Kagami no Kuni starts out with our typical adolescent lead, Harisugawa Tetsu. He has a crush on Satomi Mao and even saved her from a tragic accident when they were younger. Now, in present time, the same incident happens yet again, with him not in a hospital bed but inside a mirror. The only way to escape this despairing world inside the mirror is to share a mutual love with the one you admire.
The backbone set up from the first chapter is phenomenal. I was sold by the premise of this imprisonment and what the characters were able to do with it. This had me thinking of all the possibilities this could lead to or what the mangaka had to work with. The only problem was that Kano-san was looking for a romantic comedy alone (which I have no qualms about), but that meant his scope was drastically narrowed into a short lived manga. With the main character trapped inside a mirror, this could only lead to a stalemate and no progress would be made with the story past a certain point. Kano-san decided to cut his losses and make this manga a quicky.
There are several problems and factors that I would like to address that contributed to the downfall of this manga. Not enough support from the readers was shown in its middle stages of production. If they turned in the polls with just a few more votes encouraging Kagami no Kuni's serialization, the mangaka would have had more time to develop his story and make it less plot-holed. Kano-san threw in a few "surprises" that seemed desperate and a little bit annoying to try and grab attention and votes so his work could stay afloat. Maybe Kano-san should consider moving to another magazine where his manga would be more likely to succeed.
Don't get me wrong, it's not like the story was terrible. It was actually quite engaging at some points. With the little room he had to work with, the mangaka put in a few elements that made this story different from the typical romantic comedy. The two female leads were unique enough to the extent where they both have character and life in them. Unlike most harem/triangle manga, you get a little farther than the "kawaii" factor that others rely too much on. In this way I am grateful for reading it.
While on the topic of characters, characterization was decent. You understood each character's train of thought as Kano-san is very good at that kind of step by step formula. You also feel for the characters. You are happy when they are happy, depressed when they are depressed, and angry when they are angry. However, misunderstandings between them could get very frustrating. This can be a good thing at times, but most of the time it's just a ploy to draw attention and can be annoying when the author smoothly tries to cover it up. The three main leads are dynamic, though, but are the only ones you become attached to. Supporting characters are thrown to the side and are completely static. They are mostly used for ecchi and comedy, nothing more and nothing less.
Aside from all my ranting, the art is beautiful. Lines are clean, backgrounds are detailed, and panels are refreshing. Also, in important events or turning points, the mangaka has a perfect sense for how each character should be positioned or drawn. He has a terrific sense of perspective in these cases as well. He draws with life oozing onto the manuscripts and you can tell that he put in much effort. This would be the selling point for the manga.
The artwork contributed heavily to my entertainment. The way he draws seemed so fantastic that I was encouraged to see what his characters would be doing next. He has a good sense of humor and I laughed out loud a few times. Also, by the end of the story, tension is high and you can't stop reading. The final chapter is somewhat confusing to some though. There is an epilogue that explains what happens afterwards supposedly somewhere in the next issue, but I can't find it anywhere. It also can seem aggravating. However, remember what the author had to deal with. This was probably the cut off date so he didn't have enough room.
Despite its shortcomings, Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa brings a good deal to the table. This manga deserved to be in serialization for long enough so that Kano Yasuhiro could have improved it. His artwork is amazing and breaths life into his manga. It is heartwarming, frustrating, and comedic. Kagami no Kuni shows us how serialization is do or die, and sadly it did not reach what it could have been. Regardless, this manga should not be overlooked and should be enjoyed to its full potential.
