Mar 14, 2024
Have you ever wondered what life might be like if you suddenly died, but instead of truly dying, you became a ghost tied to the material world? No? Yes? Same to be honest. It's really not the most unique concept, but somehow it gave a soft twist. "Now that I'm a ghost, he won't know if I show him my pants" (Yuurei ni Natta kara Pantsu Misetemo Barenai yo ne!?) is a dumb and goofy manga, made purely for exploring the concept of this idea in a classic setting, High School. I'll start off by saying this is by no means a masterpiece, but it's
...
a quaint, strong and short but sweet story between a boy and his unrequited love with an ill-timed fate.
[The only spoilers are the ones that try to tug at your heartstrings, or character details, its a slice of life, little changes.]
[ Story ]
It all starts with Kenta, and his happy-go lucky and energetic childhood friend, Konno. His life prior to Highschool was filled with her antics, teasing him, playing games with him and so on, something he deemed embarrassing. So, as he went into highschool, he started distancing himself from her slowly. One day, both now as 3rd Year students, Konno was eventually taken by the trope of the century, Truck-kun, being given only 2 panels mind you. Most surprisingly, Kenta "barely" reacts in the one panel we get of his authentic reaction to her death, "Maybe I shouldve hung out with her more if this was going to happen." Perhaps a bit morbid, but damn, have a little humanity. Immediately after, we're both jumpscared with an underwear shot of Konno. What follows is the traumatic realisation that Kenta can see his dead childhood friend as a ghost, being a slightly perverted one at that. From then on, the story is more than a little predictable. They get closer, he makes friends that somehow get involved, some that can because the plot wants it to, so on and so forth. It's meant to be short, and a tad stereotypical, but again, with a sweet twist. It really succeeds at doing that. Obviously, this manga is meant to be light-hearted in every way. It doesn't try to dip its toes into emotional torture despite the morbidity of the situation surrounding Kenta. At best, and I think even touching still, his friends in class (they're mostly nameless, except for Satoru, Kenta's friend) approach him a few times throughout the manga to make sure he's okay because he'll supposedly be "mumbling to himself all the time", or because they're worried about him since it was his childhood friend. He keeps it secret, of course, but its a nice touch to the isolated world around him. Slight changes like these makes it feel all the more unique in between interactions and events, different perspectives or thoughts I wouldn't even expect to see. Wether it was being in Kenta's or Konno's bedroom, taking a bath, a pool, sitting somewhere in school, or being at their houses or walking down roads to school. It's a weird, but calming breath of fresh air for a slice of life.
[ Art ]
It is, at first, rather generic, but clearly makes up for it within the small bits of charm in each of its character expressions or the various panel details (like the background filters). Personally, it fits the manga's ambience and mood perfectly. Really, the drawn style of the characters themselves really make this entire manga feel a lot more personal- more indie with a finish of polish and passion. I'm forgetting to mention that the panels are so incredibly clean, paired with the "rough" drawing of everything that isn't the background, it makes it a joy to look at nearly every single page.
[ Characters ]
The main characters are pretty sweet. They generally don't have stereotypical personalities nor do they have a 'dere' type to them. They feel like separate characters, separate entities and people with their own lives and goals. Look, they're not listed here on MAL, so, the main characters are Kenta Onodera, Konno Kowata, Sana Hoshikawa, and if you really stretch it, Yuyu Munomoto (who is more of a side character if anything since she comes in Ch.13).
I've already introduced Kenta and Konno, but Sana Hoshikawa is a shy, yet energetic and pure girl with at best I would describe as a regular mind (she's not always pure, she's regularly dirty minded, like a regular person). Its hard to describe her since she feels so much like a normal person. In her first chapters at the start, her initial reaction to the knowledge of Konno being a ghost is to pass out, that's normal. She does the same again when she catches Kenta talking to Konno, and thinks Kenta is insane when he tells her he can see her ghost. Naturally, who wouldn't? When she becomes friends with Konno, she tries her best to give romantic advice and act as a friend to her despite having no experience. I think one line that really helps deliver her character, "Hey, I'm still a little scared, but if you are really here, Konno-chan". Its simple, but a lot in the aspect of the relevant panel.
Least importantly, Yuyu Munomoto is an Occult Fanatic who also happens to be a Gyaru. By chance, she is also a full on pervert that really doesn't contribute anything to the story or act as a FOIL to the main characters other than being a solely perverted version of Konno focused on loving Konno, rather than Kenta. If anything, she detracts from the enjoyment of the manga and hurts the quality of dialogue between Sana and Konno. She is the only sole stereotypical character shoehorned into the plot for the sake of progression and breaks whatever chemistry is occurring between the other characters at the time.
A disappointing character aside, the side characters are simply Nana and Miku, who only appear for 1 chapter as Konno's past friends (they're pointless), and Satoru, Kenta's recurring friend that he talks to about his issues through hypotheticals, things he's doing or in general. Satoru really is the casual side character to the MC with the Bro archetype. He's chill.
Out of the 3 actual main characters, Konno Kowata has to be the best of the cast. I'll simply say, she has a sweet heart, unexpected thoughts and reactions, and the courage to change and develop.
[ Conclusion ]
Considering my score, you'd suppose I'd have something wrong with me. Or perhaps after reading this, maybe you'll hopefully give this manga a try. Even disregarding the below average score this manga has, it solidifies its charm, its heart and its soul. Its a slice of life, a comedy and "sometimes" a bit too perverted. The upsides being that this had the advantage of subverting readers now and then due to its entire concept, and that it did for me. It's definitely inconsistent in a lot of areas, specifically its plot, but I couldn't help but grow a small attachment to these characters. Somehow, it made itself memorable for me. I found this manga by chance as it started being translated at Chapter 1 around April (3rd or 4th) of 2023. I was perusing the tags of "Ghosts", "Romance" and "School Life", and out of a selection of 3, I saw what was very clearly a clean on-the-nose manga cover unabashedly being itself. So, what did I do? I clicked it, read the only chapter and found myself saddened by the fact I assumed it was a very short oneshot with no more than 5 more chapters left to be done. I was surprised when more updates came to it, pleasantly in fact. This has been quite a mainstay in my "expecting manga chapters to come soon" list. My main takeaway from this manga is that it was fun, and fresh. A relatively unique concept, a bit of charm and chemistry between characters is really all you need.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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