It was an interesting story, but the characters were not very well written. As some other reviewers mentioned, there were problems with the whole gender identity vs sexuality thing.
Despite the minor flaws, I would still recommend this manga. Each of the characters had their own interesting storylines showing their insecurities and personal issues, and I found the relationships between the three main characters to be quite cute. The art is pretty nice as well.

I didn't get this manga at all at first. I mean, the first chapters were vague to me, or maybe I just wasn't satisfied. I hated Mashiro's personality: the way he handles things and the way he responds to certain situations and circumstances. I hated how people seem to be irrational, how they tend to always overreact, how they seem to always think that they're more unfortunate that everybody else. But then, the complexity of everything dawned on me during the last volume.

I seriously thought of abandoning the manga once I came to read volume 6; everything was becoming to much for me to handle. I find myself screaming at the screen saying, "How stupid!" or "Are you an idiot or what" or "Not again!" Every little thing was starting to get on my nerves: Mashiro who seems to cry over everything that happens, Kureha who thinks that she should always be understood, Sou who just does as he pleases, Ai who just gets under my skin... But I willed myself to read the rest.

At volume 8 or so, everything became clearer. Everybody's problems surfaced, everybody's emotions and true feelings were shown. I started to think that everything at the beginning was all for this. The annoyance I felt at everything at the beginning began to fade. There was less screaming and more, "Ahh, so that's why!" or "So that's how it is!" Right now I'm thinking, why did I take so long to find this manga? Why didn't anyone tell me about it?

The manga gives you a good understanding of people. It says that we may not always act rationally, we may not always do the right thing, but we'll always have the chance to set things right. We should always be ourselves, not hiding behind some kind of facade, not hiding behind a memory, not hiding behind other people. We should always face our problems head-on instead of running away from them. We should overcome them and use the lessons we learned from them to move forward.

I learned a lot from this manga. My outlook in life will never be the same as before. Kudos to Mizushiro Setona for making such an awesome manga!

My mind is pretty much blown. I can't find the right words to describe how this manga made me feel. But, what I will say is that it was one of the most impressive, complex and crazy stories I have ever read. It hooked me completely - I stayed up till 4 am to read this sucker. And I don't regret it at all because I know I'll remember it for a while. It's just one of those stories that leave an impression on you. It could be good or bad, but for those who like darker and deeper themed stories, packed with conflicted feelings and trippy psychological issues (that become reflected visually and directly) then you'll probably enjoy it like I did. It was definitely unique in terms of plot and characters that go with it. What I admired and enjoyed most about the story when I look back is the progression and development of the main character. In the beginning he/she is conflicted with her identity but by the end she knows who she wants to be and the story becomes easier to read (it feels a little happier), though you may take the ending as bittersweet. And it's an added plus for me that it focused on overcoming mental weaknesses and searching for who you're most comfortable being.

However, like previously mentioned, be forewarned. It's loaded with crazy psychological and personal problems that are vaguely foreshadowed (so it catches you off guard). Look out for WTF realizations. But despite that, I think that was what gave this amazing story character and its bizarre qualities.

Give it a shot if you're fine with all that in mind. But dont let it intimidate you if you're looking for something different.

... Last updated on July 8th, 2012, 9:40pm

I have got to say between this manga and Arisa are the best shoujo manga I have ever read!. First of all, all the characters had real personalities none of them had cardboard cut out feelings. The story played out so smooth and as you read more the missing puzzle pieces came into play. Also, every character had some significance, most shoujo manga I had read, had some characters that frequently came and go. I love how realistic this manga was, and how they capture that fact that some people might look perfect on the outside but the inside is "ugly".



I really love this manga, I give it a 10 out of 10

... Last updated on February 28th, 2012, 11:39am

This manga will not be for everybody. I am amazed that I am still reading it considering I am not a Yaoi/Yuri fan. While this manga is markedly listed as simply shoujo, there are elements that propel it into any number of genre. For starters, the lead character is intersexual. I think that's what you call it when your body is a contridiction to what you feel is inside. Not only is his soul not the same but his body is an entire mismatch. He has a male top half, flat chest, semi-muscular. However on the opposite end of the spectrum, he has a very definite female lower half. On top of that, he has a girlfriend. So does that mean he's a lesbian? No not quite. He also has a guy who insist on having him. So does that mean this is Yaoi and he is gay? Um no, not quite. You see the guy is persuing his female half as well is his girlfriend. So I guess this would be more shoujo-ai then yaoi in some instances. Lol. Looking like this yet @_@ Well, I sure as hell am, but you know for all the underlying themes of Yuri and Yaoi, which I don't normally like in manga, I can't put this one down.


However, not everyone will be able to sit comfortably through this story line. Non the less, if you want something that is very weird and very out there, but still offers the reader an element of romance, this is it. I mean aside form really wanting to know just what sex is he/she is, I am salso dying to know who he/she will choose in the end. Although I think I have a clue as to where his/her choice will be . T_T Yeah, I'm rooting for the losing team.
Anyways, the art is not the bes,t but it serves it purpose in confusing the hell out of us as far as the leads gender . Out of 10, I am giving this manga a 9. I mean come on, if it can keep and easily squicked girl like me reading then it has to be good

... Last updated on September 12th, 2007, 12:24pm

I was pretty skeptical about this manga and put it on hold for quite a while but actually.. it's weirdly captivating. I actually finished all 10 volumes but it wasn't my favorite or anything. The plot was very interesting and unique but i couldn't really appreciate any of it because of the main character's indecisiveness and fear. Things started to jumble up to me and it became choppy i lost track of what was happening. It was an interesting manga because of how different the plot is but It's not something i would read again.

Warning This manga has extreme personal issues raging from rape, transgendered a few other things.

Just a small warning this does have some transgendered situations, if you can't stand the thought of that just avoid this manga but your missing out on a great story. This is my second transgendered manga I've ever read and both had a character who is struggling with him/her self. When I began reading this manga I thought it would be yaoi but it turned out to be a shojo manga. This manga had so many twists and turns I just couldn't stop reading, it took me only 2 days to read 10 volumes of this manga.

Each character in this manga had it's own problems they are dealing with. One character she grew up in a house that her father always yelled at her mother, she was also raped when she was a little girl, so she grew up hating men. Another character Mashiro Ichijo is transgendered not knowing whether she should be a girl or boy. Another character see's something that isn't suppose to be there. They are all connected in this game to find their true selves. The three main characters you will learn to both love and hate at the same time, only when you read this manga series will you know why.

There is confusing romance in this book, first Mashiro Ichijo falls in love with a girl and thinks he could love her even if he's half female, then he falls in love with a boy who forces a kiss on him tell him he's a girl. It's confusing but also very nice love story with a bunch of twist and turns in the romance aspect.

The plot is the most epic thing I've ever read, if you don't mind the harsh background stories of the characters it is really good. You see how the characters come together and try to help each other out over their personal problems. I didn't like how the manga ended though, it kind of ended in a stupid way without any explanation as to what happen to any of the other characters. I wish it would have been more but the author probably just wanted to end the series as soon as she could.

Overall
This manga is a really good read, I highly recommend everyone to read this manga. Even with the harsh character backgrounds you will still love it, since it has a bunch of twist and turns during the whole thing

with sooo many plot twists and turns and drama, this manga was a doozy. it was interesting, though, and i came to care about the characters and their plight. i loved the genius boy especially. the symbolism involved was really enjoyable too. mizushiro setona has a real knack for including lots of subtle symbols in her work, and it was pulled off well here as well.

the ending.....OHH THE ENDING. well, i can't say that it was pulled out of nowhere since there were clear subtle hints throughout the manga, but i do wish there was more explanation and exposition in the ending, instead of just thrusting the readers a "THIS IS THE REAL WORLD. THE END". though well planned and well thought out, it kinda just comes across as a cheap deus ex machina ;( im sure there's a buttload of room for interpretation for the entire manga after the ending, but i feel like the plot is much too complicated for the simple solution of "interpret how you wish". normally i'm a fan of open endings, but this ending, although brilliant, was a little too sloppy in execution.

ah! but it was a good story, though. don't get me wrong.

The plot starts off pretty good. Then I started to get annoyed with the characters, but I stuck with it because the plot was so interesting. Then it dragged a little, but I was getting near the end, so I figured I might as well finish the thing. And then came the twist ending that no one was expecting (or at least I didn't expect it).
After School Nightmare or Houkago Hokenshitsu is surreal and screws with your mind. But it's also one of the most interesting and original manga I've read in a long time. It's definitely not one of my usual reads (ie: shoujo fluff), but I wasn't disappointed with it (although it could have used some fluffiness to help cut through the super heavy-handed drama). The ending is particularly good since it's satisfying and unexpected.
Go for it if you're ready for some major psychological drama.

I really, really liked this manga. Probably the reason is because usually shoujo manga tends to be light and not to have deep meanings, but this manga is a bit different. It does have several cliches of the shoujo manga world, like a love triangle, or teenage angst or difficult parents but it has so many original things that you kind of overlook all that.

I enjoyed the twists and turns the story took, most of the times you don't realize things until the author wants you to realize about them, and that's something quite difficult to achieve. When I realized about things (like who was who in the dream), I felt like re-reading it all over again, because things had changed completely. Until the very end of the story I couldn't have even guessed what "winning" the game in the dream meant.

If you don't like yuri or yaoi it might get weird at times because it's a huge mixture of things and as s/he doesn't know what s/he is, it's difficult for the reader too to decide what kind of relationships s/he has with those around.

I would absolutely recommend this manga, I really enjoyed reading it and would probably re-read it in the future.