Love Death.

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A short episodic manga about two girls in love... taken to the extreme. Given its length, it's not too surprising that there is little story to work off of, and thus, there is barely any character development.

The characters themselves are relatively bland, but are an interesting take on common animanga tropes. Their intense love which leads to comedic misunderstandings and end with fluttering-sweet moments of reconcile are enjoyable to see as an audience. The author cleverly utilizes common shoujo cliches and turns them around, and there is no drama whatsoever, allowing this work to remain lighthearted and easy-to-digest. One thing I really appreciate is that ... you can tell this is a pure work of yuri fiction, intended for wlw. The characters are never sexualized and the content remains PG-13. It is also very clear that Love Death. contains no scenes of fanservice which is clearly marketed towards the male gaze.

The female characters are all drawn very charmingly, and each are identifiable with different facial and body structures. Although the artwork is a bit sloppy at times and proportions aren't always perfect, it is very clear from their previous works that the artist is constantly striving to improve. I greatly appreciate their efforts.

Overall, Love Death. is a fantastic choice for a quick and easy read. I wouldn't recommend it for those who enjoy heavy, content-filled works. Those who are sensitive to blood and violence may also wish to avoid this particular work, as it contains minor instances of both. In addition, given that this is clearly a work of yuri fiction, marketed towards wlw, the contents may not be particularly enjoyable for certain audiences.


In short, a summary:

+ Short and easy read
+ Charming artstyle
+ Full of comedic and light-romantic moments
- Little to no character development
- Short length leaves for barely any real story
- Each chapter follows the same structure

FLAVOR METER: Stale, yet edible.

There is not much to be said about this one, but if you're looking for a story with quite a bit of girl on girl interaction with a side dish of attempted murder - this is the manga for you!


-Story-

Alright, so to begin with the story!

Obviously, the concept of having two girls that love each other so much that they would literally kill each other, is laughable!
...
The thought of two, seemingly innocent lovers going from "I love you," to going at each others throats, for whatever reason, was comedic.

That's actually what attracted me to the manga in the first place, because that was the first time I've even read such a description. The idea of psycho vs psycho honestly isn't a unique plot, but a entirely new concept to me.

Unfortunately, that's all you're going to get out of this manga - including the Extra Episode, if you don't count the Nikochuu chapters.

It's repetitive, which makes the storyline a bit stale. The story isn't bad enough to drop, but it doesn't have a lot of substance beyond typical yandere scenarios.

The way that the manga goes about it is like a compilation of moments between the two main characters, that eventually does split into an entirely different set of characters out of the blue.

The Nikochuu chapters were a little displaced, and seemed better suited as an entirely different story on it's own. Which it was, but it took place in the same setting.

There is no plot to be had here, to be honest. It just seems like more of a yuri anthology than anything else.

I fell for the concept, just not so much of the execution. Which makes me believe that it is decent enough.

It could have had an interesting story going for it, given the circumstances.


-Art-

The art was very smooth! Clean, even.

I especially loved the facial expressions.

The artist did a good job portraying those emotions that they were trying to capture in a scene. Also, the background! It was fairly detailed.

Very great.

The character designs were simple, yet adorable!

Not much of a complaint here.


-Character-

Remember when I said that the most you're going to get out of this manga was "typical yandere" scenarios? That could speak highly for the characters as well. Again, excluding Nikochuu.

Our main characters, Akkii and Shouko, are nothing more than just a match made in heaven - or hell.

Their characters are literally the physical embodiment of the infamous saying, "If I can't have you, nobody can!"

They both love each other to literal death, but that's all that can be said about their relationship.

You don't necessarily get a good look at their personalities beyond this point, which is why the characterization is given a poor score from me. I personally felt as though the characters could have had a lot more going for them, rather than being minimalized to nothing more than an undead trope.

The main characters of the Nikochuu chapters, Aika and Mai, seemed to come out of nowehere without any previous mentions. This is where I think the story kind of trails off a bit, because it becomes split - kind of like two different sides of the same coin, if you will.

To be honest, I found them to be more entertaining because their relationship seemed a bit more relateable - and more well grounded than that of Akkii and Shouko's. Obviously.

Their relationship became a model of normalcy, in comparison to what we've witnessed in previous chapters.

I also found it to be really interesting, because of that parallel alone!

Which is something that I did like about the introduction of a different couple, which gives us a break from the cycle of repetition.


-Enjoyment-

Despite all that was said about the characters and the story, I actually did find those insane moments between Akkii and Shouko to be really humorous and entertaining, to say the least!

Even if it does beat the horse to death each chapter, it didn't make it any less enjoyable.

There were also moments between each set of characters that were actually really adorable!


-Overall-

All-in-all, I don't necessarily believe that this manga was meant to be taken seriously.

To me, it seemed that the author knew exactly what they were doing with this trope, and decided to mold it into the lives of two girls who just so happen to have an unwavering obsession with each other.

It is meant to be a laid back ride!

If you're looking for a short and facetious shoujo ai to pass the time, I'd recommend this one for sure.

Just beware if you have a peanut allergy, but it's full of nuts.

Do you like seeing the same joke repeated over and over again with little to no variation? If so, then you'll like the first part of this manga. It wasn't funny the first time, and repeating it six more times while adding nothing of value certainly didn't make it better.

The second part is a bit better, but it's still just bland characters being gay to each other with a little bit of comedy thrown in. It's mediocre at best.

The only thing of value in this manga is the bonus panels, which are the only funny things about Love/Death. It's not enough to make it worth ... reading, but enough to save it from being terrible.