Manga Review : After School Nightmare by Setona Mizushiro

Title: After School Nightmare 

Original Title: Houkago Hokenshitsu

Author: Setona Mizushiro

Artist: Setona Mizushiro

Year of Release: 2004

Genres: Drama, Gender Bender, Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Romance, School Life, Shoujo, Supernatural, Tragedy

Status: Completed 

Chapters (Translated in English): 39

Volumes & Chapters: 

Volume 1 Chapters 1-4             Volume 6 Chapters 21-24
Volume 2 Chapters 5-8             Volume 7 Chapters 25-28
Volume 3 Chapters 9-12           Volume 8 Chapters 29-32
Volume 4 Chapters 13-16         Volume 9 Chapters 33-36
Volume 5 Chapters 17-20         Volume 10 Chapter 37-39

Mangafox – Goodreads

Summary

"Sensei, is this a boy or a girl?"
"Do you want to know?"

Ichijo Mashiro and fellow classmates are enlisted in a mysterious weekly class that takes the form of a shared nightmare. Like most teenagers, Mashiro has a secret.. he's neither fully male nor female!

So far, Mashiro's been able to live life as a boy, but all this changes when he's informed of a new class he 'must' partake in order to graduate from his elite preparatory school. To pass, he must find the key and the one way to find it is to enter into a nightmare world, where his body and soul are put at the mercy of the worst kind of enemies -- other school students, who are battling to find the key.

From renowned author Mizushiro Setona, comes a riveting epic mystery that lies between the students, that will have you engrossed from one page to the next. Happiness, sadness, blood and tears will all be shown, but which one leads to an ending? Take the next step into the world of After School Nightmare!

My Thoughts

Review covers 39 chapters 

Hello everyone and welcome back to Katie’s Corner! Today I have a manga, which held my interest from the very first page and it had this astonishingly weird but at the same time fantastically amazing written all over it. I remember this manga was always on my goodreads recommendations; believe it or not I was always somehow repulsed to read it with whole undefined sex thing with Mashiro. But then one day, I do not know why I just wanted to read something weird so this story came to my mind. Let’s see, by the end of the first chapter I was sucked full time into it and didn’t get up from the couch until I finished it all. It was amazing. The way author portrays Mashiro is breathtaking.

The way Mashiro tries to be only male and justifies it, always made me wonder, and I believe the author raised this question specifically: what if it was you who was half make half female? What would you have chosen? There are many questions left unanswered, or it was just me who didn’t get the situations. I didn’t really get why Mashiro confessed to Shinbashi! It was kind of out of blue, okay not really out of blue, but it was still a shock to me. Another thing that confused me a lot was how the heck could Mashiro have sex with Kureha. Don’t get me wrong, but wasn’t his bottom part that of females? I mean after they break up and Mashiro really hooks up with Sou, he shouts that it hurts. I had my ideas that at that point with Kureha he became totally male, but as soon as he began wavering again he went to his original body. Though if you ask me it was pretty inevitable that he would choose Sou in the end and become a woman.

Now, let me just clarify some things before I move on to another topic, which I wanted to discuss. If you can’t tolerate Boy and Boy relationships (even if you know that one boy is not really a boy), please, do not start this story, as you will miss other interesting things that the author wanted to show. For me, and I’m quite tolerable to Bl in mangas and animes, it was not a dire situation, as I perceived Mashiro as two people. I though of him as male with Kureha and female with Sou. That made my life much easier. So, if you can do the same thought focusing solely on Sou’s and Mashiro’s kissing scenes, you are up for it! Start reading it; you’ll enjoy the story for other reasons too.

Another thing that I wanted to discuss is, I believe, the whole concept of this story. The intrigue of the whole nightmare world is still present even when I finished reading. I mean it’s not plainly said what it was all about. I believe every reader has his/her own opinions about it. Mine? It’s as complicated as the whole story. Though the ending does leave us hanging. It’s like finally everything worked out between Mashiro and Sou and bam! Mashiro is graduating. But that had to happen, right? The author leaves he ending open to our imagination. Will those two be together in the end? It does imply that they will meet, but will they have the similar feelings as in their “nightmares”?

I hope you’ll find some time to read this great story. If you love complex stories with a lot of mystery and psychological aspects, this story is for you! All the characters are more than complex; they astonish you even in the last chapters when you thought you’ve figured all of them. Hope you enjoy it to its fullest and don’t forget to share your thoughts below! Stay tuned to Katie’s Corner for more reviews as well as promos. Don’t miss your next favouirte book or manga! Happy reading!

XOXO

Katie

Rating