On a day of record-breaking snow, 8 friends arrive to school to find that all the clocks had stop … on the exact time that a classmate had taken their own life three months earlier. On a chalkboard is scrawled, “Do you remember?” However, none of them can distinctly recall that day, and they reach the startlingly conclusion that someone among them is the ghost who of the friend who had committed suicide.

Now they must confront their own memories and each other as they try and unravel the mystery before a terrible fate befalls them.

A School Frozen in Time by Mizuki Tsujimura (writer) and Naoshi Arakawa (illustrator) is an emotionally-driven psychological thriller with a dynamite premise. It’s from the same mangaka who wrote Your Lie in April, and a similar drama aspect does come to play here. The story tackles heavy themes such as loneliness, love, and feeling invisible to the world. While the artwork falls flat to me, the sheer earnest of the dialogue still hits hard and some scenes were utterly heart wrenching.

It's worth nothing that Volume 1 does focus more on establishing the characters’ personal relationships than advancing the plot, which makes the introduction definitely feel more like a slow burn. However, this series is filled with so much potential that curious to see how it pays off in the long run.

Lastly, when I heard about this manga, the premise reminded me a little of Kazuo Umezu’s horror classic: The Drifting Classroom, and low and behold, Volume 1 ends on a cliffhanger and a Drifting Classroom reference! I can't wait to see how these two series compare over time.

Knowing that the artist for this work also produced Your Lie in April, is always a good starting point. And after a little research, knowing the author is also an award winning mystery writer added to my anticipation and excitement for this work: A School Frozen in Time, volume 1. It certainly lived up to expectations!
The art style adds to the general atmosphere of the setting: an empty high school on a snowy day, as well as making all the characters easy to distinguish and relate to as to their roles within this mystery story. And it is important to understand that each character plays a role, just as they would in a popular mystery novel written by greats, such as Agatha Christie. And that is how this first volume feels, like the set up to a mystery and the introduction of the players on the stage. It is also very self-aware by referencing Japanese pop culture that readers will obviously be making themselves.
It is important to note that there is a content warning at the start as this story does involve suicide and it is good that Kodansha has included that to warn readers who might find that subject matter upsetting. It is important for the story, so it is important to be warned beforehand.
Overall, I already have my suspitions as to what is going on - maybe because I am an avid murder mystery fan! I can't wait to read more and find out I'm wrong and must come up with a new theory! I love intelligent mystery stories and this promises to be one!

Thank you to NetGalley, Kodansha Comics, and Mizuki Tsujimura for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

It can be hard to find a good spooky horror manga, but this one had me on the edge of my eat the whole time, and I am definitely eager for the next one, as there's a nice slice of mystery to this manga as well.

Eight classmates get stuck inside their school, frozen at 5:53p.m when a student jumped from the rooftop to kill themselves as that very time nearly two months ago during the school festival. The eight students cannot make outside contact via phone or internet, and the doors will not budge. There is no escape.

No one can remember who the person was that killed themselves, as if their memories were all wiped. When they begin to speculate that is must be someone among the eight of them, they seek clues to try an remember. When one of them does remember, he disappears, leaving only his phone and tons of blood behind.

This is a very interesting and engaging first volume with a concept that I feel like has been touched upon in other works, though this is my first time actually experiencing a horror mystery such as the situation in this manga, making it more unique, in my experience. What a great manga!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for giving me a free PDF version of this manga in exchange for an honest review!

Described as a psychological thriller, this manga follows a group of high school teens as they try to figure out a mystery with the answer trapped in forgotten memories.

TRIGGER WARNING: This manga does deal with suicide and self harm. (The summary does warn about this so good job to the publisher for making sure that’s added)

Now, when I saw the summary I was unsure on how this was going to play out. As the manga progressed, it became.a bit more clear. 8 students are trapped within their high school, time stopped. The only way to get out of the supposed suspended time is to remember their lost peer which seemingly all 8 students have forgotten.

Early on in the manga, you find out that in reality, one of those 8 students is the forgotten one and thus starts the mystery part. The triller/psychological part comes from what happens when 2 students remember what happened that fateful day.

I don’t want to go any farther in fear of spoiling too much but that is roughly what you figure out in the first 50-ish pages of the first volume. Personally for me, I don’t know if I’m going to continue the series. While the premise was interesting, the heavy bout of sexual jokes in the beginning nearly made me put it down. Also most of the characters, in my opinion, kind of blend together. There weren’t many unique qualities to them that kept them separate in my mind. They kind of got grouped together and when a character referenced another, it took me a while to figure out who they were talking about.

You also have random flashbacks that seemingly come out of nowhere that you have surmise are flashbacks. I was in a flashback scene for a few pages and didn’t realize it until I had to go back and reread sections to figure it out.

Overall, I’m on the fence about picking up the next volume of this as the premise is interesting but the characters are a big let down for me. Let me know what you think!

Until the next page turn!

This initially gave me really strong Breakfast Club Vibes (as someone who hasn't really seen the classic)

This quickly disappears, as you find yourself engulfed in the mystery presented. The atmospheric horror of this book had me glued to the page as I was reading. Enough so that I forgot this was only Volume 1 and that Volume 2 isn't out until June.
Which means that I'm completely head over heels in love with this series but I'm not stuck in purgatory waiting for it's complete release here in the west.

So for those who also enjoy reading a series as a whole, know that this is 1 of 4 Volumes.
The Final Volume will be out October 19, 2021 according to Penguin Random House.

What I think was absolutely fantastic about this book was, the content warning saying that this work does contain references to suicide. As well as resources for those who need them.
THIS is something I want to see more of in the future.

These thoughts will also be shared on my Youtube channel! Subscribe to my channel: Pam's Shenanigans!

"I don't have any strengths and I have no personality. That's why I'm attracted to the kind of bright light that I don't have."

Diving into this book, I didn't really internalize the blurb since I really wanted to be surprised. Just looking at the cover, I thought it was going to be more on the YA Contemporary or even romance side of things.

Boy was I wrong. This manga is such a SLOOOOOOW burn. It really took its time showing the relationship dynamics of a group of friends who are quite literally stuck in their school as time stood still on the moment when a former classmate jumped off the school's roof.

The writing and the art are simplistic but really have the potential to punch you in the gut. It was around the 2nd and 3rd chapters that the mysterious part of the story started to unravel. I found myself checking the pages again and again because I kept thinking "oh no there's only X pages left!! there are still a lot of questions!!" and alas, it slaps you with a cliffhanger!

I'm definitely looking forward to the sequels because I want to see other character arcs as well and how these can affect the story and the readers' perception of the story.

Trigger Warnings: suicide, suicide attempt

This was so, so good. Surprisingly so.?But again, I didn't go into this with the highest expectations. yet I'm very interested in the story. I'll definitely be picking up the next volumes.

If you liked One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, you'll love this first volume.

This was an okay read for me, and it went in a direction that I wasn't entirely expecting (though not too surprising). I enjoy psychological horrors, so the storyline and plot is intriguing for me; though it's nothing I haven't seen before. I'm curious to see how this series continues!

Actual rating 3.5

TW suicide

I'm a bit torn on this one. I absolutely love the horror/mystery aspects. It is so creepy and I really need to figure out exactly what is happening. However, I felt that the characters were both forgettable and over the top. I don't remember who is supposed to be who just in this first volume, so I'm hoping that continuing with the story will help. I did like that we got to focus on one character near the end of the volume and so I hope that will continue as well. I definitely need to pick up the second volume.

One other thing that is a pet peeve trope of mine is an age gap between an adult and a teenager. While we don't know the whole story yet, there is a teenage student who is way too into her teacher.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A story of a group of friends that stuck in school in the snow season. They realise it when everyone not in school unless they. The time stop and but they forgot something. Every one of them, do not remember the most important thing that happened between them.

I am bad at remembering each of the characters whenever it comes with too many in one story but I guess each of them will have an impact on each other. Nvm, I just can refer back if I forget. This book makes me curious and creates so many questions in my head. What do will happens to them next? Will they need to survive? Why them?

Argh! I want to read Vol. 2 to know what will happens next 😣 I hope that publisher will accept me as a reviewer for the next volume for this e-manga too✨

I start to love reading comic since busyness crawl in my life. It’s getting quite hard to find time to get a book and read. And I found that this comic helps me a lot.

Thank you, NetGalley and publishers for giving me a chance to read this e-manga in return with an honest review. This manga will be available on 6 April 2021.

Imagine a group of teens stuck in school—at a specific time—suddenly not remembering the former classmate who took their own life. Could the departed student be among them? And if so, what is their purpose, and why now after three months from that tragic day?

With a premise like that, a thrilling read seems to be assured, and I can say it really didn’t disappoint! A School Frozen in Time touches a very sensitive theme, and drags your mind into a very dark place with quite the mystery to solve . . . While the reader is immersed into the puzzling event taking place, the characters are frightened and forced to analyse themselves. Like all of us, they have fears, insecurities, and perhaps they even hide some secrets. Now though is the right time to come to terms with everything they have buried deep inside—and forgotten memories—if they want to come out of this (alive). Get ready for a day at school like you never had before . . .

Mysterious and twisted, this intriguing first instalment is a real page-turner that leaves you cursing when you reach the last panel. Indeed, you’ll want more. Like, right now!

” Someone once said that you die twice. Once, when your physical body decays. And once more when you vanish from people’s memories. ”

TW: Suicide, self-harming

I was so excited when I was this manga popup on my radar. I didn’t hear about it previously but seeing that the art was done by Naoshi Arakawa, author of You Lie in April, while the story was writing by Mizuki Tsujimura, whose award-winning book Lonely Castle in the Mirror is finally getting published in English this year, got me hooked.

On a snow day, Hiroshi and Mizuki discover that their school is empty. They are the only ones there along with 6 other classmates. Moreover, all the clocks have stopped. After going back and forth in the building in order to find other people, they realize that they are locked in and there is no way for them to leave the school grounds. For some reason, all of this seems connected to the suicide of one of their classmates during the school festival two months ago. But no one actually remembers their name or their face. Solving the mystery seems to be the only solution to their problems.

Since it’s a mystery, I don’t want to talk too much about the plot, but this first volume was a good introduction. We get a brief introduction to each character; therefore, it was difficult to get attached to any of them so far. But it seems that it’s going to be a plot-driven manga rather than a character-driven one. I find it interesting that, beneath the mystery aspect, the manga also dealt with heavy topics such as loneliness and I guess suicide is also going to be even more talk about in the next volumes.

Regarding the art style, I overall like it even though I found it weird sometimes, really sketchy and some characters were roughly done.

If you are looking for a plot-driven manga and that you like the mystery aspect of Erased, I would definitely recommend picking this one up.

Thanks Netgalley and Vertical Comics for supplying me volume 1 of the manga which was done by the same author who did “Your Lie In April” (personally prefer the live action adaptation tbh but that’s just me). Anyways basically it’s where a group of school kids get trapped in their school when a strange paranormal phenomenon happed after the tragic death of their classmate. I can’t help but be reminded of “Corpse Party” when I read the whole volume and even the art was rather off. Yeah sorry but this story ain’t for me chief....

I recognized the artist from the cover, and thought it would be cool to check this out, especially since it's tagged as horror. I feel like the art-style is a little generic or maybe just not very fitting to this story. I feel like it could be a little darker and spookier visually. Story-wise it was really interesting and I'm kinda sad that I can't just continue the story right now

This is an intense read, but I like the premise of the story. Can you imagine hurting so much that you’re willing to make it end, and then everyone forgets you once it’s over? What would you do to be remembered? The thoughts this manga brings to the surface are a little scary.

I think a few more details would have made this a bit better, but I’m hoping those will show up in later volumes. There’s certainly enough going on to keep me intrigued. I want to find out what’s going on! Each of the main group has their own backstory and I would love to figure them all out.

I do suggest people read this, but keep in mind the warnings: this isn’t for everyone.

I appreciate the concept. I like the characters.

It's the translation and the presentation that I feel need to be more polished and I do feel need to be redone.

The artstyle is good nevertheless.

The first four chapters in the first volume. Liked it. Hopefully the next volumes come up with a more polished and better translation.

The suspense is kept well. Expect some horrifying moments.

Trigger warnings for the mention and hints of suicidal events.

And yes, expect teen drama and school fun. It's heartwarming at times.

The best part is saying no to vandalism. Truly appreciated.

The manga does become better with the subsequent chapters as it happens with most manga series.

A huge thanks to the authors and the publisher.

ARC Copy...it was tricky to review at first because this series and "your lie in April" share the same artist + character style but still felt different once I got over that aspect. This still embodies a Japanese teen drama aspect like "Your Lie in April" however it felt more intense because deals with the very serious issue of teen suicides and the visual appearance of blood. In addition the setting within a literally frozen magical realism fantasy realm in sharp contrast to "April"'s purely realistic setting.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A School Frozen in Time, volume 1 by Mizuki Tsujimura is an amazing psychological mystery manga. The premise of the manga is that a group of students who go to school on a snowy day, but they realize that they are the only students there. Where are the other students? Where are the teachers? Then, one of them notices that the clock on the wall is stuck at a time. All of their watches and clocks are stuck at the same time. It's the time that one of the students in the school committed suicide few weeks earlier, and it's one of the students in the group. However, nobody remembers the name of the student. Later, in the story, it gets bloodier... and scarier.

Doesn't this sound like an amazing plot? When I first read the description, I knew that I definitely wanted to read this manga. I was not disappointed. The plot is extremely engaging, and I finished reading the manga within an hour. I had to find out why this paranormal situation was happening, and who the perpetrator is. Although a lot of exciting things happen in this volume, the perpetrator is not revealed yet. I can't wait until Volume 2 comes out so that I can continue in the story! Overall, A School Frozen in Time is an exciting psychological mystery, and I highly recommend it for all manga readers. If anything in the synopsis sounds interesting to you, then you should definitely check it out when it comes out. The book just came out this week!

On an ordinary day, when the snow threatens to cover the houses, several students go to school. As usual.
But there is absolutely no one in the school. Doors and windows do not open or break. Very soon our heroes discover that there is no way out. The clocks have stopped at a certain time, the phones are not working.
At that particular hour, some time ago, there was an accident at the school - someone jumped off the roof. But no one remembers who this man was or what his name was.
And now, on the board, a question arises. "Remember?"

This short retelling perfectly illustrates what this manga is. It is completely sustained in the style of mysteries (from the lower class, that is - school), it is even a little bloody at some point.
The story mainly focuses on looking at the relationships between the individual participants as they try to remember what led them to the situation in which they find themselves. I suspect that quite heavy school dramas will take place, given that we have the participation of an author who worked on "Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso".
It's only interesting to me as far as I want to know who the mysterious suicide from the roof is, but I'm not sure I have the patience for the dramas, as it looks like we will witness many triangles and various exaggerated regrets. I can't help but admit that as a school mystery, the desired tension has been achieved to some extent and the characters generally behave decently (although they are not always logical, but otherwise the mystery does not work).
Art is crooked in many places, which irritates me a little.
I guess fans of this mix of genres (mystery and drama) will like it.

The review is in Bulgarian in original, sorry for the translation errors. I am attaching a link.

It wasn’t hard to rate this one. I’m split right down the middle. I’m quite interested in what’s going on, but it is moving a little slow for my tastes. It makes me wonder if there will be a total of eight books in this series.

The art was pretty good. I just really loved the cover in all of its colorful glory!! There were also a few parts that I was wishing were in color also. It would make things really pop!!

So all in all, I liked it as a beginning. It will be interesting to read the next in the series and try to figure out what will happen to our group of students. I’m not in love with any character in particular though because we don’t know a whole lot. That’s fine, I’ll just keep thinking of them as a group.

This means, I may or may not recommend this one. Ha! Sorry, I’ve got to see where this is going to really be able to recommend this one. On to the next one I say!!!

Thanks to NetGalley, Kodansha, and Vertical Comics for allowing me to read this for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Will be posted on my blog and Amazon shortly.