Shounen no Abyss
Boy's Abyss

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Reading this work made me a little depressed, it left me in a way that I didn't expect.

The story goes well and you'll better understand everyone's feelings as you read it, but nevertheless, as a result, we see Reiji himself sinking into his depression and his desire to commit suicide.

We also currently have Nagi absent from the scene now, hopefully she'll be back soon, and somehow she and Reiji can find some feeling of happiness, that she and he can keep them together, just the two of them.

I've been worried about how much the teacher could end up harming Reiji, she doesn't really hit her ... head very well, there's a certain fear that this will turn into a School Days.

This review is based on what i've read so far. This can change* on the future.

MINOR SPOILER!!

First of all this manga have a lot of sex and adult stuff and if you are not a big fan of NTR skip this!.

The story is simply good the pacing is great it didn't feel boring at all and it's pretty easy to understand the story.

Art is great, its clean and some panels are simply fantastic to looks at and it perfectly fit the theme of the story dark, depressing, sad.

Characters in this series are so good, our main character Reiji a high school boy who want ... to die that badly and even trying a lovers suicide with Nagi a former idol that recently move to the town. And this one teacher who "save" both Nagi and Reiji from committing suicide and she's overly obsess with Reiji now.

I enjoy every part of this series i like the dark sad theme of the story and it's one of my go to type of story/genre.

Overall this manga is great if you like reading dark/depressing/grown up/heavy drama story maybe this one is for you!.

This manga is exceptionally good in the way it portrays the world in a negative and pessimistic way.

The art simply matches the story and tone to an amazing extent. The mystery behind character origins and intentions normally would ruin a manga, but this seemingly fuels the story intensely, invoking strong emotions and confusion.

The first few chapters run at light speed, with vicious feelings whipped in it, but everything starts to slow down and you get a look and how this story ended up here.

What this manga truly aces is the manipulation, all these characters come in and you seem to hold a firm opinion ... on them, but when they explain their motives you begin to doubt them, even wondering if they are truthful or lying.

TLDR: Good art, godlike story, dark tone of the world and mystery galore.

Neither good nor bad.

Story:
+ In the beginning the story was actually extremely well done but slowly turned convoluted when the mangaka couldn't make this story realistic
+ Pacing became odd in the middle? It weirdly became slower than needed
+ The later chapters show that the mangaka didn't know how to end it in a way that didn't make it seem like it was dragging on

Character:
+Extremely well done in the beginning with the characterisation done amazingly and fast
+ The characters have distinctive design
+ Shame that the manga decided to drift off into some weird symbolism for a bigger picture in the ... characters
+ Some characters didn't make sense (?) in a real life kind of way just a one-line justification that didn't tie into much

Art:
+ The usage of darker spaces to represent characters current life was done great
+ The art is pretty generic but using stylistic elements unique to the mangaka
+ pretty good backgrounds but not overwhelmingly amazing for like OPM or Chainsaw man

Enjoyment:
+ Kinda felt like I was being looked down with how much dialogue later on was instead of just showing the story through paneling like the beginning
- Like I was too dumb to understand
+ They dived into some symbolism but it just wasn't executed well so it felt like I was reading an imitation of the actual work
+ This had potential before it became a spiderweb of awfulness near the middle
- If the mangaka kept it a bit more simple I feel like this would have a score around 7-8

Extra:
+ This doesn't feel like it would age well like in some ways it is glamorizsng things like
- Cheating
- Grooming
- Stalking
- Depression
- Manipulation

This is an incredibly messed up manga.
It's also a really fucking incredible manga, period.

Every character in this story has a story of their own. The main characters and the supporting cast have something that really makes the reader hooked onto them. Compared to other stories, the author really takes their time with carefully weaving together a string for every single one of them, and then intertwines said strings to create... I don't want to say "masterpiece", it's hard to find a word, really. The characters are all realistic as hell - not realistic as in things they do happen often very often, but realistic as ... in based on what happened in their past, you can clearly see the justification in what they are doing - no matter how disgusting or foul it may be.

It's dangerous to really take the story to heart though. Although it is very well written, I cannot say that there is even the smallest amount of what one would call "the moral of the story". In the end no one should ever try to experience anything that goes on in this manga.

If there is one thing that this manga is, it's emotional - not your usually break down crying or sunshine and rainbows kind of emotional, but instead emotional with much darker, almost melancholic tone. I don't want to speak for everyone, but I personally could relate to the scenarios taking place in a way I have never experienced in any kind of story. Every action made by someone is something I can imagine myself doing if I were in their situation

I can clearly see why many people wouldn't enjoy this story, as it does cover some very heavy topics, but if you are willing to take the plunge there's no real harm in doing so. Who knows, maybe you'll enjoy it, maybe you'll despise it. Either way, I highly recommend at least giving it some time to take a look.

As for the art, it's flawless. 10/10. No arguments will and can be made against this. I can count the number of manga that have comparable art to "Shounen no Abyss" on a single hand. The artist masterfully adds a whole other level of emotion with the way they depict the characters in their art.

All in all, it's a beautiful story. The way one may interpret it as beautiful may vary tremendously compared to the way others do, but it is inarguably, incontestably beautiful.

Thank you for your time.

A manga where logic should not be sought at all and how intriguing it is, the characters are the worst, they are horrible and they are so bad mentally, they all live as if they were looking for salvation, but despite that this manga follows a plot complex, disturbing and intriguing, very unpredictable, it is not known what will happen, highly recommended.

The story focuses on a town where our protagonist lives, he wants to escape and live a life, one day he meets a famous idol of which he is a fan and she proposes that they do a double suicide, she was looking for ... salvation, from there part history.

this review will contain some spoilers

the story and the characters

the manga can be summed up as suicide harem, as the mc and everyone around has depression for some reason or another and everyone wants to commit suicide, this manga really know how to explore its characters, psyche

this story isn't for everyone, but for me it was very enjoyable as there wasn't a single dull moment throughout the manga, every chapter leaves you with wanting more, as there are twist and turns, it always feels like its moving, there is a sense of mystery behind all the characters

the author really knows how set ... the tone, i will give you an example the mc has sex with Nagi a girl he just met, you would think it would feel extremally forced or contrived, but the way its pulled of really fits with tone, there is a sense of eeriness behind each character


as the name of the manga applies you will be sucked into an emotional depressing abyss,,

This manga gives you ray of hope by introducing you to a new character just to bring your Hope's collapsing down, you would think a character would come along be a beacon of hope for the mc, nope the mangaka be like, "we don't do that here" every character is selfish and flawed, they feel human, they use and abuse the mc in some way or form

reading this manga gave me similar feeling that i felt whilst watching welcome to nhk, although not as depressing as that show, it does tackle some similar themes

the art

the art style is pretty good for the most part but some panels can leave more to be desired, on some rare occasions you will get some panels which are really really great,
although its not this manga's main focus i must say the author really know how to draw boobs, and the

final thoughts

although i sang this manga's praise, there are some minor flaws which i want to mention

first of all i was not really a big fan of the yandere character, I thought she started of fine but later just became a plot device, I didn't like direction that the author took with her character, I felt that she could have been explored in a different way rather than just turning her into what felt like "comical villain"


if anyone's wondering weather or not to read this manga i highly suggest you do, you wont regret it

This manga is an uncomfortable read, in the best possible way. It portrays something that people who have suffered from depression might be able to read. The characters are wonderfully debased and they feel free to express the darkest sides of themselves. They feel sympathetic, even though you know they're making the wrong choices. It's cathartic in a way to see these characters be so darkly sexual. The characters are well written and accurately shown. Everyone in the series has their own cross to bear, and it shows how they affect people in a negative way. It is a series that will really make you ... think about the reason for living and the effects of a suicidal high schooler who is trying to find his purpose in life.

Stories belonging to the misery literature are surely specific enough to not click with many, or even most of the readers. "Shounen no Abyss" is that kind of story. While it succeeds in meeting all of this genre's requirements, at some points it starts falling apart in terms of storytelling, and turns into something more hilarious than dramatic.

At first glance, the premise looks interesting. So do characters introduced in the first chapters, their basic motivations and plans for the future. But with every next volume their roles in this manga evolve to the point of convoluted mess, meant to shock the readers in a way ... unseen before in the story, reaching sometimes the lengths of ridiculousness. The recurring theme of suicide, due to how often it's being brought up on various occasions, has lost its initial impact and became something more hilarious than serious. Remember, we are talking here about a serious and sensitive topic overused to the point of becoming not a big deal at the very least. If you combine it with dragged up story arcs, you will receive extremely repetitive and shallow tale full of social pathologies meant to serve as "shocking" or "surprising" revelations.

Apart from negative things, "Shounen no Abyss" has a few bright spots, naturally. Really nice art style, well done panelling, fine character designs, intriguing narration (despite its flaws) and misery lit elements done well (from those that have been done well so far), are the brightest of the ones I can think about.

Fans of Shuuzou Oshimi's works might see in "Shounen no Abyss" many similarities to his two mangas: "Aku no Hana" and "Chi no Wadachi", mostly when it comes to storytelling, presentation and psychological approach. I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but it's not what I wanted to write about here. The thing is... those similarities are nice to see and all, but the fact they are handled in an underwhelming way doesn't make the whole story any better. Precisely, their elements visible in "Shounen no Abyss" lack refinement and care to details known from the mangas created by Oshimi-sensei.

I've enjoyed reading this manga so far and I will definitely read it until the last chapter, sine by the time of writing this review it's still an ongoing series. However, when it comes to recommending it, I say I have "Mixed Feelings". Just try it out by yourself and see if its story and everything it has to offer will click with you.

I will spoil some beats of Shounen no Abyss here, as well as Aku no Hana. Be warned.

I must say, when I first found this title my interest was piqued. The art-style seemed pleasant, capturing atmosphere through paneling and shading akin to Shuzo Oshimi, as well as having a character design strikingly similar to Aku no Hana's post time-skip Kasuga. I must say I am a big fan of Aku no Hana, and upon writing this review, I have not read anything that quite captures atmospheric depression and loneliness in the same manner. So yes, I was excited to read something which could capture ... a similar feeling.
But as I continued to read Shounen no Abyss, the more it felt lacking, to the point where it would be frustrating. I suppose my expectations should've been lower...

The story follows Reiji, a seemingly normal high-schooler with normal problems who lives in the middle of nowhere. He gets lightly bullied by an old friend, has some family problems, and wants to leave town, but it's hard to tell if any of these issues really get to him at all, or if he's simply good at brushing them off. Instead, he choses to indulge in Idol culture and hang out with his friend. He seems happy. Then he meets his favorite idol who now works at a drug store and suddenly his everyday life is turned upside down... Does this sound familiar?

Already, I was inclined to make comparisons to Oshimi's Aku no Hana simply because of the artwork and Reiji being a Kasuga look-alike, yet so many story beats, atmospheric panels, and early moments feel so Oshimi it made me think that he was a main inspiration.
Boring town, check, normal but quiet boy with not many friends, check, girl who comes in and changes the way he sees his everyday life, check. But the difference between Shounen no Abyss and Aku no Hana become clear after these first few chapters end.

One main issue I see with Shounen no Abyss is that it fails to really capture WHY people become mentally ill. Reiji is fine one moment, then is trying to commit suicide the next. There is no flow, no development, no character beats that would lead up to this. There were some issues in his life, but there was no reaction to any of them. It makes Reiji seem shallow, a husk of a character that the author can manipulate into feeling any way he wants.
If I could bring up Aku no Hana one more time, the timeskip is a foil. We SEE Kasuga slowly becoming disillusioned with life for 6 volumes, then after the failed suicide, he has to crawl out of this mess himself. It's slow, and natural, and we can see how the events have shaped him post-timeskip. Reiji lacks any progression in his actions. We barely get to know how he thinks and reacts to things before he decides to end it all. Once again, this seems shallow.

The structure is the second big problem. Shounen no Abyss wants to have it's cake and eat it too. Have a cast of 'developed' depressed people, and have Reiji get laid by as many girls as possible. The idol he looked up to, his teacher, his best friend, his mother(?). These girls aren't characters, they are tropes that Reiji can use for sex and then move on to the next girl. It's almost structured like an arc, except there isn't any conclusion. Reiji goes from girl to girl without much of a reaction. And though we seem to be getting consequences from this, who cares? Why should we care when Reiji doesn't?

Pure and simple, I described it once as depression porn, and I stick to that claim. There is nothing that is being said here that hasn't been said better anywhere else, if it's saying anything at all. It seems like a pre-teen's idea of what depression would be like, adding in a bunch of cute girls to keep the attention of it's readers. It's begging to be called deep without putting the work in, begging to be labeled as a masterpiece without any actual progression. Overall, Shounen no Abyss is not worth your time. It wasn't worth mine. There's nothing of substance here, and I doubt there ever will be.

This manga is honestly so based that I had to write a review about it because I think the low reviews are not giving it credit.

To start this manga at face value isn't really good, and part of the fun is realizing that yes, this story is insane and nonsensical at times, but that makes this read super fucking fun if you just look at everything happening. The characters themselves are insane, all of them. Any character you see will blow your mind in the next 10 chapters by their recent actions, this is my favorite part about the characters. This story isn't much but ... every chapter has me wondering what is going to happen next chapter. My other favorite part about this work is the art, I really think this artist's style is perfect for this batshit story. The art in the manga looks so fine, so many moments have some sexy ass photos with them.

Overall this manga is so much fun and I can't stop reading it :))))))))

"Boy's Abyss," or as I like to affectionately call it, "The Deep Dive into Teen Angst We Didn't Know We Needed Until Now," is a rollercoaster of emotions that you didn't necessarily sign up for, but once you're on, you're not getting off until the ride's over. And trust me, you'll enjoy every loop, twist, and heart-stopping drop.

Imagine taking all the complexities of growing up, the angst, the drama, and the longing for something more, then throwing them into a blender with a dash of existential dread. What you get is "Boy's Abyss," a manga that's as intoxicating as your first love and as painful ... as your first breakup. It's the story we've all lived, in one way or another, except with more plot twists and morally gray characters than your average high school drama club could ever hope to portray.

Our protagonist's journey is akin to navigating a minefield of emotional turmoil and questionable life choices, which, let's be honest, is a pretty accurate representation of adolescence. Except here, the stakes are higher, the lows are darker, and the highs are, well, few and far between. It's like watching a trainwreck in slow motion; you want to look away, but the sheer force of the narrative keeps you riveted.

What I genuinely appreciate about "Boy's Abyss" is its unflinching willingness to explore the darker corners of human nature and the complexities of relationships. It doesn't shy away from the messy, the uncomfortable, or the downright disturbing. Instead, it dives headfirst into the abyss, dragging us along for the ride, and somehow, we're all the better for it.

But let's not forget the relatability factor. Amidst the chaos and the drama, there's a raw, underlying truth to the characters' experiences and emotions. It's a mirror to the soul for anyone who's ever felt trapped by circumstance, yearned for escape, or struggled with the conflicting desires of heart and home. "Boy's Abyss" doesn't just tell a story; it bares a piece of the human condition, exposing the pain, the longing, and the desperate search for meaning in a world that often seems devoid of it.

So, yes, I enjoy "Boy's Abyss" for its complexity, its audacity, and its heart. It's a beautifully dark exploration of what it means to be young and lost, searching for light in the depths of despair. And if that's not a compelling reason to dive in, I don't know what is. It's not just a manga; it's an experience, a journey through the shadows that reminds us of the power of storytelling to connect, to disturb, and ultimately, to illuminate.

This manga is not for everyone. If you are not interested in the direction this story goes after 10 or so chapters, then I would suggest no longer continuing. If though, for some reason you do like it then by all means persist.

Personally, I enjoy this manga quite a bit. The way each scene unfolds and the way the story continues audibly has me gasping and uttering 'wtf' under my breath in the best possible way. The way the characters are also constructed are very relatable and you really get to understand their perspectives, even as crazy and deranged some of their actions are.

There are ... times when panels are constructed beautifully, chocked full of the overwhelming amount of text bubbles, or a world blurred and shaken that really add to the overall impact and immersion into the psyche of the characters.

My only great gripe is that the main character seems to be a little inconsistent and seems to fluctuate between actively pursuing his goal and just being completely dead, which I believe could have been executed better.

So I binged the whole manga in just a day and all I can say is that it is pretty good, at the 1st chapter I got hooked and decided to read more of it not knowing that I have already read the whole manga in just half a day.

The story I gave it a 7:
Some can write a similar story to this one with depression, suicide, dark, etc. themes, but I like dramas and dark stories even though they are cliche and you know what will happen if you are like me and like dramas and dark stories you will like this manga while ... reading this I also feel uncomfortable with some scenes I will not say what happens but it is what it is if you run into this manga try to read the 1st chapter and if you got hooked get ready for a ride.

For the art, I give it a 9;
for the art style, I really liked the art style and the character design really gives a serious vibe and is just suited for the aura of the scene

Characters I give a good 9;
I really like the personality of the characters, somewhat busted up to the point where they just want to disappear, not problems with the characters, I like them as they are. Pretty Fucked Up.

Enjoyment also a solid 9;
Really enjoyed it to my preference. Dark. and had me hooked on the 1st chapter, it got me good.

Overall 9;
Just because it got me hooked and made me want to read all of it with just one chapter already makes it a great manga for me, if you run into this manga give it a try to read

SPOILER WARNING!!!!!


I honestly was a bit hesitant to read it, 'cause disturbing manga aren't really my thing, but jesus is this a fucking stairway to insanity if a read, after reading the first chapter, i thought it was going to be bit crazy, sure, but after a few dozen chapters, it cranks up to 100. Reiji is the MC with a harem, but it's probably the most twisted, ... warped group of women that cling onto him for some reason( excluding chako, even though she's got her demons).
But the fact that the people aroun him helped shape him, Reiji's got problems of his own, although i get the feeling that it's been instilled with a gnarly sense of responsibility for his family, a toxic and dependent relationship with one of his childhood friends, attempting to commit double suicide with someone he'd just met, getting abused by his father, dude's got it rough to say the least. But i don't think asking someone he barely knows to save him is fair,yet he pushed that blame into his teacher, and she turned out to be another loonie who had a lot of issues and tried to use Reiji as a means o save herself, baiscally using each other. They just ended up falling deeper and deeper.
I'm really fucking curious to know how it'll end, this is a pretty creepy manga, and was the first of this type for me, still, it hits you right in the wrong ways.

The main character of Boy's Abyss aka Shounen no Abyss, Reiji is entrapped in the very town he was born in. His old childhood friend has turned to 'bullying' him, and his family affairs leave him no breathing room nor solace with a violent and shut-in brother, an elderly grandmother who requires care, and a mother who seems to be barely able to keep up with her own hardships in life. Boy's Abyss is certainly a difficult read. It's rather nihilistic in tone with the repeated emphasis on suicide as an escape from physically inescapable hardships.

For the most part, Boy's Abyss is a compelling ... work. The character's difficulties are well established and rationalized, and the primary characters have a great deal of depth to them. While the story at first seems to follow the conventions of teenage 'poverty porn' in Japanese indie movies and novels, what truly makes this manga's story so compelling is the sense of mystery. As readers will soon find out as they continue to dive into the manga. the story at first posed has layers of backstory and intrigue that not only gives the narrative and characters greater depth but also serves as a way to draw viewers into the world and story.

However, despite my high praise for this manga series, it is undeniable that several aspects here remain rough around the edges. Particularly, the manga's beginning is a little bit of a janky start with one too many critical and brutally dangerous scenarios piling onto each other too quickly without an appropriate setup for it to occur naturally. And also, one character, in particular, who eventually becomes the 'semi-antagonist' descends into madness a little too unconvincingly perhaps because the story progressed too quickly and did not allow for the character to develop his\her role in a much more naturalistic manner. Still, once you get past these caveats, Boy's Abyss becomes a depressingly great work. Particularly, once the multiple narrative threads have been set up nicely, the intertwining between the characters and their respective goals becomes very compelling and interesting to see.

Boy's Abyss's themes of youthful tragedy and hardship echo the work of Shuuzou Oshimi of Aku no Hana fame. So readers are inbound for tons of difficult and perhaps somewhat sexual moments.

I'll spare you the details of the manga and just tell you that it's nothing amazing. If you're looking for something that is drawn really well and has a some good chapters here and there then maybe this manga is for you, but the art alone can't carry a petty and superfluous story with the unnecessary amounts of chapters.

(Spoilers ahead if you plan on reading the manga)

Story 2/10:
There are some chapters in this manga that were really thought out and well drawn out and easily carries most of my interest into reading all the way to 115 chapters (for example the backstory to Nozoe and ... Yuuko is really really interesting and probably the best part to this whole manga). This makes me think that the author actually had bits and pieces of a comprehensive story drawn out but started this project without really fleshing out the story to its entirety and tried to fill gaps of the story for the sake of filling them out. The manga just has characters talking about how they're gonna do something, how they're all going to kill themselves, or how they're gonna go to Tokyo (for some reason that's the end all be all for every character, going to Tokyo or dying) but nothing ever really happens and even if something does happens it only happens only after they say they're gonna do it for the 10th time. Leaves the story to be really frustrating most of the time and the goal of the story to be left up in the air, usually I'm a sucker for movies with plots that have no direction and we follow a day by day of characters but the author of the manga always hints at something being the end goal only for it to get fucked up by some stupid reason (for example, Reiji agreeing to go to Tokyo with Chako and planning it all out, only to change his mind because why not). Needless to say, the story leaves a lot to be desired and it always feels like any progress to the story just ends up being not important and forgotten in the next few chapters.

Art 10/10:
Not much to say other than that the art really is great and it's the only reason this manga isn't a 2/10 for me.

Characters 2/10:
Characters act like they're talking about things deep in thought and give these arcs that wants you to make them care about them but you tend to just forget about what they said the next two pages in. Some characters that are actually interesting just end up being the background characters, honestly after the first few chapters I could give less of a shit about Reiji and his motivations. I was more interested about Nozoe and Nagi but turns out they're the least appreciated by the author as they only make fleeting appearances. Everybody just wants to end up dead in this story for some goddamn reason and it really shows that the author really hasn't been through depression and never has had a suicidal thought if this is how he perceives it to be like, some of these characters really need a reality check and need to grow up. If you're actually interested to know what depression is like, this is not the place to learn about it, go watch some good movies like "Inside Llewyn Davis" or "Manchester by the Sea" and you'll get a better representation of depression.

Overall 3/10:
Good luck for the future of this manga, art is the only thing that really has something going for this manga, the story is meh at best, and the characters just piss me off half of the time. If you have time to kill and want to feel like shit for no reason at all, read this manga. There's not deep message in this manga but the author wants you to think there is one.

This manga is I belive a story that for its true potential to fully be user will take another few years but for where it is right now is still world building because up until around 20 ish chapters you are kept in the relative blind for this series and now it is very quickly and yet slowly world building however the twists are very numerous and currently very mamy questions to be answered if you have a day to spare and want a realistic feel for 3rd person manipulation and watch the story of a completely screwed but realistic for many manga I'd reccomend ... it

so i think this is my first review about a psychological manga with a dark premise...

Story: 8/10 shounen no abyss as the name refers its about a boy named reiji who lives in a small town with his mother yuko grandmother and brother .Due to his family issues he has suicidal tendencies yeah if you aren't into suicidal manga please don't bother. I want to add this manga has mystery aspects so as we get deeper into this dark abyss many stories are told which always take me by surprise how things connects from past events.

ART: 9/10 - art is definitely the strong part of ... this manga as this story is also told by character's facial expressions. I remember many powerful silent panels which can't be expressed in words.

Enjoyment: i personally enjoy this manga a lot and will definitely recommend to every psychological manga lovers out there. There are sex scenes so if you are uncomfortable with those you should avoid as they are also one of important plot lines of this manga

Overall : 8/10 - i definitely say i wait for this manga every week as every chapter feels fresh so i thought i should write a review as this manga completed 100 chapters and now is officially licensed in English

(basically my video review, but why write something different...)

A quote that is attributed to the philosopher Schopenhauer says this: ‘we should always be mindful of the fact that no man is ever very far from the state in which he would readily want to seize a sword or poison in order to bring his existence to an end.’

Now, the story is a little hard to explain for some reason, but I’ll try without spoiling anything. The MC is, of course, a high schooler named Reiji.He lives in a small town and is a secret otaku – he recently got into an Idol Group アクリル, a ... group that was introduced to him by his even bigger otaku childhood friend, Chako. One day after school, they just chill as always, when tourists ask them for a specific location. Reiji is confused as he doesn’t know why anyone would visit their little town, but Chako explains to him that there’s a novel in which two lovers commit suicide by ‘going into the water’. The place they do this at is located in this very town. Chako changes the subject though and tells Reiji that she was advised to take the exam for Waseda university, which is a real and prestigious university in Tokyo.

Chako asks if Reiji doesn’t want to leave the town as well, but he feels responsible for his family. His dad is out of the picture, his older brother is a troubled hikikomori and his grandmother needs constant assistance – so his mother is really relying on Reiji’s help. Saying that he feels the weight of the world on his shoulders might be a good way of putting it.

And it doesn’t even end there – another childhood ‘friend’ called Gen makes him run errands for him. So one evening, Gen asks Reiji to go get some cigarettes for him. Reiji goes to the conbini to buy them, when the clerk tells him that they don’t sell to high schoolers. This never happened before, and Reiji realizes that she must be new. Later that night, he sees her again when she’s taking out the trash, but there’s a homeless looking dude so he feels like he should stay close in case anything happens. She just gave this guy a bentou and nothing happens. So, Reiji and the girl start talking and it turns out that she is actually Nagi, the chick from the idol group he loves so much. This is where Reiji says his ‘death’ began.
But immediately this girl is suspicious, right? Like, why would this pop idol and city girl be in such a small town and hang out with a high schooler? And this actually brings me to my next point: the main character. For some reason, so many girls and grown women as well are drawn to him. We don’t really know who Reiji is and I can’t say when he acts ooc. This can make him interesting since it makes you wonder who he really is and what he thinks and wants…it seems as if whenever someone asks him to do something, he just agrees. I don’t know if he has a mind of his own.

He seems like a regular guy, but one bad thing happens and he kinda loses it – all it takes then is for one person – always female – to ask highly suspicious things of him and he wants to do them without hesitating. There’s a fine line between having no personality and creating an air of mystery around someone. I don’t know if he’s been hiding his true emotions and they just get triggered by all these women or if he is just easily manipulated. The manga isn’t over yet, so we’ll see. But somehow, everyone in his life clings to him for support, even Chako. Everyone needs him to be something. Nagi is the only one who doesn’t need him to be anything, she invites him to eternal piece aka. Death, essentially. In my eyes, that’s why she doesn’t really need an amazing personality, as she merely functions as a symbol, if that makes sense.

Chako is more fleshed out, she has a distinct personality and a stronger will than probably anyone else in the story. The other characters, like the teacher and mother, seem like leaves drifting in a river. These ‘no personality types’ can seem like bad writing at first, but I’d like to think that this was a deliberate choice to stress the apathy so many people feel in small towns. It’s also interesting that there are basically no men in Reiji’s life. Aside from Gen, who, despite everything, seems to care deeply about Reiji, there is not a single male figure of importance in his life. I don’t know, I’m just starting to feel a little sus about it. The fact that the story is set in a small town makes a lot what happens relatable. Everyone knows everyone, dreams die when you grow to live the life your parents lived, you know…things like that. I lived in a small town for many years in my youth, so I know what it feels like.

The character design in and of itself isn’t super outstanding – it’s pretty good, but nothing super unique or anything. However, the author is really good at creating the right atmosphere. The town has this dark history and it feels like there is constantly something sinister lurking in the shadows, or a darkness waiting to pull you into the deep – or into an abyss, if you will. Everyone constantly seems to be at the brink of suicide, which reminds me again of the quote I mentioned at the beginning of this review. It kind of feels like everything is normal during the day, but as soon as the night comes, everything suddenly changes.
Some people were complaining that this manga is trying to be ‘deep’, and I’m never really sure what they mean when they say something like that, but OK…if something is meaningful or not is different for everyone, so that’s a point I really do not like seeing in reviews unless you can tell me exactly why you felt that way – otherwise, it’s just an opinion and should be written as such.


Thanks for reading.