Reviews

Life (Manga) add (All reviews)
Aug 22, 2024
This anime was a great read, and I definitely recommend it. The emotional rollercoaster that this story takes you on will have you binge reading this series very fast. Seriously, I think I binged this series within 3 days.

Premise: the story is about a girl, named Ayumu, who passed the exams and got into a good school. Unfortunately, she had to leave a friend behind which made her insecure. Ayumu wants to fit in, and she'll deal with a lot to do so, which leads us into the main plot: the bullying. Ayumu gets bullied because the HBIC thought that Ayumu and her boyfriend were fooling around behind her back.

Art: the art perfectly switches to capture the emotions of a situation. They capture the tone. The art gets very light and whimsical when it's portraying a cheerful situation. It has great lighting when portraying something wholesome and romantic. It gets gritty and grungy when portraying depression, horror, and even dangerous situations. The author is able to switch through both art styles and change it up. Legit... Some panels look like they're from a wholesome slice of life school manga, some art so romantic and picturesque, and others look like they're straight from a horror manga or an action manga.

Characters: the biggest strength of the series are the characters and how they contrast and develop. You have the characters who foil each other. Ayumu is a foil to Hatori. Ayumu is the insecure girl who wants to fit in and is afraid of being alone. You see the panels of her anxiety and insecurity. She even blames herself and tries to make up with her "friends" when they isolate her. She doesn't have the strength to stand up for others, much less herself. This is contrasted with Hatori who really doesn't care how others think of her. Hatori is fine with being alone. She doesn't even care what others say about her. She's who Ayumu wants to emulate, and who Ayumu admires. Then you have Manami and Katsumi, as foils. Both of them are terrible people, but one has a dad that spoils them and the other has an abusive dad. It shows that too much of anything is bad. Spoiling a kid rotten and letting them get away with everything creates a monster, since they never face consequences for their actions. Abusing a kid and pressuring them leads them to displace their anger, and they might even become perpetrators of abuse. You have two teachers: one actually cares and the other is apathetic.

These different characters allow a beautiful narrative to be told, and for great character development. They allow for interesting dynamics and actions within the manga. Some of them are so insane that they're like characters from a horror story. Some characters are relatable and make you sympathize with them. Some characters are weak and have others stand up for them, while other characters have grit and put up a great fight (and even win). Seriously, some chapters are absolutely epic 10/10 chapters.

With that said, this manga did have a few issues that kept it from being a 10/10. Sometimes the MC was too forgiving, which is... No. This is personally why I like Vitamin a bit more, since she had no fucks to give for her bullies. Even with that flaw, I still recommend you read this series. It's going to take you on a ride, and you won't put this one down.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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