Created by Makoto Ojiro, Insomniacs After School is a slice-of-life romance manga that was adapted into an anime series this spring. The story follows a friendship between two high school students, Ganta Nakami and Isaki Magari, who have trouble sleeping. The two take it upon themselves to restart their school’s astronomy club so that they can use the observatory room as their nap spot.
This series garnered hype for its subtle approach to high school romance. The series had a similar mood and tone to Tsukigakirei, a story about first love in junior high. Unfortunately, Insomniacs After School failed to garner a fan base due to static characters and lackluster plot development.
Insomniacs After School Protagonists Don’t Have Much Depth
Ganta Nakami and Isaki Magari’s insomnia isn’t explored in depth, even though it is ostensibly a pivotal part of their character development. In Episode 7, “The Fireworks Star,” Isaki shares that the trauma of having surgery for an irregular heartbeat caused her insomnia to Ganta. Isaki fears that her heart might stop beating while sleeping, and she won’t wake up the next day.
The scene is intimate, but the dramatic moment falls flat for viewers. Rather than telling the viewers what is going on with Isaki through expository dialogue, it would have been better if more context was given to audiences about Isaki’s past. The backstory would have made Isaki a more appealing character, and this dramatic moment would have had more of an emotional impact.
Insomnia Isn’t an Interesting Concept When Grounded in Realism
Insomniacs After School attempted to make sleepless nights a concept worth exploring, but it failed to execute it as interesting. The first episode introduced two carefree high school students exploring the town at night — reminiscent of the first episode of Call of the Night, where Ko Yamori hangs out with a vampire named Nazuna Nanakusa. Call of the Night made nightlife exciting for a young high school student because of the creative freedom of mixing Tokyo nightlife with supernatural elements.
However, in Episode 1 of Insomniacs After School entitled, “Capella -The Charioteer-,” Ganta and Isaki’s exploration of their small town at night is dull. They cannot do much besides hanging out at the beach and hiding from the neighborhood night watch. The first episode of Insomniacs After School is very much grounded in the reality that there isn’t much creativity for youngsters to do anything fun, making staying up all night boring, even though stories about nightlife are usually entertaining and exciting.
Furthermore, the direction of the story changes from its premise of focusing on sleepless young adults to re-establishing the astronomy club. Ganta and Isaki wanted to use the observatory deck as a place for nap time, but to use the facility, they had to become the newly established astronomy club. Each episode focused on their club duties rather than resolving their insomnia, which was the original premise of the story.
It makes sense that the storyline would focus on the club rather than sleeping. There isn’t much content you can use to develop a story about sleeping if you take the realistic approach. The insomnia concept becomes insignificant because insomnia is used as a forced plug-in to make the story interesting. As a result, you have another unoriginal romance story about two high school students who bonded over a hobby.
Insomniacs After School is a snooze fest of a romance series. If you want a dramatic and entertaining high school romance, this isn’t the series for you. Yet, if you appreciate astronomy, you should watch Insomniacs After School because it goes in-depth about star-gazing as a hobby.