Sugar Dark: Umerareta Yami to Shoujo

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A short, but brilliant manga that combines horror, mystery and romance together in an awesome package. Perhaps the most refreshing thing about this story is that the protagonist is a relatively smart and decisive type of fellow - he doesn't sit back and let events happen around him only to be drawn into them, instead he figures out what it is that he wants to do and then pursues it. After reading so many crappy romance manga with wimpy or sad-sack protagonists, Muo from Sugar Dark is the type of guy that you really want to cheer for.

I particularly loved the spooky atmosphere of ... the earlier and middle arcs of this manga and how the mystery around everything unfolds at a steady pace. I never felt like the story despite being short was too rushed, and while I did predict what the ending was going to be, I felt satisfied seeing it play out.

If you're looking for a good short read, I highly recommend this manga. You won't be disappointed by it.

tl;dr: A short and sweet romance in a dark setting that's a bit rushed towards the end and kind of narrow.

This manga is pretty short. It's four volumes but it's the type that you sit down reading and before you realize it you've already reached the ending. There are only a few characters, and the story is primarily centered around the relationship between the protagonist and the main heroine and the circumstances surrounding both of them. It is ultimately simply the story of the hero saving the heroine, but I think it does a really good job with how it goes about this. It does ... a good job of slowly revealing what the situation is exactly, leaving things quite mysterious and not revealing everything until the climax, and does a good job of using that to have the relationship between the protagonist and heroine develop in an interesting manner.

The protagonist is a very interesting character, in that for most of the manga they seem to be the type of protagonist that's pretty weak willed and just goes with the flow, but in the end show that they actually have a pretty strong-willed personality that makes them likable and easy to get invested in. The heroine doesn't have that much to her in that she's mainly just a really kind girl that was in an awful situation, but the horror aspect of the manga is used well to really convey how awful of a situation it is, and thus though it is based on pity that is enough to make the reader heavily invested in her, which is fine for the type of manga it is. The story manages to hit a lot of good emotional notes, and as a result of the strength of the two main characters the plot itself is also really easy to get invested in, and thus these emotional moments manage to have a lot of impact.

Still, it felt like the manga was too short which manifested in two issues. The first is that the ending felt quite abrupt and rushed. It's a really solid ending in and of itself, and the last couple of pages manage to capture an incredible amount subtly, but I think I would have really enjoyed it spending more time on it and fleshing things out more explicitly. The other issue, though this is one that's more of a double-edged sword than just an issue, is that the story managed to capture so little. There is some really strong world building and the manga also does a really good job of establishing the dark tone and atmosphere surrounding that. It shows a lot of things slightly and alludes to quite a bit more, but in the end doesn't really flesh out anything other than what's immediately relevant to the story of the two main characters. Thus, it feels like there's much more story that could be told for this world that simply wasn't. The benefit of this is that the plot of the manga got to focus solely on the two main characters and managed to develop that incredibly well with good pacing. But at the same time, it does kind of feel like we're not getting the whole picture.

The art was pretty good in that it wasn't overtly good in quality or style, but did a decent job of being nice looking when it needed to and an even better job of being horrific when it needed to.

After being falsely accused for murder, 16 year old solider "Muoru Reed" was sent to a cemetery and given the role of a "Grave Keeper", where he should dig holes for living. One night, when he is planning to escape while roaming around the cemetery, he meets a mysterious girl named "Maria" but it seems that she's more than meets the eye and the holes he dig aren't exactly for what he thought.

Spanning for only 19 chapters (4 volumes), "Sugar Dark" tells a decent dark romance story which you can complete in around an hour or even less. It is easy to read, the pages ... are divided into simple panels that are easy to follow but there are also some single pages that make you appreciate the art. The art style, while not that great, it does a good job to maintain the darker tone of the story with some well drawn imagery.

The story & characters aren't complicated but there's a surface level of mystery surrounding each of them, which was decent enough to care for but since it's pretty short, the world building is lacking. Most of the story takes place at a cemetery between a boy & girl with a few other characters. It kicks off the story by showing a guy burying a girl and it mostly keeps that tone throughout (except for a few silly moments).
The dark/supernatural setting allows for some gruesome imagery & spooky vibes, while the romance is pretty subtle. It follows the same boy meets girl formula with a familiar storyline but is good enough to root for. The side cast is alright, only "Karasu" is noteworthy and the remaining are pretty forgettable (except the big dog).

There's a fun little twist at the end of the story which was well foreshadowed but the ending itself feels abrupt and incomplete, leaving a lot to explore. The ending looks like your standard happily-ever-after end but you can also view it as a somewhat bittersweet ending, it's entirely your interpretation. But it left a few questions unanswered about the world, lore & some characters. I personally would've preferred a much darker ending, I don't mean to say I don't like happy endings but given the story's darker setting & character, I would've much appreciated if it had a much darker ending. But for what it is;

"Sugar Dark - Umerareta Yami to Shoujo" is a nice & short supernatural romcom. Has some well drawn art & panels, short chapters, with decent characters & a decent romance. If you're bored, can't find anything to read or if you want some romance amidst a dark setting, this is for you. It's not great but good enough to give it a try.