Manga Rec -After School Nightmare-
I'm not really positive how I came across this manga... but I am so happy I did. It is one of my absolute favorites, purely for the mind-fuckery of it. Now, please be aware that it does contain a lot of adult concepts and possible "trigger" scenes.
The story follows Mashiro, an intersex high school student, who has been living his life as a male up until the start of the manga. It opens with Mashiro's first menstrual cycle. After this, he comes into conflict over gender identity, realizing with the onset of his period, he can no longer delude himself into living as a normal male. If you haven't guessed, Mashiro, anatomically is female below... though he lacks breasts (which is how he's able to pass as a male).
He's approached by the school nurse about a special course he must take in order to graduate, led down into a basement where he unwittingly enters a dream. The dream, is in fact, the course--and the course is shared with other students. In the dream world, people take on the true appearance of their souls...all of their trauma's are on display and they must battle to find a key that will open a door in order to graduate. The key is found in the remains of one of the students. Because the forms that the characters take are different from their actual bodies, people who participate in the class are unable to recognize other students...and dreamers are placed in beds with heavy veils to protect their identities.
Now, each dreamer wears a necklace of prayer beads (three each). When all three beads break, they wake up from the dream and are required to come once a week until they are able to graduate.
Within the first few chapters alone, Mashiro is stabbed through with an umbrella. This is how he meets his first classmate, Kureha, along with discovering her trauma. As Mashiro goes into the dream world the second time, his secret is exposed because his dream self and his outer self do not differ in appearance (at times, he will appear with different gender markers, but that is all). Another character, Sou, who confesses his love to Mashiro in the first or second volume. Mashiro now has two people vying for his affections, for very different reasons.
The way in which the series handles issues of gender and sexuality and psychology are very true. Things are depicted in a realistic, if at times, unlikeable nature. The ending also adds an extra twist! I would definitely recommend reading it twice.
Here's a link for anyone who's interested! After School Nightmare.
The story follows Mashiro, an intersex high school student, who has been living his life as a male up until the start of the manga. It opens with Mashiro's first menstrual cycle. After this, he comes into conflict over gender identity, realizing with the onset of his period, he can no longer delude himself into living as a normal male. If you haven't guessed, Mashiro, anatomically is female below... though he lacks breasts (which is how he's able to pass as a male).
He's approached by the school nurse about a special course he must take in order to graduate, led down into a basement where he unwittingly enters a dream. The dream, is in fact, the course--and the course is shared with other students. In the dream world, people take on the true appearance of their souls...all of their trauma's are on display and they must battle to find a key that will open a door in order to graduate. The key is found in the remains of one of the students. Because the forms that the characters take are different from their actual bodies, people who participate in the class are unable to recognize other students...and dreamers are placed in beds with heavy veils to protect their identities.
Now, each dreamer wears a necklace of prayer beads (three each). When all three beads break, they wake up from the dream and are required to come once a week until they are able to graduate.
Within the first few chapters alone, Mashiro is stabbed through with an umbrella. This is how he meets his first classmate, Kureha, along with discovering her trauma. As Mashiro goes into the dream world the second time, his secret is exposed because his dream self and his outer self do not differ in appearance (at times, he will appear with different gender markers, but that is all). Another character, Sou, who confesses his love to Mashiro in the first or second volume. Mashiro now has two people vying for his affections, for very different reasons.
The way in which the series handles issues of gender and sexuality and psychology are very true. Things are depicted in a realistic, if at times, unlikeable nature. The ending also adds an extra twist! I would definitely recommend reading it twice.
Here's a link for anyone who's interested! After School Nightmare.