Insomniacs After School (君は放課後インソムニア) is a slice of life romance that originated as a manga by Ojiro Makoto and was adapted into a live action drama and a 13 episode anime. You can read a review of the anime here. I was so moved by the anime that I quickly read as much of the manga as I could access. Sadly Viz has only released up to volume 2 so the rest of the read was reliant on scanlations. There are 125 issues compiled into 14 tankoubon. The final issue was published August 20th, 2023.
Beware, there is the potential to have some things spoiled in the following overview.
Magari Isaki is one of Ganta's classmates and is everything he is not. Se has a close friend group and is well liked by those around her. She is a member of the swim team, has over protective parents and an older sister who both loves and hates her. Isaki also suffers from insomnia due to a genetic defect with her heart that has caused her to have multiple surgeries and hospitalizations over the course of her life. She lives every day facing her mortality, fearing that one day she will never wake up. Her condition is serious and has lead to a difficult childhood filled with the fear of dying and everyone around her treating her like a glass doll. This has lead her to be both spoiled and ambitious in her actions, hating to be worried over and wanting to live life to the fullest, understanding it could end sooner than expected.
The school they attend has an observatory as part of the facility with a large telescope. At one time an astronomy club existed, but it was disbanded a few years prior to them entering high school. The telescope lies unused and abandoned, the observatory its self little more than storage space, a space students don't go and staff rarely enters. A rumor has been circulating the school about a tragic end to the astronomy club. One of it's members had fallen to her death and haunted the remaining members until they all met similar fates, leading to the idea that her ghost still beckons other students to join her in death. This has caused some of the first year students to avoid the observatory even more than they normally would. What no one knows, is the rumor was started by Isaki as a way to keep the place to her self. She realized early on that the unused space was a great location for her to sneak off to during the day and nap. Her own isolated home away from home, were the stresses of school and life can melt away, allowing her to get some much needed rest.
As the class prepared for the school festival, Ganta is selected to retrieve extra cardboard for the class project. This takes hm to the observatory for the first time and he too discovers it is an ideal location to escape and rest. But he soon learns that he is not the first one, happening upon the sleeping form of Isaki in the process. Isaki startles awake and tries to escape the room before he realizes who she is. The lock to the door is broken and Ganta unknowingly has trapped them inside While they await someone to open the door for them they confide in each other their struggles with sleeplessness. Isaki offers to let Ganta share the space with her to help him find the rest that he searches for. A bond is formed between them as they no longer have to suffer alone. However their time together in the secret space comes to a tragic end as the school nurse, Kurashiki Usako discovers they are stealing away in a space that is semi-off limits for students.
In an attempt to keep their access to the observatory they petition the school to allow them to restart the astronomy club. Surprisingly they are given permission and Kurashiki-sensei is made their advisor. She is aware of both students struggles and see's this as an opportunity to find some relief from there issues. Neither student knows the first thing about astronomy or what the club is supposed to be doing. The last member of the club graduated years earlier and was the sole member for much of their time. Kurashiki-sensei offers to have them meet the last member of the club, Shiromaru Yui, who had been able to win an award in astrophotography at that time. Shiromaru is also uncertain of what the club is supposed to be doing and points them towards continuing the work she had done. The future existence of the reformed club is not guaranteed though. Two members is not enough to automatically be approved for continuing let alone having access to club funding by the student council. They have until the Fall to show some sort of progress and plan for the future. Neither wants to lose this space they have made for themselves, especially as they grow closer with one another.
That synopsis covers the first tankoubon and gets into the second a few chapters. The anime covers the first six tankoubon. If you have watched the anime and want to jump right into the story without treading over the same ground you can easily pick up volume seven and not be lost. But, you would miss out on the fantastic artwork all over again! Which is one of the things that drew me into this story, the fantastic and realistic character designs. Aside from the eyes the characters are very believable as realistic depictions of Japanese teenagers. No unnatural hair color/shapes. Realistic body types and clothing. The characters are seen in a variety of clothing outside of their school uniforms. Their body proportions and movement is natural and their faces are expressive and realistic. At times, their reactions do move into the unnatural realm for effect and style..
Another very enjoyable aspect of the story is its lack of slice of life and romance tropes. The story stays very focused on the relationship between Ganta and Isaki, which largely takes place outside of the normal bounds of class and school activity. They connect the most with each other while in the sanctuary of the observatory or in the quiet hours of the night, when neither is able to relax enough to sleep. The closest we get to the standard episode plots is a portion where Isaki and her friends spend an afternoon at the beach. But it's a far cry from the typical beach episode which is little more than fan-service for fan-services' sake. This is a well staged segment where we see Isaki's surgery scars and begin to understand how she struggles with her appearance. Both characters interactions and dialogue is natural and realistic. Ganta is reserved and calculated while Isaki is honest and caring. She quickly latches onto the off-putting boy and opens up to him more than she has outside of her family. Their emotions smolder slowly but are not hampered by misunderstanding and forced delay. They don't struggle with misreading the others intentions and rapidly realize the feelings they have for each other, even if they are unsure if they should push forward.
Their lives are also grounded entirely in reality. They aren't living in apartments by themselves, devoid of parental attention of care. Ganta though is close given how detached he is with his father, partially due to their opposing schedules and his fathers benign nature. Isaki's family is incredibly involved in her life, particularly her mother who is very protective. Given the struggle she has had her entire life it is understandable. But even with their guardians being as active in their lives as they are, the pair end up in a pivotal situation where they are all alone for a few days, a period in which their feelings come to fruition. At this point the anime ends, as so many stories about adolescent love, with the start of their relationship as a couple. Yet the manga keeps going and takes the story far beyond the start of their relationship.
Just as they enter a new phase in their relationship, Isaki's family puts roadblocks up as punishment for their innocent eloping, which is entirely reasonable when two 15 year olds end up being unsupervised for a few days in the middle of the country, left to their own devices. Isaki's mother clamps down on her freedom, restricting the use of her cell phone and keeping her grounded until school begins. A difficult start to any relationship! Ganta focuses on continuing the astronomy club, even if Isaki may not be able to be there as much any longer, motivated to preserve their space and time together as long as he can. But there is more then her strict parents threatening to interrupt their relationship as the condition of her heart begins to worry her doctors she finds she is not able to live the carefree life she wants.
Once the story moves beyond what was covered in the anime the tone shifts from a sweet slice of life, with a slight tone of darkness into a realm of uncertainty and apprehension. As you move closer to the end of the story every chapter brings with it the fear of tragedy. Soon their insomnia and the astronomy club are pushed to the side and the drama of a future not guaranteed becomes the focal point. Isaki wants to live her life as if she was not seriously ill. Ganta struggles with what he can do to help her, even shaping his career plans around a life with her, trying to wrap his mind around the severity of her condition. Even if she survives well into adulthood their time together will be shorter than they want.
It has been a long time since and anime or manga has impacted me as deeply as this beautiful story has. I can't recommend it enough for anyone who appreciates a finely crafted tale. It is hard to find a flaw in the story, even if it ended long before I was ready to say good bye to the characters and their world. For the majority of the manga the story is laser focused on Isaki and Ganta, with very little in the way of distraction from side stories. We get to see a little bit about Isaki's friends and their lives in later chapters, but very little. Its hard to say if we would have been better with more time devoted to side characters, but in the end we have what we have. There is a level of appreciation in the dedication of the story to plow ahead almost completely focused on the main plot, something that does not happen often as many stories want to stretch their world beyond reason.
I can't stress enough how heavy this story becomes in the second half, the specter of doom being more noticeable. It is not unreasonable to compare this with Your Lie In April. It is a much more focused story than that classic of heart wrenching romance drama. If you only watch the anime you can leave it with a good feeling, the future looks bright! That is unless they animate the second half of the story...the hammer of sadness. I am not going to say how it ends, that is up to the reader to experience on their own, to wrap themselves in the story and get close to these characters and their struggles. I fear this series will not get the audience it deserves, but I am grateful I have fallen into it. One of the best manga I have ever read...I will add it to my short list of stories that need to be revisited from time to time.
The manga is currently being released in North America by Viz and at the time of this post they are only on volume 2.
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