After the Bell Rings

About

This title follows Mana, a high school English teacher, as her quiet life gets upended by Sayaka, a punk rock student who wants to shake things up for her. You will navigate their developing relationship while managing a classroom full of students dealing with heavy personal issues. The story touches on real struggles like depression and rule breaking within the school setting. It presents a serious narrative about clashing views on gender and sexuality without sugar coating the difficulties involved. The project started as a demo for Yuri Jame 2015 before hitting an indefinite development hold that left it unfinished. Players who found this prototype will know exactly what to expect regarding the writing style and character dynamics. Studio Turtledove focused on creating a grounded story rather than relying on typical genre tropes. You can play this single player visual novel on PC, Mac, or Linux systems if you manage to find a working build online.

Storyline

After The Bell Rings is the story of Mana and Sayaka, two young adults whose roads suddenly crossed one night. Mana is an English teacher in High School and Sayaka is a punk-rock free spirit who wants nothing but make Mana's life more enjoyable. Meanwhile, Mana needs to deal with the fact that her students are experiencing troubles of their own. From the deeply depressed Saki who struggles to open up about herself to the constantly-in-trouble Yuri who can't keep herself from breaking school rules. Dealing with the topic of clashing perceptions of marginalized gender and sexuality groups along with the trouble romances can bring, After The Bell Rings is a fairly serious visual novel inspired by the struggles people face every day.