Pure Trance

Pure Trance (ピュア・トランス, Pyua Toransu) is a shōjo manga by Junko Mizuno. Her debut manga, it appeared as a serial in the booklets of Avex Trax's Pure Trance techno compilation CD series. It was later collected into a bound volume by East Press and published in 1998. Last Gasp published an English-language translation of Pure Trance in July 2005; the edition was produced by jaPRESS.

Plot
The plot of Pure Trance follows Kaori Suzuki, a kind and good-natured nurse at Overeaters Treatment Center 102, run by the drug-addicted and violently abusive director Keiko Yamazaki. Though normally docile in spite of the director's terrible treatment, Kaori lashes out after three expectant mothers die due to a lethal combination of medicines administered by the director. The director subsequently imprisons Kaori and subjects her to constant torture, and creates artificial nurses Umeko and Takeko to replace the human nurses working at the center. Meanwhile, the deceased women's fetuses are raised in an artificial womb and grow into healthy children— Yuriko, who is very strong and intelligent; shy and dainty Rika; and twins Miki and Yuki, who possess magical powers. The children are raised by robot nurse Kiyomi and Aiko, head of the children's ward, but are constantly tormented by the two artificial nurses. When Aiko stands up to them one day, the director brutally chokes her to death and decides to take the children for herself to use as experiments. With the help of Kiyomi, Kaori escapes to the surface with the children via a ventilation shaft, but not before Kiyomi sacrifices herself, leaving only her robotic head at the entrance. The head is later found by Professor Kajiwara, who restores an amnesiac Kiyomi into a new robotic body, naming her B-ko.

Characters
Kaori Suzuki: The lead protagonist. Raised by a wealthy and loving family, she is one of the lead nurses and surgeons of Center 102. She is a brave, kind-hearted and considerate nurse that goes the extra step for patients. This is demonstrated by her pilfering extra medicine for patients after hours and by her donning a black uniform for a few days when a patient has died. While she strives to deliver the best care, Kaori is often disadvantaged by the Director's cruelty, negligence, and malpractice. Like the rest of the nurses, she is regularly abused by her and is forced to watch patients suffer. These poor conditions cause Kaori to slowly lose her patience and sanity. She does her best to avoid conflict with the Director and puts up with her antics instead.

Keiko Yamazaki: The director of Center 102, often referred to as "Director". She is violent and inhumane, and regularly abuses the nurses. Her origins are unknown, so it is unclear why she behaves in a sadistic manner. She is a master surgeon, but often kills patients out of pure negligence. In such situations, she covers up any deaths by having the nurses burn and dispose of bodies. Keiko is a frequent consumer of the black market, often looking for real animal meat - particularly beef, which is absent from the underground world. She recruits her security guard Kimiko to search for any real meat in exchange for rewards. Keiko is addicted to "liquid apple", a treatment for addicted patients which, when injected into a healthy patient, induces a state of high. She often tortures the nurses in a BDSM-like manner, usually with a whip, gag, or chains. She is usually seen topless, in her lingerie, or in BDSM-inspired fashion. Occasionally, Keiko will drink and party with the nurses, except Kaori. No one is certain of her age because of how many cosmetic surgeries she has undergone.

Kimiko: The security guard of Center 102. Once a champion of the Ikebukuro School of Martial Arts, she is an experienced martial artist and fighter. During her years in school, she lived a life of blackmail and underground crime. After encountering the Director during her escapades, Kimiko was blackmailed into her position at the center. She is a self-proclaimed fan of the pop idol Seiko, having a wide variety of Seiko collectibles and paraphernalia. Similar to the Director's methods, she enforces rules through violence and intimidation. Out of the entire staff, she is most favored by the Director, making her unpopular among the nurses. Despite this, Kimiko is still subjected to the Director's abuse. She has several scars on her body, some of which are from fights, but most of which are self-inflicted as she thinks they look cool.

Nurse Kiyomi/B-Ko: A robotic nurse at Center 102 who also doubles as a close assistant of the Director. Like the rest of the nurses, Kiyomi is horrified by the Director's antics and thus complies with her to avoid any abuse. She is seen working the most with the Director, Kaori, and Aiko. Kiyomi later rescues Kaori from the Director's cage where she is imprisoned for assaulting the Director after the three mothers in her care die due to her negligence. When escaping the Director, Kiyomi sacrifices herself in order to allow Kaori and the children to reach the surface world, breaking apart in the process. Kiyomi's head is later found by Professor Kajiwara and is restored with little memory of what happened.

Nurse Aiko: Head of the Baby Care Department of Center 102. Soft, gentle, and attentive, she spends her time caring for infants and rearing children. Having lost her parents in junior high school, Aiko was forced to raise her sisters, which led her to working in various institutions. This was streamlined by her ability to "lactate at any time". She is seen breastfeeding infants while walking about in the center, but is scolded and punished for this when spotted by the Director. She is a lover of fancy goods.

Miki & Yuki: Twins born from one of the deceased mothers in Kaori's care. Both possess magical powers that manifest throughout the story, progressively becoming stronger and more potent. They are seen early on when Kaori and the Director get into a fight by manifesting as faeries to distract the Director, allowing Kaori to escape her wrath. They are later seen healing Kaori's wounds and soon grant the twins psychic powers.

Yuriko: One of the children born from the deceased mothers in Kaori's care. She is regarded as the strongest of the children. Her potential is hinted at when Kaori sees her before birth in an artificial womb and remarks her fetus as strong. On the surface world, she hunts with a makeshift bow that Kaori created for her. Yuriko refines this bow in order to hunt and gather more for her, Kaori, and the others.

Rika: One of the children born from the deceased mothers in Kaori's care. Despite speaking very little, she is very popular among the creatures on the surface world, allowing her to go on several dates with them in which one impregnates her. She later gives birth to Yuka, dying after labor. Before the girls feast together, she performs what is known as a "meat dance" where she holds meat while dancing. It is regarded as a pleasure for everyone to watch.

Yuka: One of the girls on the surface world and the child of Rika. She is seen growing at a rapid pace, frequently shedding her skin and emerging taller and more developed each time. She is later cared for the most by Yuriko and is seen training and exercising with her. She is seen in one of the Director's nightmares. Later, it is implied later that the Director frequently suffers nightmares featuring Yuka, causing her to wake out of fright and alarm the nurses.

Umeko: An artificial nurse created by the Director. Umeko was created by the Director when she planned to replace all human nurses with exceptionally-skilled artificial nurses. Her medical expertise is superior to the rest of the staffs' due to being man-made. She is often seen assisting in surgeries or bullying child patients with Takeko, another artificial nurse. This causes nurse Aiko to regularly apprehend the two. She is described as "a bit of a baby" in personality.

Takeko: An artificial nurse created by the Director. She is usually seen with Umeko either assisting in surgeries or terrorizing child patients, with the latter forcing nurse Aiko to regularly apprehend the two. Because of her man-made status, she possesses superior medical knowledge compared to the human nurses. She is described as calm in personality.

Hiromi Yokoyama: Center 102's oldest patient. Being the only daughter of a millionaire, she is charming, charismatic, and privileged. This has allowed her to be pampered by her peers all her life. Despite being inundated with attention, she was neglected by her parents. This led her to overeating and being hospitalized at Center 102 at a young age. She often spends time in isolation as her parents do not visit her. She appears calm, but does misbehave, causing trouble for the staff. She displays disturbingly adult-like behavior such as wearing elaborate lingerie and smoking. She likes wearing mixed perfumes which irritates some of the nurses. Most of the nurses dislike caring for her her while Kaori pities her.

Seiko: A popular and extravagant idol in Underground Tokyo with a vast following. After sometime, Seiko is reported as missing when she mysteriously disappears without a trace. This leaves her fans confused and distressed, including Kimiko.

Gina Kajiwara: Often addressed as Professor Kajiwara. She wishes to study the surface world to gather research. Because of this, she has repeatedly requested the Mayor of Tokyo's permission in person to open the dome above the city. Unbeknownst to her, the Mayor has been entertaining her requests only because he enjoys ogling her appearance. As a result, the Mayor does not grant or deny her requests. This frustrates her enough to exit onto the surface world regardless of his decision.

Megumi Momoyama: An underclassman of Gina Kajiwara's during their college years. She became acquainted with her when Kajiwara assisted her with a research topic. Megumi wishes to accompany Kajiwara on her study of the surface world. Her non-expressive face misleads people into thinking she is aloof, despite actually having a lot on her mind.

Nurse Masako: The newest nurse to Center 102. Being a top student her whole life, she is an extremely adept nurse and is also a skilled martial artist, having been taught hand-to-hand combat by her father. Because of her smarts, however, Masako was bullied most of her school life and was labeled as a nerd. This made it difficult for her to fit in. She and Kaori are the only nurses to have challenged the Director. Masako's uniform is slightly different from the other nurses' in that the pleats are designed differently. This was because the tailor for Center 102 had not made a uniform in ages and forgot the exact design, implying that very few nurses ever apply to Center 102.

Nurse Ruriko: One of the nurses at Center 102. While equally as frustrated with the Director, she does her best to avoid any confrontations. She often plays pachinko to relieve her stress. She particularly dislikes Hiromi Yokoyama, the center's oldest patient for her occasional antics.

Nurse Sachiko: One of the nurses at Center 102, and a former lingerie model. She does not believe a hospital as subpar as the center is suited for her. Despite this, she continues to work there. Her sentiments about Center 102 are never openly stated by her. She occasionally peeks at patients from the shadows, implying she is somewhat nosy.

Nurse Misako: One of the nurses at Center 102. Having graduated second in her class, she is fairly self-conscious and constantly feels entitled to a raise. Her frustrations are usually centered around this, therefore she is seen drinking or is already intoxicated after hours, or is seen ranting about her pay.