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Pure Trance
230px Cover of manga
ピュア・トランス (Pyua Toransu)
Manga
Written by	Junko Mizuno
Published by	East Press
English publisher	Last Gasp
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Booklets with CDs released by Avex Trax
Original run	1996 – 1998
Volumes	1
Anime and Manga Portal

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 [link]

• 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. She has Kaori imprisoned for hitting her, and later tries to kill the children, forcing Kaori to escape and save them. Keiko has Kimiko bring her back so she can kill her, and does so by force-feeding her poisoned Pure Trance. Later she's arrested for murder and imprisoned. Yuriko and Yuka happen to see her cell window and, recognizing her, Yuriko commands Yuka to shoot her with an arrow to kill her.

• 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. When three future mothers die because of a lethal combination of medicines, Kaori hits the director as they could have been saved if she hadn't been hallucinating on Liquid Apple. Kaori is later imprisoned and tortured for this, but ends up escaping to rescue the children when the director threatens to kill them. She takes the children to the surface world, as they're no longer safe underground. However, after several years, she's captured and killed by Keiko with poisoned Pure Trance pills.

• 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. After Kaori runs away, Keiko sends her, Takeko and Umeko to the surface world to find her and the children. Afraid of the surface world, she does as told so she can return home. Shortly afterwards, she's sent to find the children but the mission is ended prematurely with the director's arrest. She loses her job and home, as her stuff was thrown out when they remodeled the Center into a pachinko parlor. However, she runs into an old friend who gets her a job at as a wrestler at the bar she works at.

• Aiko: A newer nurse, she loves children and likes to brag about being able to lactate at any time she wants. She's very cheerful and optimistic and enjoys arts and crafts. She's recruited to watch the kids after Kaori is imprisoned. When Takeko and Umeko torture the kids, she gets mad and hits them. This prompts the director to kill her.

• Rika: One of the children, her mother died when she was injected with a medicine that became lethal when combined with another medicine. She and the others were raised in Center 102 by Aiko until Keiko killed Aiko. She was rescued by Kaori and taken to the surface world, where she grew into a beautiful young woman. She went on dates with the surface world's equivalent of humans, which were mostly just brains with a spine and eyes. After Kaori died, Rika was found to be pregnant from one of her boyfriends. Her body was too weak, though, and she died from childbirth. Her body then sheds a brain-like creature, which holds the baby Yuka before going off with the others.

• Yuriko: One of the children, her mother died from a lethal combination of medicines. She was rescued by Kaori after the director killed Aiko and planned to kill them. Yuriko was the smartest of the four children, and was in charge of hunting for them with her bow. She was shocked by Kaori's death and sees Keiko on a TV screen, vaguely recognizing her. After Rika became pregnant, the twins reveal that they don't have much time to live and Rika will die from childbirth. They suggest combining with Yuriko and she accepts reluctantly. Afterwards she goes to tell Rika only to find Rika had given birth to Yuka and died. Yuriko raises Yuka after this, and eventually they're taken to the underground world by a research team. One day while hunting with Yuka in town, Yuriko sees Keiko through the window of her cell, and has Yuka shoot her, allowing them to avenge Kaori's death.

• Yuki and Miki: Dark-haired twins, they have special powers such as summoning fairies to heal others. They were raised in the Center after their mother died, but then the Director killed Aiko and then had the idea to make them into earrings. This prompted them to use their powers to fend her off until Kaori could come to rescue them and take them to the surface world. After several years, Kaori was captured by Keiko, though, and using their psychic powers they're able to see Kaori's location. However, they sense her being poisoned and feel its effects, and the shock turns their hair white and they pass out. Their powers transfer to a TV to display Kaori, allowing Yuriko to see Kaori die. Sometime after discovering that Rika is pregnant, they tell Yuriko that they saw the future and don't have much time to live, nor does Rika. They suggest using their powers to combine themselves with Yuriko so they can save the baby, which Yuriko accepts.

• Yuka: Born in the final chapter, Yuka is the child of Rika and one of the brain-like residents of the surface world. She is silent and hunts efficiently under Yuriko's guidance. She sheds her skin when she grows, allowing her to instantaneously age from a toddler to a teenager. She and Yuriko are eventually found by an expedition team researching the surface world and taken underground. She is incredibly efficient in the use of a bow and arrow, and while hunting for cows with Yuriko, they stumble upon Keiko's jail cell. Yuriko tells Yuka to shoot her, and Yuka does as told.

• Other characters include: Professor Kajiwara; Kiyomi the nursing robot; the child-loving nurse Aiko; nurses Ruriko, Misako, Sachiko and Masako; and artificial nurses Umeko and Takeko.

Plot [link]

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 [link]

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.