Night Shift Nurses

Did You Know?

• The original visual novel Yakin Byōtō was released in Japan on December 22, 1999, before the OVA adaptation.
• Several minutes of particularly unruly scenes were banned from North American releases.
• Industry aggregator Mania.com gave the series an F, citing that the quantity of edits for the American release made it unrecommendable.

Synopsis

The story is set in an undisclosed area of Japan, primarily at the fictional St. Juliana Hospital, with minor visits to characters' residences and surrounding towns. In Yakin Byōto 1, Ryuji Hirasaka, an unemployed middle-aged gynecologist, receives an email offering a temporary job at St. Juliana. After meeting nurse Ren Nanase, he discovers his potential employer is Narumi Jinguji, a woman he had brutally raped in the past. Despite the tension, Narumi proposes he oversee a department catering to patients' sexual interests, and Ryuji agrees. In Yakin Byōto 2, elite doctor Souichiro Kuwabara searches for Ren Nanase, whom he loved during training. He finds her at Sei-Katorea General Hospital, but her distant attitude and photographs depicting her molestation drive him insane. In Yakin Byōto 3, young novelist Yotsuya Jiro, injured in a bike accident, is helped by nurse Yuu Yagami. At the hospital, director Reika Mikage asks him to become a test subject, and he accepts.

Characters

Ryuji Hirasaka is the villain protagonist, a knowledgeable practitioner who becomes director of a corrupt nursing team. An unconvicted sex offender, he is vicious, controlling, and uses cold reading to exploit subordinates. He sports a mullet and glasses, and is murdered by Ren at the end of episode 5. In Night Shift Nurses Kranke, he marries Ren and they move to the countryside. She offers Ryuji the chance to discipline nurses for a prostitution ring. A previous rape victim of Ryuji, she exhibits psychological imbalance, has long green hair and glasses, and commits suicide after attempting to kill him. In Kranke, she attends Ryuji and Ren's wedding. Ren Nanase, a 22-year-old nurse, is the most iconic character. She welcomes Ryuji, but he blackmails her over her love for boxer Naoya Ohkawa and match fixing. Despite abuse, she develops Stockholm syndrome, kills Ryuji, and admits she loves him. In Kranke, she marries him and becomes a good wife.

Anime

The adult original video animation Night Shift Nurses, originally known in Japan as Night Shift Ward, is based on the visual novel by Mink. It was released in Japan from December 8, 2000 to January 30, 2004, comprising 10 episodes. The North American release by Anime 18 ran from May 14, 2002 to November 8, 2005, and included 9 of the 10 episodes.