After finishing HakoMarie I felt a huge gap in my heart, a void of sorts. I wanted more but at the same time I wanted something new. And that's when i came across this. While it's not at the same level as HakoMarie, it's pretty damn near.
Eiji Mikage has proven once again to me why is he the best author out there. his unique style of writing and the dark athmosphere in his storys is what actually shines about him. and trust me when I say this ; Kamisu Reina series is dark.
this is a review of the 1st and 2nd volume, so it may contain minor spoiller of the first volume.
The Story: 9/10.
Now, the subject of suicide is nothing new in our lives. We see news about suicides every day in the newspaper or the TV. and it can even happen to someone close to you. So why is this topic the best thing about this novel? simple, it's the cause of suicide. The story of this novel doesn't really focus on the act of suicide, but the causes of it. And according to the plot, the causes are a phenomenon called Reina kamisu. But, for this phenomenon to appear you have to actually believe in it. now I can't say any more becuase it would be a huge spoiller of the 2nd volume. So, I'll keep it brief. This phenomenon is in fact the "best friend" of our first "protagonist" Fumi Saito, who in fact is a lonely highschool girl with no friends except for one, Kamisu Reina. What she didn't know though is that Reina is actually there to help her remove her miserys and get her to other world which is called "THERE", in other words, heaven.
The Characters : 10/10.
This is actually the strongest point about this Novel. The characters are totally different people, half of which don't even attend the same school. but they're all somehow connected as though they all can see and talk to Reina, and they all have a miserable life or a dark past. The way the author presented these characters is beautiful to say the least. For each chapter we get to expirience the events in the prespective of a certain character, which in the same time denies the presence of a main character. But in the very end we get to know who is Reina Kamisu, in the final chapter she's the protagonist and I must say that was greatly done.
The Art: -/10
The biggest disappointement of this novel is the art. Well, there are none. Except for the cover there are absolutely no illustrations. I can understand that since Reina Kamisu is "absurdely beautiful" and it would be hard to creat a certain character design for her so it's best to let it for our imagination. But the same can't be said for the rest of the characters. I really wanted to see how Shizuka and Kogure looked like, the others as well. But sadely there aren't any illustrations of them.
Enjoyment: 10/10
I got hooked on this series from the very first chapter. And I enjoyed my self all the way. It was one hell of a ride.
Overall: 10/10
Eiji Mikage once again reminded that he's the king of Light Novels. I haven't read much, but from what I've seen so far no author can be compared to him when it comes to writing style and setting the athmosphere. this novel and HakoMarie are without a doubt the best thing I've ever read. And I'm looking forward to read whatever he writes in the future.
This is my first review, and english is not my native language, so i appologise for the bad english .
