Going into this manga I knew nothing about it except two things. A. It used to be in MAL’s top 10 manga. 2. It’s one volume long. So allegedly it had a lot of punch for a tiny piece, without any further ado… Let’s rock.

PLOT: Juri Mutou is in the hospital after another suicide attempt. The daughter of a pianist who had to give up her career to have Juri, her life hasn’t been a great one. In the hospital her aunt visits her with an ultimatum, either stay and do the mental therapy Juri’s mother wants her to, or come with her aunt to visit death row inmates as a clerical mission. Juri accepts the latter and ends up visiting a man named Yuu, a man sentenced to death for killing 3 people. The manga follows their meetings and the revelations had in them. It’s an interesting set-up, presenting quite the morbid start, but as the title implies it has a more positive note, going into revelations about life through Juri and Yuu’s damaged characters. There’s not much more that can be done explanation-wise without digging into spoilers, but I can tell you my impressions. Which are “interesting”, “emotional”, and “powerful.” It’s the type of story which can be wrapped up in one volume. It has a powerful ending too.

8/10, it’s interesting and powerful.

CHARACTERS: Our cast is small but because we have great emphasis on those we have. Let’s start with Juri. As I mentioned her mother had to give up piano to have Juri, and they’ve had a broken relationship their whole lives. Juri is initially characterized by her negative outlook on life as one rejected by her widowed mother. As with any child told “it’d be better if they weren’t born” she’s damaged against her family and herself, yet being the daughter of a rich family she’s always been put on a pedestal. She’s damaged but I didn’t find her to be unbearably down. Her development throughout the story is satisfying and quite emotional. I felt like I grew with her and her last few lines made me cry. Our other lead Yuu is equally interesting. He’s been on death row for a long time, and has attempted suicide during it before. He’s numb to the world and looking forward to his death, but being introduced to Juri changes that. His development is two way, with us slowly uncovering his past and what made him kill 3 people, and us seeing him learn from his opposite in Juri. His being an orphan and her rich girl make them opposites, but in a way that allows them learn from each other based on their mutual damages. His story has more spoilers, but I’ll say his arc is equally satisfying and impactful. Beyond the main two the cast has 2 more notable characters. Monica, Juri’s aunt and a Nun, is someone who’s had her own batch of struggles and hardships but has grown past them, and acts as a catalyst for the growth of both characters. Her story is also interesting and she’s a good character, but she doesn’t have much development to give focus to the main two. The last character of note is Warden Inoue, who oversees the prison where Yuu is staying. He’s not much of a story but he’s very pleasant and I quite like him.

9/10, a fantastic main duo carries the whole stories, and the supporting characters are nice too.

VISUALS: The art for this manga is pretty alright. Nothing ever looks bad persay but it was never stand out. The character designs, while interesting, do suffer from a good amount of eyes drawn on top of hair syndrome. I’ve really not got a whole lot to say about it.

7/10, it’s generally pretty good but I could nitpick it for awhile.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

For one volume it packs a significant amount of punch. It’s got an interesting set-up and some frankly amazing character work. I’d recommend this for most anyone, but also specifically for people disillusioned with life. It’s got a lot to say and does it in a timely fashion.