Pure Trance

Pure Trance (ピュア・トランス, Pyua Toransu^?) is a manga by the Japanese artist Junko Mizuno published in 1998. Her first full-length manga story, it was created for the Pure Trance techno compilation CD series. The comic is defined as shōjo (for girls), but goes far beyond the conventions of the genre.

Last Gasp published an English translation of Pure Trance in July 2005; the edition was produced by jaPRESS.

Main characters

• Keiko Yamazaki: the Director of the Over Eaters Treatment Center 102. Since her origins and training are a mystery, it is unclear why her words and actions are so violent and irrational. She is addicted to "liquid apple," a substance that is meant for use in the hospital, but when injected into a healthy body causes hallucinations.

• Kaori Suzuki: a nurse at Center 102; one of the few sane people there. Educated properly in a privileged household, Kaori is a reliable nurse with a strong sense of responsibility. She was shocked when she first met the director, because she had never seen such a nasty person before. Kaori's brave nature keeps her determined, even against the director.

• Kimiko: the security guard of Center 102. The real world was too harsh for this girl, who once was the mightiest queen of the Ikebukuro school of martial arts. The invincible self confidence she once had has waned. Kimiko was making her living through occasional extortion or blackmail until she encountered the director, who turned the tables on her. This led to her employment as a security guard at Center 102. She is a fan of the pop idol 'Seiko', and her room is filled with Seiko CDs, posters and many other useless Seiko-themed objects. The nurses hate her, as she is favored by the director.

• Other characters include: the beautiful Rika; the tough but kind Yukiro; twin sisters Yuki and Miki; the silent Yuka; Professor Kajiwara; Kiyomi the nursing robot; the child-loving nurse Aiko; nurses Ruriko, Misako, Sachiko and Masako; as well as artificial nurses Umeko and Takeko.

Plot

Pure Trance takes place in the future, after a World War 3. Humans moved underground because of the toxic surface and live underneath a dome in Tokyo, Japan. A life-sustaining capsule called Pure Trance takes the place of food, and hyperorexia, or overeating, becomes a serious issue. The story focuses on a hospital usually referred to as the Center created to treat overeaters of the Pure Trance pill. The main character, Kaori, along with her fellow nurses, work hard to treat patients and avoid the drug-addicted, abusive director Kieko, while the curiosity about the surface world increases as some people are deciding to escape and explore the surface on their own.

Content

Pure Trance is meant for adults only due to a large amount of nudity, swearing, and perversion. The manga contains some hints at BSDM (due the Director's way of punishing the nurses who work for her) and some drug references, although the drugs named in the book are fictional. The artwork is typical of Mizuno's style—blending blood, violence and sexual perversion with childlike cuteness. The book can be found in some libraries and on many Internet websites.