Shiki no Zenjitsu

This manga is very good. I think it might be underrated.
I wouldn't label it as a romance manga. If there is any kind of reference to romance it is only as a trigger to show some other kind of conflict. The manga does deal with love, but not romantic love... rather fraternal love, or family.

Story: 10
It includes 6 unrelated stories (one of them is two chapters long), that vary in length and in depth. Some of them have a more elaborate plot; others are more like a glance to the characters feelings. Some of them have a fantastic components, others don´t. Most of them deal with the relationship between siblings (except for the second and the fifth -chapter 6- stories, which don´t).

1) Shiki no Zenjitsu: it is about a man who is getting married. Cannot tell much more without spoiling, as it doesn´t have much of a plot... it is all about emotions.
2) Azusa Nigou de Saikai: tells the story of a girl that can only meet her father once a year.
3) Monochrome no Kyoudai (Monochrome Brothers): it goes about two brothers that were in love with the same woman, and how they dealt with it.
4-5) Yume Miru Kakashi: a man returns to his childhood town for her sister´s marriage.
6) Juugatsu no Hakoniwa: a writer is visited in his dreams by a crow that announces death.
7) Sorekara: a cat analyzes the nature, mood and behavior of his master, and his reaction when he receives a call from his brother in law.

I especially recommend the second, third and fourth stories.

Characters: 8
As they are all short stories, there isn´t much of a character development, but the characters are all very realistic and "imperfect", which is what I like most. I guess, after reading the whole book, the feelings I get from the characters are lonelyness and sorrow. But that doesn´t mean they are all sad characters... just like in real life, sadness and happiness coexist.

Art: 10
It is very good. It is very realistic, and there is some sharpness to it that goes so well with the stories.

In short, I highly recommend reading this book.

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Shiki no Zenjitsu is a compilation of short-stories.These stories are completely different from one another,but,they do have one thing in common.They are all masterfully written and very enjoyable.The characters are the main point of these stories.The characters have such depth it's unbelievable.Most shows take their time to fully develop their characters,but this shows' development doesn't happen or we just get glimpses at how the characters were in the past and how they developed to what they are now.These are short stories after all.However this is not bad because the story is handled beautifully.Each story is unique,each one with it's own set of characters.The stories are so different from one another yet they all have one thing in common.They show individuals who are dealing or who have overcome a difficulty in life.
Another good thing worth mentioning is that the author doesn't hand you all the details of what's going in a silver platter.You actually have to think about what these stories were about.I needed to reread a chapter 3 times to fully grasp the meaning of it.I truly appreciate this.
As for the art it isn't outstanding but it helps set the atmosphere and it's not,in any way, bad.
This manga is one of my favorites and it will propably be for a very long time.Go out there and read this masterpiece.It's only 7 chapters and it's worth every second you spend reading it.

10/10.A fucking masterpiece.

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