I thought this era of ultraviolence, tension and psychological thrillers had desensitized me to so much but kudos to Keiko Suenobu for helping me remember exactly how damaging bullying can be and the many facets it can take. Took me way back around 10 years of being caught up in that cycle at times...despite being in another country with a totally different culture the similarities were eerie. Personal relationships, cliques, petty triggers, senseless violence. This is life, the school life most of us remain oblivious to despite either seeing it or actually having been part of it. The ugly side that we use 'out of sight out of mind' logic for. The author nailed this.
As well written as Life was though, after the halfway point I felt Minami (the main antagonist) because a bit too cartoonish with her scheming and being able to sidestep every obstacle, all she was missing was a monocle from being a stereotypical villain. The emotional impact was still there but it's the inverse of having a hero who's perfect. In retrospect I guess the escalation of the bullying in the story went further than it needed to despite already having established enough pieces to work with. I feel most series have a moment in the middle where things drag out somewhat and this is where Life took that hit.
Art is good, clean, simple yet easy to make out with good layouts. Nothing groundbreaking but solid stuff.
To conclude, if you're looking for a grounded story that doesn't shy away from topic of bullying and doesn't sugarcoat anything give this a shot.
