Marry Grave

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Where to begin with this work of art that was not done justice.

I would consider Marry Grave to be a modern day Rave Master or Fairy Tail, with a more romantic twist instead of the usual 'friendship is magic' trope. While manga like Black Clover may be taking the spotlight as a 'shounen successor', I really think that Marry Grave is much more deserving in that regard.

What makes it so much better is that, unlike so many other fantasy-setting manga, it presents the reader with a realistic end goal right off the bat; to reunite Sawyer with his lost wife Rosalie. The set up is ... so simple, but with the pairing of likable characters and interesting events it makes you want to root for the protagonist to see his goals turn to reality. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a good love story, but it's so much more satisfying to see two characters finally come together rather than to see one character just become the strongest or something along those lines.

In this age of dominance by isekai and fan-service, it's very rare to find a manga with so much potential to be a great shounen classic. I have to say, it's a shame this manga was cut short when it definitely could have run for another 100 to 200 chapters and retained the same energy that it captures the readers with in it's initial chapters.

When I first started to read Marry Grave, I thought it would be a nice yet ordinary shounen manga. I am quite glad that it turned out much better than what I expected.

The art is quite simple, not especially outstanding but I came to appreciate it, and may have notice an improvement between the first and last volume.
The characters are also quite simple in a way: Sawyer is a nice airhead, Rosalie is a strong minded girl and I can't say that they have much more depth. This simplicity however collides violently with Marry Grave's world: a world where humans are barely surviving amidst violent ... monsters. The joyful Sawyer almost makes us forget how painful it is to live in such a world. It is therefore quite wonderful to have very simple, positive characters evolving in a scary world, where emphasis is not put on their tragic lives but rather on the simple desire of two lovers to be by each other's side again.

And this is the true strong point of Marry Grave: the relationship between Sawyer and Rosalie. Even though we begin by following Sawyer's adventure, the main character is actually a duo. Rosalie is not just a love interest for the main character who proceeds to save his beloved, she is truly pictured as being equally important. The absence of fanservice also underlines this equality of this perfectly balanced duo. The relationship between present and past is also very interestingly depicted, and the author invites his readers to read the series again to find out all the details.

My only true regret is how the series was cut short when it was planned to be running on a longer term. The author shows how much more the story could have been developped, so it is a real shame. The last chapters just feel rushed and are not as enjoyable as the previous ones. I however appreciate the author's effort to wrap everything up, leaving not too many question marks or a sense of unfinished.

To sum up, Marry Grave is a great shounen, a wonderful piece, and I can only hope that it gains enough success for the author to be able to write his next series as long as he desires. I have high hopes for whatever he can write next, and will definitely look out for it.

TL:DR - a good story cut down before it really started

I can't recommend this unfortunately because it was cancelled long before it got to it's actual end.

The characters are endearing, the main character is likeable even if he is a bit of a tropey shounen protaganist. The side characters are endearing and they have backstory to be explored.

The fantasy world is interesting. A setting where humanity has essentially been defeated and monsters taking over is not something I've seen before.

The story moves forward, picking up new recurring characters and properly introduces some real antagonists along with an intriguing mystery.

And right when it really picks up, ... it rushes through the story that was supposed to happen it four pages, and it ends. Yup, it's another good manga cancelled. It wasn't amazing at the start but it was picking up steam and I felt it was going to get better but guess we'll never know.

There isn't really a satisfying ending and the journey was killed before it ever started so I don't recommend reading this.