Review: After School Nightmare, Volume 2

After School Nightmare, Volume 2 by Setona Mizushiro

My rating: 3 of 5 stockings



Last instalment, Mashiro is now dating Kureha one of the people who share dreams together. Kureha was raped when she was a young child of only five or six, her mother was also abused by her father. Now the only man Kureha trusts is Mashiro because he's intersex. Mashiro is now focussed on proving he's a man and protect Kureha at all cost.

Mashiro's focused on finding out who's in the dream world and trying to help them graduate, or to gain some ground. Sou an old kendo classmate has confessed his love towards Mashiro, and previously kissed him. Meanwhile in the dream-world Mashiro realises strength here is based on sheerly imagination and the strength of one's soul. Midori finally found her key, unlocked the door and was forgotten. In reality Mashiro tries to ease Kureha into making friends with men, specifically just one. As expected the result wasn't good.

Time for my opinion, this volume tries too hard to cram too much in it's limited space it hold. Don't get me wrong I love it, it's just I've notice with the 2 first volumes could have been made into 4 or 5. That's also something that I like about it, it has less fluff than most stories. With the gender bender genre the main character can end up with Kureha, Sou, or no one. Romance, Mystery, fantasy, drama, I give kudos to this story. I'm giving it 3 stockings it's good but it could be better.

Review: After School Nightmare, Volume 1

After School Nightmare, Volume 1 by Setona Mizushiro

My rating: 4 of 5 stockings



Mashiro an intersex high schooler who posses as an being completely male. Because Mashiro started menstruating he quit the kendo club in fear that it was his female side that was weak. After noticing many of his fellow schoolmates have been disappearing, he was asked by the school nurse to go to the basement of the school (which was never there before). Before Mashiro knew what was happening, he was brought into an alternate dream world were schoolmates are twisted and deformed to the point of unrecognisably due to the state of their souls. Oddly enough Mashiro's appearance hasn't changed with the exception that he wears a female uniform. After a dark night soul ripped his clothes everyone in the dream world know's his secret but he doesn't know who the others are.

I'll end it here, usually manga's don't have much going on from manga to manga. Which doesn't give me much to write about. With the first volume of After School Nightmare I've left out so much. The overall originality of this story is amazing, it reminds me vaguely to Moon Key. The character's are anything but boring. I enjoyed reading this volume and only had to look back one for this review (for the high school name... didn't find). I'm giving this book 4 stockings because I'm expecting so much from this series.