After School Nightmare



After School Nightmare (Houkago Hokenshitsu, literally translated as After School Infirmary) is a Shoujo psychological-horror Manga written and drawn by Setona Mizushiro. It is about a biologically intersex teenager, Mashiro Ichijo, whose body is male from the waist up but female from the waist down. Mashiro was raised as a boy but is terribly afraid that his various weaknesses and failings mean that he is actually a girl.

The manga begins with young Mashiro getting his first menstrual period. He comes across a strange woman, the clinician at a school clinic that he never noticed before, who tells him he must attend a special class once a week if he wishes to 'graduate'. In this class he and other troubled teens enter a Dream World, where they take on the form of their "true selves" and must fight for the right to "graduate". Mashiro also finds himself in a Love Triangle with Kureha, a pretty girl who fears men and likes him because he is not quite male, and Sou, a handsome boy who believes that Mashiro is a girl.

Angst, drama and Freudian symbology ensue...

After School Nightmare provides examples of:

 * Abusive Parents: Kureha's father.
 * Bastard Boyfriend: Sou.
 * Bifauxnen: Mashiro... sort of.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * Except 's mother, so it couldn't have been him.
 * They could have
 * Black Knight: 's form in the dream world, who acts relentlessly against Mashiro.
 * Broken Bird: Kureha, who was.
 * Brother-Sister Incest: Between Sou and.
 * Except that
 * Damsel in Distress: Kureha, which especially shows in the dreamworld due to the form she takes. She heavily relies on Mashiro to protect her there.
 * Until she gets her Character Development.
 * Does Not Like Men: Kureha, but it's understable since she
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?:
 * Dream World
 * Dream Within a Dream: Chapter 36.
 * Elegant Gothic Lolita: Ai as a child, and in the dream world.
 * First Law of Gender Bending
 * Girlish Pigtails: Kureha, complete with hair ribbons, and Midori with her twin braids.
 * Hermaphrodite: Mashiro.
 * Ho Yay: Between Sou and Mashiro, although it's debatable since Mashiro doesn't belong to either gender. Some consider Kureha x Mashiro to be Les Yay.
 * Although they really shouldn't, because Mashiro identifies as male, and that's the important part.
 * Imaginary Friend:
 * Kendo Team Captain: Kurosaki
 * Magical Realism
 * The Matchmaker: Mashiro tries to help Shinbashi so he can befriend his crush Kureha, but it doesn't work. Later,
 * Meaningful Name: Setona Mizushiro often uses kanji for colours in many of the characters' family names as subtle hints to their personalities and identities.
 * Megane: Shinbashi.
 * Mind Screw: The ending.
 * Mr. Fanservice: Mashiro.
 * Nightmare Dreams: And how!
 * No Periods, Period: Averted on the very first page of the Manga, to Mashiro's horror. Mashiro plays it off as "an illness which makes me bleed once a month."
 * Rape As Drama
 * Running Gag: (May be unintentional) Try to count how many times Sou gets slapped by various people. Occasionally justified.
 * Stalker With a Crush: Sou
 * Stepford Smiler: Kurosaki.
 * The Stoic: Sou, except around Mashiro.
 * The Ending Changes Everything: Oh GOD
 * Victim Falls For Rapist:
 * yes!!