Shigeshoushi
The Embalmer

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Being in a country where embalming is a practice, I could probably relate to the thought where "the family members would want the deceased to look how he/she usually was when he/she's still alive"

Before I go straight to my review, let me just tell you something to further prove my point. Just recently, my grandfather died. He died of an illness so he was really thin when he died. After the embalming process, my grandfather looked more fat (not totally but the healthy kindof fat) than he was when he died. He didn't look like he died of an illness and he does look like ... he was actually sleeping. He even has this little smile in his face. So, we thought: "He was probably happy now that he's not suffering anymore."

before, I didn't really care about those people who worked as an embalmer. But, after reading this manga, I thought, this is what they actually do. Ease the burden of the family members who were left by the deceased.

Stories are captivating and at times, heartbreaking.

The art is okay. It really does exceeds my expectations whenever it reveals how Shinjyurou embalmed the corpse (I know that sounded weird)

Characters is an okay as well. I actually understand Shinjyurou's need to hold something warm after embalming a corpse. It's more of a psychological effect. It seemed like the trauma of seeing his mother being embalmed by his father in front of him kind of retained in his subconscious mind and that it resurfaces via sexual drive. I love how the characters were portrayed in every chapter.

It's a weird kind of manga imo, but overall, it is entertaining and of course, it does after all teaches a lesson or two :)

The Embalmer is one of those titles that really prove how full of various and unusual themes the medium of manga is. Really, where else would you find a fiction about non-Egyptian embalming?

Now, embalming isn't really something most of the readers would relate to. I too had my doubts about how someone could make a series based around it entertaining or meaningful, especially considering I didn't see any meaning even in the act of embalming itself. Lo and behold, it actually is good. The manga takes the readers doubt and responds to them. It explains and defends the utility of the profession of embalmer ... really well through the whole story and is perfectly capable of changing your opinion of it. This is very important thing to do, as without the reader understanding the meaning of embalming, the whole manga would have much lesser impact, and I commend the author for getting it right.

The second instance of the author answering my doubts as a reader was within the first few chapters. At the beginning, this manga didn't look that great and most importantly, the episodical format of the chapters seemed to have the same formula for all of them - a character is introduced, they die somehow and the protagonist gets to do their job while some part of the deceased's life is explored. Which is nice and all, but it gets repetitive quickly. However, it was exactly the chapter that I was starting to get bored and complaining about the repetitiveness that this formulaic cycle was broken. The progress of the chapter went different than expected, in a good way, and it was also around this point where a more consistent plot started to show through the chapters. It really shows a great writing skill when the author is able to pinpoint the reader's doubt like this and answers them.

The protagonist has his flaws and one of the main point of the story is confronting them, which I have to appreciate, especially in this era of mary sue MCs. The minor characters too have their own personalities, even if some of them appear only for a short time. Unlike some other titles, none of the characters here feels like a cardboard cut-out of the person.

The art feels kinda... Tokyopop-ish. Yes I know, Tokyopop is just an English licensor, and yet the art feels exactly like something they would typically pick up for a release. It might feel kind of... dated, if that's even the fitting expression, but you'll get used to it quickly and it's certainly not a bad art. It's just your typical early 00's manga vibe.

Overall, it's an interesting read with an unusual theme and with a satisfying story conclusion. Certainly worth picking up.

TL:DR
An interesting and little-covered concept but repetitive with unlikeable re-occuring characters. Do not recommend.

Description
Shinjuurou Mamiya works as an embalmer—a profession seen as "unclean" by Japanese society due to religious traditions and lack of demand for the service. Driven by his passion to preserve the dignity of the deceased, he has resigned himself to the outcast lifestyle that comes with his job. Though his clientele is lacking, he is exceptionally skilled. Shinjuurou does not shy away from opportunities to show off his ability to transform a corpse into a state that makes a loved one believe they are just sleeping peacefully.

Shigeshoushi explores the delicate psychological ... relationships between life, death, loss, and mourning. With each embalming, Shinjuurou brings the inner beauty of the deceased back to life to give their loved ones a chance to properly say goodbye.

Story: 5/10
This manga primarily consists of disconnected vignettes centred on someone dying and their subsequent embalming by Shinjuurou. Some of these are thought provoking but most of them follow the exact same template:
- Someone dies
- Embalmer introduces themselves to relative/friend/etc
- Body embalmed
- Rrelative/friend/etc: “Wow they're so beautiful, I'm so happy they were embalmed”
- Azuki pines over Shinjuurou or vice-versa

If it sounds like that would get repetitive, you're right! The concept of embalming is unique but the issue is that there is very little to differentiate each individual story. Additionally, most characters only show up in one chapter so each one only gets extremely basic characterisation. It's hard to care about what they're going through when I just met these characters and the main character isn't very expressive either. This is especially bad considering the manga tries to beat you over the head about how great embalming is with trite sob stories.

The rest of this manga is made of the protagonists backstory or the relationship between the protagonist and his love interest, Azuki. Actually most of the emotions come from the main character's really awful ‘romance’ with Azuki (more on this in the character section).

Strangely, there is very little focus on the actual process of embalming itself, mostly focussing on the emotions of those with relations with the deceased, which does match the manga's philosophy that embalming is primarily for benefit of the living. Considering my above criticism, I do not consider this a good thing.

This manga mostly reads like it's advertising embalming to the japanese mixed with bad romance, broken up in the middle by Shinjuurou's somewhat interesting backstory.

Character: 3/10
The main character, Shinjuurou is insufferable, I really hate him. He takes people for granted and is extremely childish. The fact that his love interest is a high-schooler while he's a middle aged man with a career doesn't improve my opinion of him either.

Azuki is a non-entity with no personality. She exists solely to be the object of Shinjuurou's affection (and he's not particularly good at that). This is not great when she makes up half the emotional core of the re-occurring cast.

Honestly it was really painful to read their so-called romance, It's something I'd think was charming for teenagers but it's really weird for this adult man to behave this way with a high schooler. It seems they are only attracted to each other because the author said so, I couldn't tell you a single reason for them to actually be attracted to each other. They have barely any dialogue with each other and no actual chemistry when they're together. They both have that ‘wonderful’ manga trope where they're both, for some reason, deeply in love with each other but never quite manage to tell each other because something always gets in the way in the most contrived way possible.

Art
Nothing to complain about, nothing to particularly praise. Very middle of the road art in my opinion.

Overall: 5/10
Perhaps this manga takes on a far deeper meaning if you've experienced a loss badly, then you could think on what the funeral meant for you. Perhaps.

Formulaic writing and unlikeable characters kill any interest I had in the manga, even with it's interesting concept. The bad outweighs the few enjoyable parts of the manga and I do not recommend reading it.