Deep Love: Ayu no Monogatari

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Ayu is a teenage girl whose life seems to be filled with only despair and emptiness, and she deals with it by prostituting herself. The story, from beginning to end, basically follows her life as she struggles through it- the people she meets, the choices she makes, and the impact those encounters had on her character and life.

With a premise like that, it is likely already obvious that this is not exactly a happy and light-hearted story. In fact, reading this manga is almost like watching a disastrous car accident about to happen- you know it's coming, you cringe, you can't do anything about it ... except look on.

Most people who talk about how sad this manga is will likely relay the events that took place, the endless string of terrible things that kept happening... but for me, it was human nature itself and how desperation can spawn some of the worst choices a person can make. It's like watching something that could've been right but knowing (and seeing) that it has the very real possibility of taking a swift turn for the worst.

That said, I felt this aspect is both the strength and the weakness of this story. The author does a good job of touching you with Ayu's story, but at the same time, also did a tad bit of an unnecessary overkill in some parts. This story is something like a lesson in life- the choices you make have consequences and Ayu's life is like a string of cause and effect. To that effect, it works great... but I found that the author would throw a tragedy or two in there (to add onto an already massive pile) that kind of fell in the category of "shit happens"- which is fine, except for this type of story, it felt flat, forced, and unnecessary.

As a whole? It's a story with a great message, delivered without pulling any punches. If anything, that in itself already makes it worthwhile to read. I did, however, debate on whether to give this a rating of an 8 or a 9. A personal rating is an 8 in my book... but I think that has a lot to do with where I was/am in life when I read this, as well as, my age (over 30). To be fair, I think the story itself accomplishes and does well at what it had set out to do. For that, I give it a 9 (or an 8.5 if I could've done so)

Note: We're talking about a girl who sells her body here. Expect to see sex scenes and crude behavior.

Deep Love - Ayu no Monogatari is definitely not your typical girl-finds-guy and falls in love type of romance manga. I started reading with that mindset, and after 8 chapters, I was blown away. Deep Love - Ayu no Monogatari was not only atypical, but delivers such deep themes and story to readers that will fill you with either sympathy, happiness, or anguish by the time you finish.

The story is quite simple and straightforward. Ayu is a teenage girl who finds life meaningless, and thus sells her body in a society she sees as decadent and immoral. However, an encounter with a granny changes her ... views, and, after listening to the granny's story of her long lost lover, Ayu becomes determined to change for the better. This is actually quite a bright summary, but the actual story isn't such a clean pavement. Many things happen along the way that will make you both love and detest Deep Love - Ayu no Monogatari.

The art is quite clean and beautiful. The mangaka pays very little attention to detail, and as such, I was browsing through each page quite quickly. This is not bad however, as it offers very clean pages and very simple, but appealing backgrounds in each panel, which keeps your focus more on the story and its characters, which are the strong points of this manga.

Despite how short this manga was, character development, that is, Ayu's development, is fantastic. I really sympathized with her as she struggled through the chapters. Ayu truly came alive in Deep Love - Ayu no Monogatari.

Overall, Deep Love - Ayu no Monogatari was very enjoyable. Its story, characters, and the themes on morality and suffering, all of it was just remarkable.

Let me begin by stating that this review is for all the Deep Love Mangas (Ayu no Monogatari, Host, Reina no Unmei). This is my first review and i chose this manga to appraise, because it was the first one that made me cry.

I won't state the contents here, because it's difficult to describe without revealing something. Just read it yourself! I'd say you have to read it, because these topics are current and concern everybody.

The drawings aren't cute, but very pretty. The characters develop throughout the Manga.
Love and friendship play an important role. First they seem to perish due to the cruel ... storyline but in the end you'll think how necessary friends and family are.

The story gets worse with every page you read. It's babaric, horrifying and endlessly sad.
I don't know if you're going to cry when reading this. But i know you're gonna be touched by this awesome Manga.
You will think about it several days and won't ever forget it!

After reading a review that compared Deep Love to a car wreck, that alone was enough to spike my interest. It was on the last page that I realized why it was like a car wreck. At the end you’re left there frozen in your tracks staring, at nothing, long after the car and everyone else is gone. Unable to form any coherent thoughts just a dumbstruck expression on your face.

That’s what Ayu’s life was, a huge accident, one you see coming long before it hits you, yet you’re there staring at it getting closer because you are so stunned by its complexity. Wondering, ... trying to pinpoint the exact point in time in the story her life spiraled out of control and coming out blank because there are so many you wouldn’t even know where to start or end.

Who was Ayu? A lost girl, who believed love was pointless. Living alone, selling her body for money not because she needed it, but because she felt insignificant. All that mattered to her was getting money, in her life that‘s what made the world go round. Not knowing that there was more to existing than just breathing and looking out only for yourself. Life has something new in store for Ayu and it comes in the form of an old lady’s kindness.

The word love gets thrown around everywhere in manga (in my share of read ones anyway) . In this case it’s not the romantic type of love, it’s the other kind. The type that’s so rare, yet a lot of us have it but take it for granted, not giving it a second thought. Not until we lose it. I was more surprised at myself, that I enjoyed Ayu’s story so much, even though it is the story of a girls sorrowful life and not a romantic comedy. It’s Ayu picking herself up just to be slammed to the ground again by an invisible force. The choices she makes to change her life, ones she regrets and ones she would do all over again.

This isn’t the type of story you laugh through, actually there are only smiles and heartwarmings, no LOL moments. If you want to laugh or feel all warm and fussy this is far from it. It’s a cruel life where the decisions you make will catch up to you, and I think that’s where this mangaka got it right. Life is unfair and sometimes will give you very few reasons to smile and though you might feel closed up and trapped, like Ayu, there is always someone who cares.

The art was a little on the plain side, but that same art showed me a cover that dared me to read it, a girl crying, for a second I thought I saw wrong. Let me be the first to point out that when a manga first words are, “Care to give me a blow,” it is bound to have some ecchiness. Guaranteed even. Though graphic in context at times it never shows any nudity, not in the completely naked anyway. It’s about her story, uncensored.

When all is said and done, though I agree with the car wreck, for me it was more like getting punched in the face and you don’t know who did it. In the end you’re left angry and stupefied at realistically sad story of a girl named Ayu.

That being said this is the best quote that sums up what this manga is about:

“Appreciation is the purest, and strongest form of love. It is the outward-bound kind of love that ask for nothing and gives everything. It is the antidote to fear. Although fear was the first feeling that developed during evolution, love is believed to be the second.”

Synopsis: A 17 year old girl, named Ayu, is selling her body for money. She is depressed, doesn't believe in happiness, and thinks that the world is rotten and that the only way to make it in this rotten, immoral world is to become rotten yourself. She thinks that love is nothing more than an unwanted burden that will get in the way of her job. She leads a miserable life, until she meets a very kind old lady, and an abandoned dog whose tongue has been cruelly cut out...
Just from observing the old lady, her persistence, and will to do good, Ayu starts ... to change, both herself and her opinion of the world...

*end synopsis*

*enter opinions*

This manga basically completely and utterly reveals the sad truth of the world today. I think I liked it so much (and still do) because it is a tragic, romantic story of redemption.

I really liked the powerful emotions it evokes. They are really easy to relate too. Although in the manga, the emotions are a bit extreme, many of us (by which I mean humans) have experienced the emotional trauma on a lesser scale.

All the major characters are brilliant. They each personify an undeniable truth of the world. One portrays the absolute doubting and untrusting nature of humans. Another depicts our ability and willingness to persevere through hardship for a higher cause. The third clearly shows that we must enjoy what time we have, because it's our most precious and the scarcest of all resources.

The entire story is like a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs, and by the end you wish that it hadn't ended, or, sometimes you even wish that you hadn't gone on it at all. But, as with roller coasters, you'll remember the thrill that you got while riding it, and you'll find yourself wanting to ride it (or, in this case, read it) again.

I believe that this is possibly the best manga I've ever read. I know it's definitly in the top three. Of my three candidates, this is the one that grabbed me and controlled my emotions the best.

I give it a 10 and advise any manga fan to read it.

NOTE: THIS STORY IS NOT FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES! IT'S RATED MATURE FOR GOOD REASON! PLEASE USE GOOD JUDGEMENT AS TO WHEN AND WHERE YOU READ IT! (Remember what the main character does for a living!)

[Spoiler Review!]

After reading all the reviews here, I came to realize something. This manga is a sick attempt at using horrible events and circumstances to create a sense of "meaning" and evoke pity within the minds of readers who take the bait.


Story: 2/10

The "story" here has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. The "story" revolves around our main character, Ayu, and the horrible life she lives. Many questions arise when reading this manga, such as: What happened to her parents, what caused her to start prostituting herself, what did she need the money for, and many more. The only character trait Ayu has ... is that she is a teenage prostitute. That's it.

Ayu eventually meets an old lady who takes pity on her and lets Ayu live with her. The granny tells a sad story about her husband that is meant to evoke further sadness towards the "story." Ayu also finds a dog later, so that's cool.

Ayu also has a friend named Reina, who a group of girls hates for some unknown reason. Reina and Ayu later have sex with some old dude because the old dude just walks up and asks them how much they are paying for sex, which is something that I highly doubt happens while people are just randomly sitting somewhere in broad daylight in a public area.

Oh yeah, Ayu also had a gigolo who basically forces her to do heroin and ra*es her sometimes. He had too much drug money debt and eventually begged Ayu to find a ton of money to help pay this debt. Conveniently, granny has almost all the money Ayu needs to help her gigolo out. Of course, tragedy has to strike again, and her gigolo spent the money on drugs and killed himself. Ayu just walks out and later doesn't show any sign that she cared that this happened.

Reina later gets robbed by the girls who hate her, gangra*ed by the male friends of those girls, and then gets the word "wh*re" carved into her leg. There is no reasoning as to why these girls hate her enough to do this to her. Did she steal someone's boyfriend? Is it because she is overly energetic? Who knows! The manga doesn't like telling important things like this because it is too busy trying to fit as many tragic things into the manga as possible to make the reader feel sad! This whole issue is just forgotten in later chapters!

Reina later tells Ayu what happened, and Ayu wants to avenge her friend! To do this, Ayu threw coffee on the main girl's head (how did she know this was the main girl?) and then stabs her in front of a huge group of people who just don't care that some high school girl was just mutilated in front of their eyes. Ayu later calls granny to pick her up, but granny has foot issues, and she fell while running over to Ayu, so her doggy comes instead.

Granny later tells Ayu that she had an "adopted" child with a heart illness, and Ayu tells the granny that she sells her body for money and that she stole like 1.5 million yen from her. Granny dies the next day for some reason. Maybe she really hated teenage prostitutes that much; who knows.

Fast forward, Ayu meets Yoshiyuki (Granny's "adopted" child). They like each other and start hanging out. His family doesn't let him out of the house often due to him having heart issues, so Ayu decides to take him to Okinawa because he wants to go there. When they come back, the police arrest Ayu and Yoshiyuki has a heart attack or something like that. Ayu is now not able to see Yoshiyuki and begs his dad to make him happy since she can't see him. Of course, to make the story more tragic, the dad says he can ensure that by having Ayu have s*x with him. Ayu then goes back to prostituting, catches HIV, it develops into AIDs, and she dies. The dad also kills himself, so we love a happy ending!


Art: 5/10

Typical shoujo art style. Nothing much to say here. I particularly dislike the cover art for the volumes, as it looks significantly worse than the art in the manga (which is usually the opposite).


Character: 2/10

Honestly, most of these characters are pretty shallow. Ayu's only personality is being a teenage prostitute who has the worst luck in the world, Reina's personality is being Ayu's friend that gets gangra*ed, and Yoshiyuki's personality is being Ayu's love interest with a tragic fate to make the readers feel sadder. Every other character in this manga are just plot devices that could be exchanged with literally anything, maybe excluding the granny.


Enjoyment: 2/10

I chuckled when one of the old dudes called Reina's private part a biscuit.

Overall: 2/10

In conclusion, this is an overrated and sad attempt at a tragic story that uses cheap plot tropes to trick readers into believing this to be a magnum opus of sorts. Thankfully, it was a concise read, but it is time for me to read the sequels and likely see the same exact thing all over again.

One can define “Deep Love” as an eternal love running so deep one will do anything for the person they love. This eternal love doesn't just involve an intimate love between two people romantically, but the love of family and friendship. Such a love is beautiful and the work “Deep Love: Ayu no Monogatari” portrays the beauty of such love through all three aspects. Under the beauty of this particular piece is a very dark side as the work also manages to portray the life of a teenage prostitute as she tries to find some kind of beauty in her day to day life except ... for a few issues I can't bringing up lest I spoil the ending.

The art work is rough around the edges and yet the roughness adds to the plot as there is a dark edginess to the piece. For some readers some of the art will be to much as there is mature material, but the art style is also unrefined compared to other artists. In some ways the latter though is part of the charm.

“Deep Love: Ayu no Monogatari” also features a wide range of characters. Each character has their own depth and each of their lives intertwine. Ayu is the character given the most depth and for the most part she is a rather realistic characters, but at times her characterization and the things which happen to her ends up exaggerated for the sake of shock value. Despite the draw of shock value there is still a plot running through the entire story as well as character development.

As for personal enjoyment... here's where things get sketchy. I enjoyed having a good cry. I enjoyed getting to know the characters. A few parts of the story pushed my willing suspense a little to much, but they weren't to the point where I couldn't believe the storyline possible. I also found myself mad at the fate of certain characters and asking why they couldn't get their happy ending and felt two of the characters could have received a happy ending with the way the plot progressed.

Note - Readers should be warned about "warning triggers" in the series.

Deep Love: Ayu's Story was very realistic. fast-paced, and tragic - so much so that I'd classify it as a psychologically realistic horror story. There is not a joyous part to be found in the entire 8 chapters. It's one blow to the heart after another. Tears will stream down your face so much that not only will you need tissue for you nose but a towel for your tears.

Some characters reach so far out to you with their story and their past that you pray they can live until the next chapter. This was - I admit - well done at first ... but got a bit old after a while. It still, however, didn't lose the theme that money kills but so do people.

The art wasn't impressive to me. The eyes were drawn in a style I didn't warm up to and some scenes were hard to follow.

I read this story with the anticipation of obtaining a better perception of my own life and for inspiration for my story, but in the end it made me cry and cry even more for the fact that it was a realistic story.

It's not really a must-read, but I recommend it.

This was the first manga, and the only manga that has made me weep with sadness. This is a coming of age story. Ayu finds meaning to her life. She learns of love and loss as do all the other people around her, they start to learn what truly matters.

Story-10
Even though this is a rather short story, it gave me an emotional connection, I've yet to expierence in any novel, movie, or story.

Art-8
It was very good. Nice and neat and clean, in my opinion.

Characters-10
All the characters in this story were incredibly realistic. Ayu was an extremely relatable character. There was outstanding character development within the ... story.

I enjoyed this story so much. Overall I'd give it 10/10.

This manga was a very tragic story, but I'd recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat.

Like the title, this manga is deep, really deep. I found tears going down my cheek when i finish to read it. The main character is strong and full with hope. Even though it is a sad manga, the sadness is enjoyable and the moral of this story is for every teenage girl. I did enjoy this manga.

Well i finished few mangas in my life and after finishing this i could tell it would be masterpiece even if i finished 100+.

Story follow girl that sells body,use heroin, falling in * narco trap * ( when you need to get money for someone who is drug addict ),stealing,... but everything she does is for someone else except prostitution.She is the girl that everyone hates just because, no reason or anything.Like for example * you are selling your body * so they hate her...But actually she is angel which thinking influenced thinking of others about her.It's very, very, very, very sad story ... if you ask me.

Art: well art is beautifull to me, every single detail is there.But a little thing is about words in manga, they are kinda confusing to me ( maybe cause im not used to them ? )

Character: Characters are awesome, everyone once felt like Ayu or Yoshiyuki or dreamed about story similar to this one ( booth have sad destiny but it is what it is ) and if they say they didn't felt like them or didn't think about similar scenario THEY ARE 100% LYING no matter what they say.
I don't know what to say except they are living different life than .. normal " so their feeling and persona is adjusted to that.

Enjoyment: i finished this manga in a blink of an eye, it was awesome and it just kept attacking me with those feels, definetlly worth reading.

Overall: well i'm not that much intro manga but overall of this one to me is fu*king great, or should i say outstanding :) didn't regret reading it at all, matter of fact i'm so glad that i finished it. So yeah i recommend it to anyone.

This is the first story of the deep love series, i highly recommend you start with this as to not confuse the order the order of the manga.

This is an unforgettable manga which shows the heart -touching , TRAGIC life of the protagonist. Brave , determined characters are found in this manga who inspire you with their strong wills , decisions and actions.

However this manga describes a deeply tragic life. And sad incidents around the protagonist. All the deep love mangas contain different and painful situations and happenings
I promise you , If you cry easily ( Which I do :') ... you'll be drenched in TEARS throughout the entire deep love manga.

This story will definately leave you teary eyed at some point or another. If you are capable of reading something very dramatic then i definately recommend this manga.

Ok, this is my first review and english is not my language, sorry for any mistake!

The story itself might be good if you like drama, but I find it really bad developed. Everything seems extremely rushed, we don't have time to know the characters well, nor their stories and backgrounds, it's like the author have thrown two buddies on the pages and that's all. In my opinion, the author should have done a little bit longer story, but with better development.

*spoilers*

The two main characters known each other since literally 5 minutes and they are the love of each others life. That itself make no sense. ... The relationship between the two is rushed like anything else in this story. I did not really felt anything reading about them, because we have no sufficient time to empathize.
Same for the granny, she might be a really good character, but she was just there, and then poof, she die.

I particularly disliked the "black balloons" with the narration, especially the "it was not a cold, it was aids".
Like, seriously? It really took all the pathos away. It was like reading an elementary text book.

* end of the spoiler*

I like the message that the author want to send, of course, but a story like this should be more long and articulate, in my opinion.
The drawing are really pretty, though not my style.
I surely won't read it again, and I would not recommend it to anyone.

My hands literally can't stop shaking and my head can't wrap itself after I read this manga like it is so so sad man. We see a young schoolgirl being handled by shady people as well as having unprotected sex with dirty b**tards for the sake of money. My non continuous question throughout reading this manga, where was her parents in all of this taking place??!!!!!!

She then befriends the old woman and then later on, she befriends her adopted son Yoshiyoki who has a chronic illness (there was not much information about the cause). To tell you the truth, I f*cking hated Yoshiyoki's father for ... being a nasty d*uchebag towards Ayu and using her as a toy just like the rest of the men she unfortunately encountered.

This manga not only made me really upset but very angry like I can't put it into proper words of what to say. It makes you just feel helpless because it is sadly enough happening in our world💔💔💔💔

This is the only manga I've wrote a review for.
Just so you understand how much I liked it.
( Also sorry for my spelling errors. )

Story: 9/10

The reason why I give the story a 9/10 is because it was obviously to unrealistic all those bad things can't happen to someone.
But why I rate it so high is because I find the story unique and the amount of emotion going through it is insane and to be fit into only 8 chapters, the book leaves you dumbstruck just staring at one spot trying to "take hold" of what you just read and sure to leave you ... crying. I don't cry easily over Animanga and sometimes try to force myself to cry, with this manga I was trying to stop crying. I was shaking and my nose was running. And I know I've already said it but THE AMOUNT OF THINGS THE AUTHOR ADDED INTO ONLY 8 CHAPTERS IS REALLY INSANE, it all went by in a flash. The amount of emotion the author was able to add into one panel to make you start sobbing is seriously amazing.

Art: 6/10

The art style isn't anything special, but the characters are really good looking.

Characters: 10/10

The amount of character devlopment in the MC throughout the manga is amazing really amazing. I really liked the MC because even though she dosen't show much emotion at the start of the book it shows that you can really understand how much she had been through but when she does cry at one point it shows how much she changed and much she really cares and even though she did want to cry at some points she wasn't able to because like I said she had been through a lot. And the amount she sacrifices for others I really adore. She is probley one of my favorite MCs.

Enjoyment: 10/10

Finished it all in a sitting. Like i said already I cried a lot and I was so tied up in the story.

Overall: 10/10

If you are looking for a one-shot-esque torture session, this one should be a fairly good one.

Since it's a kind of "old" manga, the art style might feel subpar for some people - and the story is short, too, everything is squeezed into these few chapters. So if you want to try to enjoy the manga to its best capacity, I'd recommend reading only a single chapter per day.

The problems that the manga focus on are heavy, and the characters are not in good shape, either. At least there is a glint of hope in the middle of the story.

I wish the ... story was more fleshed out, and gave us, readers, some time to become more attached to the characters.

I'm shocked. I didn't expect this manga to be so different from any manga I've read. The plot itself is very interesting and different but the ending is very well-thought in my opinion.

Ayu is a teenage girl that has no dreams, who doesn't aim for happiness and is involved in prostitution. The athmosphere is well presented and you can feel so much emotion like the emptiness, despair, misery, new founded hope by many characters. The story also gives a good life lesson, the choices you make have consequences whether you like it or not and not everyone in a bad place is a bad person, ... people do anything to survive, fill the void in their hearts in this cruel world.

The art is pretty, clean and easy to understand. I'm pleasantly surprised by the greatness of character development.

I recommend it if you're not a young person or have a traumatic experience that may get you triggered when reading this manga. Given the plot, it has nudity but not too much that you will feel discomfort. If you're not either of those, give this a shot!