Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is an unfortunate manga that never reached its true potential, in my opinion. The pilot chapter showed much potential for this piece, with me thinking that it could be carried on for a good 70 chapters or so. However, Kano Yasuhiro decided to go a different route, and the result was not as pretty as I expected it to be.
Kagami no Kuni starts out with our typical adolescent lead, Harisugawa Tetsu. He has a crush on Satomi Mao and even saved her from a tragic accident when they were younger. Now, in present time, the same incident happens yet again,
...
with him not in a hospital bed but inside a mirror. The only way to escape this despairing world inside the mirror is to share a mutual love with the one you admire.
The backbone set up from the first chapter is phenomenal. I was sold by the premise of this imprisonment and what the characters were able to do with it. This had me thinking of all the possibilities this could lead to or what the mangaka had to work with. The only problem was that Kano-san was looking for a romantic comedy alone (which I have no qualms about), but that meant his scope was drastically narrowed into a short lived manga. With the main character trapped inside a mirror, this could only lead to a stalemate and no progress would be made with the story past a certain point. Kano-san decided to cut his losses and make this manga a quicky.
There are several problems and factors that I would like to address that contributed to the downfall of this manga. Not enough support from the readers was shown in its middle stages of production. If they turned in the polls with just a few more votes encouraging Kagami no Kuni's serialization, the mangaka would have had more time to develop his story and make it less plot-holed. Kano-san threw in a few "surprises" that seemed desperate and a little bit annoying to try and grab attention and votes so his work could stay afloat. Maybe Kano-san should consider moving to another magazine where his manga would be more likely to succeed.
Don't get me wrong, it's not like the story was terrible. It was actually quite engaging at some points. With the little room he had to work with, the mangaka put in a few elements that made this story different from the typical romantic comedy. The two female leads were unique enough to the extent where they both have character and life in them. Unlike most harem/triangle manga, you get a little farther than the "kawaii" factor that others rely too much on. In this way I am grateful for reading it.
While on the topic of characters, characterization was decent. You understood each character's train of thought as Kano-san is very good at that kind of step by step formula. You also feel for the characters. You are happy when they are happy, depressed when they are depressed, and angry when they are angry. However, misunderstandings between them could get very frustrating. This can be a good thing at times, but most of the time it's just a ploy to draw attention and can be annoying when the author smoothly tries to cover it up. The three main leads are dynamic, though, but are the only ones you become attached to. Supporting characters are thrown to the side and are completely static. They are mostly used for ecchi and comedy, nothing more and nothing less.
Aside from all my ranting, the art is beautiful. Lines are clean, backgrounds are detailed, and panels are refreshing. Also, in important events or turning points, the mangaka has a perfect sense for how each character should be positioned or drawn. He has a terrific sense of perspective in these cases as well. He draws with life oozing onto the manuscripts and you can tell that he put in much effort. This would be the selling point for the manga.
The artwork contributed heavily to my entertainment. The way he draws seemed so fantastic that I was encouraged to see what his characters would be doing next. He has a good sense of humor and I laughed out loud a few times. Also, by the end of the story, tension is high and you can't stop reading. The final chapter is somewhat confusing to some though. There is an epilogue that explains what happens afterwards supposedly somewhere in the next issue, but I can't find it anywhere. It also can seem aggravating. However, remember what the author had to deal with. This was probably the cut off date so he didn't have enough room.
Despite its shortcomings, Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa brings a good deal to the table. This manga deserved to be in serialization for long enough so that Kano Yasuhiro could have improved it. His artwork is amazing and breaths life into his manga. It is heartwarming, frustrating, and comedic. Kagami no Kuni shows us how serialization is do or die, and sadly it did not reach what it could have been. Regardless, this manga should not be overlooked and should be enjoyed to its full potential.
 Alternative TitlesSynonyms: Harisugawa in Mirror World Japanese: 鏡の国の針栖川 InformationType: Manga
Volumes: 3
Chapters: 29
Status: Finished
Published: Jul 11, 2011 to Feb 13, 2012
Demographic:
Shounen
Serialization:
Shounen Jump (Weekly) Authors:
Kano, Yasuhiro (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #40062 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #853
Members: 21,334
Favorites: 186 Resources | Reviews
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Feb 26, 2012
Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is an unfortunate manga that never reached its true potential, in my opinion. The pilot chapter showed much potential for this piece, with me thinking that it could be carried on for a good 70 chapters or so. However, Kano Yasuhiro decided to go a different route, and the result was not as pretty as I expected it to be.
Kagami no Kuni starts out with our typical adolescent lead, Harisugawa Tetsu. He has a crush on Satomi Mao and even saved her from a tragic accident when they were younger. Now, in present time, the same incident happens yet again, ... 
Feb 12, 2012
Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa, or Harisugawa in Mirror World, is about a young boy named Harisugawa Tetsu, who has a crush on Satomi Mao his childhood friend who is basically the school idol. He is stuck in the dreaded friend zone and cannot find a way to get out of it. Then one day Satomi buys a strange mirror that traps Harisugawa in it. Is this a misfortune that has befallen him? Or is it an opportunity for him to get closer to Satomi?
Story 8/10: Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa a fresh new romantic comedy, where the hero, Harisugawa, is trapped inside a mirror ... 
Feb 27, 2012
Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa has a pretty good story line. The art work was done well. It has lots of little twists and turns and LOTS of humor. The only real problem with this work is that just like Mx0, the series comes to an abrupt ending with no closure. If you are okay with that fact, then this is a very good read, if not then you may want to stay away.
Nov 25, 2011
Story : 8
Art : 8 Character : 8 Overall : 8.6 Brought to you by the same manga-ka as Pretty Face and Mx0 (Where Mx0 was axed due to low user ratings), Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is a shounen manga that has captured my attention after reading the first two chapters. Being a fan of Kano Yasuhiro myself (Having read his two previous works), I immediately started reading this manga after a recommendation from a friend. The story itself is pretty unique in my opinion,I mean c'mon,who could've thought of a shounen manga about a mirror? That being said,the story gives out the same aura as Mx0,with the ... 
Oct 9, 2018
I feel like the more you read, the harder it is to get though new stuff and the more negative your opinions become. Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is nothing new; stick in a good guy Greg, have him love the school Madonna and chuck in the Madonna’s insecure best friend and we’re golden.
The Art’s fine; on the better side of average, but unless it’s strikingly beautiful or amazingly strange, you aren’t going to get any stars in my book to be honest, the art could look like garbage and it could still get full stars if it had an amazing story. Let’s move on to ... 
Mar 25, 2013
I will detail every aspect of the review and then make a brief conclusion.
Story 8/10 - It was pretty decent, original concept, it was a perfect romance manga till half of the series, where it started to be too much rushed, the author decided to cancel this work, I don't know why, but it was just a shame. Art 9/10 - Beautiful art, the characters are very well drawn, the scenary is great, no complaints about the art, it is really great, sometimes it is not very well detailed but it is great. Character 8/10 - The fact that the manga was so short and got ... 
May 22, 2018
The mirror device is a good concept. There are plenty of moments when the characters are well done and the surprise tsundere is good craic. It plays some clever tricks on the reader too. For all of that it is also a generic peekaboo & pantsu show that tried my tolerance a few chapters in. You can’t shoot this manga more than most but it gets victimised by the God of Plot to where common sense & natural reactions just fall into the coffin. Obs I didn’t read to the end but it felt like the creative battery needed a recharge along the way.
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