After School Nightmare – Vol.1

I have to confess: I love gender studies. I love series that have people conflicted with gender issues. I have no idea why, it simply intrigues me. Watching a character struggle with their gender identity is one of my favorite character flaws ever. Personally, I blame Rumiko Takahashi and watching a heck of a lot of Ranma ½ at a young age.

What does this have to do with After School Nightmare? Well, this is simply the first time I’ve ever seen a hermaphrodite as the main character, and there’s something about that which I find undeniably awesome. To say that it’s unique is a major understatement!

Mashiro Ichijo is our protagonist, and he finds himself as confused as ever when he’s accepted into special dream classes – every Thursday, a group of anonymous students take a nap, only to wake up in a dream world where they have to face their worst nightmares. Only when they accept their faults and grow from their pain do they graduate. No amount of regular schooling can help them, and they can’t even help each other.

The main supporting cast consists of two of Mashiro’s peers: Kureha Fujishima and Sou Mizuhashi. Kureha is a cheery girl with some major boy issues, but has a huge crush on Mashiro. Sou is, for lack of a better term, a jerk of a jock with a seemingly unnatural interest in Mashiro. The two compete for “his” attention, and it adds an almost shoujo romance aspect to an otherwise fairly disturbing world.

I realize that this is definitely the kind of series that not everyone is going to like. What attracts me to it is a theme that I personally find very intriguing – if you don’t have a love for gender confusion like I do, then you may not like this manga. However, even setting aside that particular aspect, there’s a lot more to After School Nightmare than there seems. I’ve spoiled myself on a bit of the juicier parts, but needless to say, there are a lot of really interesting twists and turns to come, and the end result is pretty existential. It’s worth a look-see, and it wasn’t voted one of the best graphic novels for teens in 2007 by the Young Adult Library Services Association for nothing.

Art-wise, After School Nightmare has a very soft look to it that really gets you into the shoujo love story… only to confuse and astound when it depicts some of the gorier combative dream sequences. As odd as it sounds, it works, and the composition makes the story flow nicely. I definitely approve.

Overall, After School Nightmare is something I’m going to keep a close eye on and likely end up with the whole collection. However, I don’t think it’ll be for everyone – my bias for particular themes may have skewed my opinion a bit. Still, if you like a bit of a mind screw and watching teenagers struggle with their worst fears and realizations in violent, literal ways, give this one a shot. You may be pleasantly surprised.