Mar 13, 2024
Letting go is pretty hard, isn't it?
This is one of the many manga I added to the backlog, which featured a strange couple dynamic, seemingly creating a slice of life story. After that little phase ended, I was left with all these stories that I wasn't too excited to read. However, something about the last chapter being such a low number intrigued me far more than I thought. Short stories that get to the point when they have to are the best in my opinion, and “25-ji no Ghost Writer” succeeds at what I wanted it to.
The small story about a 15-year-old book author going
...
back to the house he lost his family in, in an attempt to get out of writer's block, although he finds the ghost of his first love, the dead maid.
Letting go. Truly a hard topic to tackle in a small story, about the daily existence of a ghost in one's life. Most ghost stories focus entirely on the tragedy that befell the dead ones, or the sad horror that comes with it. This one takes the opposite route, the ghost is a nice being, that does what they did when they lived, and explores death as the moment that pauses people's lives. Everything becomes the tragedy of the past. A writer does everything to capture the dead ones in their work, a brother abandons his happiness, a man loses his purpose in life, since it was tied to the dead. This ghost is the small allegory to the things we can't let go off. We tie ourselves with the past, just as much as the past ties itself to us. A never-ending cycle, that's perpetuated by our desire to not understand it. As the main protagonist slowly gathers his memories, we watch as he heals.
It's just a really pleasant story. It doesn't have any unnecessary conflicts, it uses the characters well, and everybody appears organically through a well-paced script. Felt like a movie plot, and any part that was a little slow, simply reminds us of a healing process that's not as intense as other stories portray. I enjoy those portrayals, but I can't deny how beautiful it is to watch a plot of people that can talk things out, without there being stupid fights. Every character has something to tell, a past they aren't letting go of, and we slowly experience as not only our main character, but our cast does it. Except one, which is (bonus points) a great, and fun trans character.
Cute, pleasant art style, with an interesting focus on people's mouths. A visual identity that stands out among slice of life, and an ending that I respect to death. Not many stories end as appropriately as this one, without a bang, without a conflict, or an intense moment, but as a reminiscence of what happened. They moved on, and so will we. Now, my problems are just from the dialogue and engagement. The gags weren't funny half the time, and the main character broke his own way of acting, just for the tsundere trope. Annoying at times, but pretty great at others. That doesn't detract from my enjoyment at all, and the tragedy, and the slow reveal, works wonders for the kind of story it wants to be.
7.4/10. I loved that ending.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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