Plot: When I said this Manwha had a novel idea, I point to the title MAL so kindly gave it, "Karina's Last Days". I think this accurately portrays the plot of what seems as a typical royal-fantasy B love plot that most shoujou manwha are, and demonstrates the novelty in a more succinct way than "The Time of the Terminally Ill Extra" that I searched for this manwha under.
As the title implies, the story follows a young noble by the name of Karina Leopold, who as the middle child of the family, falls under the shadow of her older brother's accomplishments and her younger sibling's illness. Unlike other manwha's where the main character is harshly abused by their family through the very cliché extremes of physical and emotional abuse and for one stupid reason or other (like being the weakest in a swordsman's house), rather she suffers from a severe form of neglect from a lack of affection and unfortunate circumstance. As the middle child, she was put in this situation where with how sick her younger siblings are, the affection of her parents were split very unevenly, and she was forced to take this mantle of an independent woman at a young age. As a result, this uneven affection created a cycle of complacency to where she felt that she had to rely on herself and acquiesce everything in the wake of her siblings.
There is a light to this of course, and that comes with her ability to draw. She is one of the rare few in this world that are blessed with the talent of art, to the point that they become miracles approaching god's domain. For example, one character that will be met later in the story has the ability to heal through music. And as of course it is, with her ability to draw, she is blessed with an ability called the miracle of creation (a more powerful version of that as well), where she can basically create anything (with a few exceptions of course).
The downside to this, as we soon learn in the intro chapters, is that those who possess this ability can contract something called the "Art Disease". The Art Disease is a consequence of using too much of an ability close to god's power and it results in a degradation of the key part needed to create their art. As an example, another important character has an ability to embroider things on cloth, and when he burns them, they appear, but as a consequence due to the Art Disease, he is losing his sight, a key ability to his embroidery.
For Karina's case however, the Art Disease is much more serious. For her, the disease is terminal, and as we find out in the early chapters, she only has a year to live. As such, she makes the decision to leave her toxic household and move as far away as possible to live out the rest of her days in peace, in which that place happens to be her fiancé's household. This is the start of the story of Karina's Last Days.
I am an avid Manwha reader, and as any manwha reader knows, the slog of the same reused ideas can be monotonous to sort through (even though we read them anyway), and any novel idea can be enticing. That attraction is what lead me to this manwha, but what kept me was the characters.
Characters: Our main character is Karina Leopold, a neglected child who developed into a young lady that tries to keep her head down and not bother anyone. She is kind and selfless, but hides a resentment and jealousy to her family who left her to the shadows. She apologizes for any inconvenience as a coping mechanism to avoid confrontation as a result of knowing that confrontation will lead nowhere. She holds no desires, because she knows that having them will only result in nothing. She is someone truly pitiful, and not so unrealistic, that one can not unrelate.
Unlike with other main characters, this situation that she finds herself in is not quite so uncommon in households. Often children in large families are not given equal affection to their other siblings, and it leads to a built up of resentment and jealousy and a need for affection. Sometimes the best thing is to leave and find a place where one belongs so those problems can be resolved. I can feel for this character more than say others, because I have felt that jealousy and resentment (not to the same extent). I can understand her perspective greater than I can of a guy who was tortured for a million years and is seeking revenge against those who caused him pain.
For our other characters, while on the backburner a bit compared to our MC, all feel in depth, with a lot of potential to flush out. The "villains", i.e. the family, aren't the basic cat-stroking, mustache-twirling villains one would expect to see, but feel more or less misguided and blinded.
In a Slice of Life/Drama, character development and character interactions are vital to keeping the story going, and I can't say that they disappoint in this department.
Art: Like pretty much every manwha out there, the art is gorgeous. All colored and finely detailed, there isn't much to comment on any deficiencies here.
Final Comments: If I were to rate each section, Story: 9, Characters: 9, Art: 8, Overall: 9. The story is near perfect, the characters are near perfect and the art is incredibly good. This has the potential to be a 10, but since this review was done in the middle chapters of the manwha, I can't give it a 10 yet because it has a lot more to grow. The greatest part about this manwha, is the journey, the journey Karina experiences as she goes about learning what it truly means to be selfish, as she touches the hearts of all of those around her. I have a soft spot for Slice of Life/Dramas like this one, a story of enjoying life to the fullest, with the minimal time that remains. It gives a new perspective on what it means to be alive and how we should spend our time on this earth.
I look forward to where this manwha will take me, and I hope whoever reads this will join in on the ride!
