I was put on this planet so that I could meet her.
Insomniacs After School (Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia) is a seinen romance Slice of Life manga by Makoto Ojiro. It began publication in 2019 in Big Comic Spirits, where it is still ongoing.
One day, grumpy insomniac Ganta Nakami stumbles across the enthusiastic Isaki Magari, who also has problems sleeping, while she's taking a nap in his school's abandoned observatory. The two of them start spending their sleepness nights together, finding comfort in the observatory, and ultimately in each other.
The manga has an Animated Adaptation that aired in the Spring 2023 season, by Liden Films. It will star Gen Satō as Nakami and Konomi Tamura as Magari. It is available for streaming on HiDive in the US.
A live action version premiered in Japan on June 23, 2023
This manga provides examples of:
- Brilliant, but Lazy: How most people see Nakami. He's an honor student who scores high marks on tests and does any class tasks with relative ease yet is known for constantly falling asleep in class, much to the chagrin of Magari's friend Motoko, who seeks to outdo him academically. In reality, it's because his insomnia prevents him from actually sleeping at night and he ends up spending the time studying in an effort to tire himself out.
- Delicate and Sickly: Magari is a downplayed version. She was born with only one heart valve, but after several surgeries she can live a mostly normal life, though she is smaller and weaker than others her age. Occasionally she has to spend time in the hospital, and she has no idea whether or not she'll be able to live a full lifespan. Living with the knowledge that her condition could get worse at any moment, and that if she falls asleep she might never wake up, is the source of her insomnia.
- Exhausted Eye Bags: Nakami has these at first, before his time with Magari starts helping him fall asleep.
- Evil Is Petty: Less evil, more Jerkass. During a class camping trip, a teacher who Nakami angrily called an asshole for making some Innocently Insensitive comments about his inability to sleep later singles him out while making the boys do laps around the beach, and announces that the boys will be doing an extra lap, seemingly just to further torment him.
- Innocently Insensitive: After a teacher overhears Nakami and Rui's conversation about the latter seeing him out at night, he lectures them and carelessly claims that sleeplessness has simple solutions like simply leading a physically active lifestyle or just lying down and relaxing, and goes on further claim that anyone without a healthy sleep schedule are messed up somehow. Nakami is quick to lose his cool at this, because of both his and Magari's experiences, and call him an asshole to his face, leaving the teacher and Rui in a Stunned Silence.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Isaki's older sister Haya comes off as a Big Sister Bully who constantly Trolls her younger sister, lazes around while having Isaki do stuff for her, and steals her clothes. However, she later reveals to Nakami that this is because she realises how much Isaki hates being pitied for her heart condition, recalling an instance where she cried after she needed help from her competition to win a race during a sports day, and so resolved to be the one person to not give her special treatment. She also proves to still have a Big Sister Instinct, telling Nakami that she won't accept his feelings for Isaki if it comes from a place of pity.
- The Insomniac: A couple of them! Nakami and Magari each have their own reasons for their insomnia, but they learn that insomnia isn't quite as bad if you have someone to share it with.
- Love Confession: After a few close calls and a Big Damn Kiss, Nakami finally tells Magari he loves her in chapter 54, beneath a dazzling night sky at the Mawaki ruins. She replies,
"Take a picture. I want there to be a picture of my face... during the happiest moment of my life."- During the Osaka trip, Haida realizes that he's in love with Anamizu and, due to circumstances, makes a very public confession. She shoots him down as she's still in love with her senpai but he promises to wait for her.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Rui Haida, one of Nakami and Magari's classmates, happens to witness one of the former's late night and confronts him in the bathroom over it the next day, even taunting him over his "delinquent" behaviour. After Nakami questions if he's trying to Blackmail him or get him in trouble, Rui balks at the idea since he realises that he'd end up outing himself at staying up late himself. Unfortunately, he wasn't careful enough to consider having this confrontation at a more private place, and both he and Nakami are overheard by a teacher.
- Sleep Cute: Happens quite a few times. It's accidental at first, but Magari admits she has trouble sleeping without Nakami around.
- Spoiled Brat: Kanikawa due to having spent all of her life being doted on by the customers of her parents' restaurant.
- Time Skip: A one year time skip occurs in chapter 102 going from summer of second year to late autumn of third year.
