Story
Present is a one-shot manga so I won’t say much. Basically, it’s a story about a student who falls in love with her teacher. Sadly, she has a rare disease which causes her to fall into a deep slumber. Doctors do their best to prolong her life but when Hanako finally wakes up, she has only three days left to live. It’s up to her husband to help her spend her last days happily.
Actually, the plot is very unique but you probably won’t realize that until the very end. And let me warn you, although the plot is short and quite simple, not much is explained. It’s left for the reader to grasp everything on his own so it might be confusing at first. It’s just like receiving a present: you get a beautifully wrapped box but no one tells you what’s inside.
Art
Well, Boichi obviously has his own style. His art is nice and consistent and even though it’s not really my type of art, I have to admit that he manages to capture the mood incredibly well.
Characters
You can’t expect much of the character development in 40 pages. Surprisingly, this is not the case in this manga. The characters are consistent and very profound. Sometimes their behavior is unexpected but realistic nevertheless. Each of the main characters has a unique personality and a strong presence. This is probably what I appreciate the most in this one-shot.
Enjoyment
As for me, this manga was very enjoyable. I liked it even more than Hotel (a very popular one-shot from the same author). Boichi managed to trick me into believing what I was supposed to believe so the ending was quite a shock. I actually had to just sit for a few minutes and let everything settle in. I was in awe.
Overall
All in all, I give this manga a big round 10. If you like one-shots, read Present. If you don’t like one-shots, read this anyway. You won’t regret it. It might not become your favorite manga but it’s definitely worth your time. Well, it won’t consume much time anyway:)
