume 06
Volume 07
Volume 08
Volume 09
Volume 10




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