After School Nightmare

Infobox animanga/Header
name = After School Nightmare


caption =
ja_name = 放課後保健室
ja_name_trans = Hōkago Hokenshitsu
genre = Drama, PsychologicalInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Setona Mizushiro
publisher = flagicon|Japan Akita Shoten
publisher_en = flagicon|USA Go! Comi
publisher_other = flagicon|France Asuka Comicsflagicon|Italy Star Comics
demographic = Shōjo
magazine = flagicon|Japan Princess
first = 2005
last = 2008
volumes = 10

nihongo|"After School Nightmare"|放課後保健室|Hōkago Hokenshitsu|lit. "After School Infirmary" is a shōjo manga by Setona Mizushiro, published in the United States by Go! Comi.

Story

Mashiro Ichijo is the girls' idol, handsome and kind, but he has been hiding a secret for all his life: he's neither a male, nor 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, and his classmates can come into his dreams; will he be able to keep his secret hidden?

Characters

; nihongo|Mashiro Ichijo|一条 真白|Ichijō Mashiro: While he is the apple of every young girl's eye, Mashiro hides a tremendous secret. He is neither a man nor a woman. 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, but later on breaks up with her and confesses his love for Sou. Also, he considers a relationship with Koichiro Kurosaki. In the final volume, Mashiro finally graduates after learning to accept who he is and be happy with himself, and discovers that beyond the graduation doors, he is a young lady.

:"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.

; nihongo|Kureha Fujishima|藤島 紅葉|Fujishima Kureha: 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 later revealed that her distrust of men stems from a brutal rape that occurred in her early childhood. 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 at the age of her attack, wearing a ragged cloak. She is very vengeful and quick to attack. In the later books, after coming to terms with what happened to her, Kureha's appearance in the dream world is that of a girl in a knight armour.

; nihongo|Sou Mizuhashi|水橋 蒼|Mizuhashi Sō: 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. He has a questionable relationship with his sister, Ai, as he is seen blushing when the subject of her comes up.

:"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.

; nihongo|Ai Mizuhashi|水橋 蓝|Mizuhashi Ai: 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. She has self 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.

Minor Characters

; Nurse

:A mysterious nurse who takes the students into the infirmary so they can take part in the class. She knows all the new and old students names and their "issues", like Ichijo's gender. The nurse also takes part in the memory loss when a student "graduates". Little is known about her.

; Midori Okui

: Midori takes part in the dream class. She was on the Beautification Committee and a straight A student. Midori graduates in the second volume.

:"Dream Self ": Midori takes the form of herself but has an empty hole where her face is and a similar hole in her chest, showing how empty she feels on the inside.

; Itsuki Shinonome

:Shinonome is a genius who joins the dream class in the second volume. Shinonome takes Midori's place in the dream realm and graduates in the third volume.

:"Dream Self": In the dream world Shionome takes the form of a paper giraffe. He is able to know the real life identities of those he meets in the dream world.

; Shinbashi

:Shinbashi has a crush on Kureha and is also Mashiro's friend. He takes Shinonome's place in the dream realm in the fourth volume and graduates.

:"Dream Self": He takes on the place of Mashiro's mobile phone. He also has the ability to feel the status of Kureha's dream self.

; Asuka Suoh

:Asuka was a model earlier in life, but an accident scarred her face and injured her legs. She's now bound to a wheelchair and is both introduced and graduates in the 6th volume.

:"Dream Self": She takes on the form of a mermaid with a mask covering her eyes and the top half of her face. She appears weak when she first enters the dream without water around her, and is sitting in her wheelchair. She has a tiara and can apparently cut someone with her breath.

;Momoka Ohara

:Ohara is a current dreamer. She has the lurking hand with the continuous arm that stalk the shadows and fought with Kureha. Ohara never did graduate the class, she just simply disapeared.

:"Dream Self": She takes form of a hand and a continuously long arm. She has the ability to multiply into many little hands and arms or a giant one to crush her enemies away.

;Koichiro Kurosaki

:Mashiro and Sou's senpai in the Kendo club, he is portrayed as a very kind and understanding person. He serves as an 'agony aunt' to Mashiro. However, he is revealed to be the son of the president of an important company, and his outside personality is nothing more than what his father and mother wanted him to be.

:"Dream Self": Although he keeps his real appearance in a number of scenes, it is later revealed that he, and not Sou, is the Black Knight. His real appearance self in the dream world seems to symbolise the person his parents want him to be, whilst the Black Knight seems to symbolise his real, darker personality along with his feelings towards his parents. He graduates in the 9th volume.

;Ebizawa

:A girl in Mashiro and Kureha's class. She's the source of many of the rumours circulating in the school.

:"Dream Self": She takes the form of a parasitic face that attaches itself to the body of other dreamers. When the parasite is cut off from the host's body, Ebizawa returns to her real appearance, but stays in the dream world.

Reception

The English edition of "After School Nightmare" was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as among the 10 best graphic novels for teens for 2007.cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-01-16/manga-named-to-librarians-great-graphic-novels-list | title=Manga Named to Librarians' Great Graphic Novels List | publisher=Anime News Network | date=2008-01-16 | accessdate=2008-08-26]

References

External links

* [http://www.gocomi.com/series/nightmare/ After School Nightmare on Go! Comi's web site]
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