Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan

Would you be able to forgive a person who has killed people? Do you judge a book by its cover? Would you love someone who has done something so terrible?

Watashitachi no shiawase na jikan is by far the most touching manga I have ever read. I wasn't too sure if I'd like it when I first started reading it, but in the end, it ended up being my favourite one.

Story (10/10): The thing that I'd like to point out the most is how the story is told. Every sentence is so well written, the dialogs flows with emotion. You are captivated by all these feelings of sadness, hate and anger, just like the characters themselves. The mangaka puts you in a great dilemma. "Was it right to kill him? Is it right to love him?"
The story plays with your mind in such a great way that there isn't any other choice for me then to give the story a 10/10.

Art (8/10): Personally, I like the art. The characters are all well drawn, there's much attention for details and there aren't many things that annoys you. I could prefer thar some of the details would be better drawn like some of the faces and the hair. Sometimes it feels like the mangaka had rushed with the face. But except for that the art is good. 8/10.

Character (10/10): The best part about the characters is the amazing and detailed background story's. You get to know them little by little and in these few 8 chapters there is a lot of developement in both of the main characters. You grow to like them the more you read. Perfect! 10/10.

Enjoyment/Overall (10/10): I enjoyed reading this very much. The dilemma that you are put through, the anger that you feel towards the injustice of the people around and the sadness that you feel for the characters... These are the things that made me fall in love with this manga. I'd like to recommend any type of person to read this manga because it deals with such a great moral. Don't judge a person before you know the whole story behind him.

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan is not your stereotypical romance/drama manga. Consisting of only 8 chapters, it is not one of the longest series out there. But I can assure you that these 8 chapters contain some of the most heartwarming moments you'll ever be able to find in manga.

The stroy doesn't aim to attract young males with promises of fan service or battles. It is a simple, realistic manga, adapted from a short novel of the same name. However, since the story is empty of any kind of any innecessary ornaments, you can appreciate its true, sheer beauty.

This story deals with some moral issues which have been preocupying humanity for centuries. Is suicide a valid answer to our problems? What is the prize someone has to pay in exchange for taking another person's life? Until what point are the actions taken for a loved person's sake valid? Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan tries to offer some answers, untilmately getting the reader to reflect upon the tragedies of the protagonists and extracting some interesting conclusions.

While the ending is predictable from the very beginning, and the series doesn't offer any major plot twists, its uniqueness lies within its magnificent execution, keeping a steady path throughout the narration and being able to give a satisfactory conclusion.

The characters are strong, yet weak at the same time. They are human, and their humanity can be seen in every picture, can be felt through every line of dialogue. While some of their motives aren't clear at certain times during the narration, they are kept constant and are certainly the major driving forces of the story.

Artwork is simple, yet elegant, and suits the story very well. While certain poses and proportions seem akward at times, it is kept fairly consistent, and due to the absence of large anime eyes and impossible hairstyles, characters seem realistic, almost as if they could come out of the pages.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable experience which even made me shed some tears at the end. If you're looking for a short manga series which will make you experience some unforgettable moments, Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan is a perfect choice.

The story is really heavy on the drama. I’m not sure exactly weather I like it or not so I feel a bit stuck in the middle. I have never been much into Romance when it doesn’t have some type of comedy within it. I do feel rather sorry for the people within the story. The Nun who only wants to do good, a women who isn’t feeling any love from her mother or the other people around her, and a man who all his life he had seen people turn on their words.

The story seems to speak of forgiveness a lot. Forgiveness of yourself, forgiveness of others… and it seems to be sounding a bit preachy at times. It seems to push it into your face a lot and yet, it feels perfect for the story line they wrote.

The art style is actually really different then I have seen. The colored images are watercolor, so beautiful and done rather well, making them look almost real. The black and white images are heavy in tones; almost no spot was left untouched by the dark look. Hair seems a bit stiff and almost as though it’s dirty or oily on the head.

I've been in a slump. Recently every manga/manhwa/manhua that I have clicked on has been thoroughly disappointing. Resulting in a poor plot and sloppy characters, so I wasn't expecting much from this little piece. Boy, didn't I get a surprise!

The story drew me in from the get-go, capturing my attention and refusing to let my mind wander off topic. It really is a little masterpiece. The emotions that pour forth, clutch tightly to your conscience and you're unable to stop the tears from free falling. The characters are so believably realistic that you feel as though you know them personally. Not only that, but the story makes you ask questions, even question yourself and your beliefs. To me, this was a beautiful story that I am truly grateful for stumbling upon. ♥

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan (1 Volume/8 Chapters)

One brilliant story created by the famed mangaka Yumeka Sumomo, who's various works have comprised themes of elegance, beauty, and emotion. I don't believe words can summize just how magnificent and wonderful this artistic piece actually is. There was literally nothing wasted in the emotional impact delivered by the characters and their progressive development throughout the story.

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan poses the hard questions that plague the human conscience, is it right to contemplate suicide in order to escape your life's seeming hardships? Does someone who's murdered three people in cold blood deserve the death penalty? Can a persons past discretion's be redeemed by someone who shares in their personal feelings and unsightly anguish?

The emotional impact delivered by this piece was both beautiful as well as astonishing. My eyes simply could not hold back the tears, I genuinely felt for each and every character. This story was absolutely amazing and I'll always cherish this relatively short read that was filled with a certain emotional value, in conjunction with a mature conveyance of intellect and growth.

Rating: 10/10

In my previous review I commented at the end that, in my opinion, fixation on scores can often lead people to feel pressured into taking a specific position. This can often lead to two different outcomes, depending on how little capacity the individual has to stop giving a shit about public opinion: in one, the person evaluating the specific work can end up taking an extreme position, considering it’s a naturally divisive work, in order to fit into the group that shares that position. The other outcome, however, is something that I find even more worrying: it can create around certain works the status of “untouchable”. In these instances, the work is so wildly agreed as being a masterpiece that disagreeing with the consensus is nothing short of heresy.

So, I think this little diatribe can give a good idea of how I felt going into Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan (stupid long-ass names! I’ll call this one Happy Time for the sake of convenience) and suddenly finding it not as good as I was expecting. In fact, not finding it good in general!

Story and Characters

Sometime ago I was discussing with a friend about a certain series we both had problems with and he mentioned that from his point of view it seemed that the characters in that series were not really representations of humans, but personifications of problems. When I began reading Happy Time, I suddenly recalled that specific statement.

But what necessarily would mean a character being just a personification of a problem? Well, the issue in this case is that, before we have any idea of how the characters can be generally perceived as human beings, the source of characterization is simply the problems that define their struggle. Being Happy Time a drama, it’s understandable that the personal issues and traumas faced by the characters would be the focus of the story, but even for a drama, it’s important to first of all, establish what traits the characters have outside of those issues. The problem with letting their traumas and struggle define them is that if they are supposed to be relatable or likeable figures, the audience is left with little ground to identify or attach to them, and if they are not supposed to be likeable or relatable, the lack of defining traits leaves them without solid foundation for their development.

I’d like to make a parallel to better explain my points, but before that let’s get to know the unfortunates that compose the story of Happy Time.

Mutou Juri is a former pianist that has already tried suicide 3 times and holds a deep grudge against her uncaring mother. She begins visiting prisoners sentenced to death by influence of her aunt Monica, as a way of driving herself away from her depression.

Yuu is the prisoner on death row that is visited by Juri and with whom she begins to develop a bond, based on the understanding that both have deep grudges against the situations they were raised in.

Monica is Juri’s aunt and a nun who took the habit (no pun intended) of visiting the prisoners who don’t have anyone looking after them. In the past, she lost her son in an accident, but couldn’t bear the grudge after the killer committed suicide in prison.

Happy Time’s story already begins at what can be perceived as a conflict, with the main character, Juri, meeting her mother, who is visiting her in the hospital after her third suicide attempt and it’s clear in this scene that their relationship has not been the best for a long time. From then on, the plot dives into its main driving point, the relationship between Juri and Yuu, which follows the tried-and-true development: they first don’t see eye-to-eye, but due to the necessity of meeting each other end up finding similarities that lead them to bond and improve each other’s mindset and way of looking into life. Now, I’ll not simply disregard how the story develops and the changes they operate into one another, my point here is that, with such weak characterization on both parts, the foundation in which that developments stands on is flimsy and ultimately creates a disconnect between what the characters were and what they become.

The parallel I’m going to make here is with another manga, Bitter Virgin. Yeah, I know, it’s my favorite, call me guilty on that, but the parallel is still valid! Point being: in the first chapter of Bitter Virgin, there’s a superficial but effective work in giving up the basics about the main characters; Aizawa, the main girl, is generally shy and seems uncomfortable in interacting with men and Daisuke, the main boy, gives on the slight vibe of being a womanizer, while still being a well-centered teenager. When the bomb-shell about the main girl is revealed, there’s clear understanding of how that might have shaped her current persona and subsequently how that affects Daisuke’s perception of her. From then on, the manga goes on top explore her backstory, how she transitioned from her old-self to the individual she is during the main events of the narrative and how her experiences affect the people around her.

I like to always keep characters under a microscope, exactly because I don’t like to carelessly throw around words like “bland”, but that in reality is what the main characters of Happy Time are, bland, their characterization is restricted to the bare minimum to make them realistic, but there’s no three-dimensional figure around that. They act very according to their respective traumas, but what kind of people they were before such traumas shaped them, how their change was perceived by others, or even how others react to the kind of people they are currently is not show to the reader. Most of this problem comes from a fundamental issue on how their backstory and characterization is handled, in that it’s in blatant disagreement with the rule of Show, Don’t Tell. What kind of people they were in the past is not shown to the audience, but simply spelled out, how they change as characters is not an easily observable change progressively displayed throughout the story, it’s simply stated by other characters. It’s a principal that boils down to Robot Devil’s words:

“You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel, that makes me feel angry!”

That is not exclusive to how characters feel, how they act, how they interact with others, how they change has to be observable by the audience, otherwise it’s all restricted to Inferred Attributes. I’m willing to recognize that these issues are a result of the manga’s short length, being it just 8 chapters long. However, understanding how these problems came to be does not make them forgivable, if anything it just highlights poor planning on the writer’s end. More time should be given to fleshing out the characters and reshaping the writing in a manner that could allow the audience to read into the narrative themselves, not be force-fed the development.

In general, these issues would only be enough for me to classify a work as mediocre, but not straight up bad. The first point where Happy Time gets the rating of “BAD” is when it decides to pull of the Rape Card. For the sake of clarity, pulling the rape card is when a work attempts to sell itself as mature and serious by utilizing rape as a plot point, either in backstory or in the current events of the story. The problem is that you can’t simply pull off a rape card, you have to earn it, and again, that is something that Bitter Virgin managed to pull off with much more efficiency. In that manga, the event in question is displayed tastefully but with no sugar-coating, giving full context of how it affected the characters at the time and how it ties in to the current state of things. With no understanding of what kind of person the character was prior to the event and no context of how it happened though, as it happens in Happy Time, it loses its connection with the current events in the story and ultimately becomes a superfluous plot-point, and you simply can’t have rape in your story just for the sake of having it.

Beyond that, Happy Time is also a story that didn’t have the guts to work its characters darker moments to the full extent, something observable on the revelation of Yuu’s backstory. Besides being almost completely exposited in the very dry and audience-unfriendly fashion like I explained before, Yuu’s past and crime are the textbook definition of a generic Woobie-backstory: it does everything possible to exempt the character from any guilty while still pulling the most clichéd but poorly developed sympathy-inducing elements, from growing on an orphanage to dead brother and, worst of all, dead cat. I’m not arguing that actually giving the character full guilt would be enough to save the story, but would be one point where the characterization in Happy Time could have been truly commendable, it would actually lead the audience to understand the extent of how much he had buried himself before coming back to his senses, making his current state much more fitting and the development he receives more meaningful.

Presentation

This will be considerably shorter in comparison to my previous reviews, as a manga features fewer elements up for judgment in its presentation than an anime.

Happy Time’s visuals are generally fairly average. There’s nothing particularly disagreeable on how the figures are built and, if I’m actually free to cut the manga some slack, it manages to present a few design choices that have relevant symbolic meaning within the story: Juri leaves her fancy, “stay away from me” hairdo, adopts a subdued dressing style and ties her hair tighter giving the idea she has become less hostile to interaction, while Yuu accepts cutting the long hair that hid his face and symbolically manifested his unwillingness to get close to others. There’s also solid pacing in between frames, so there are no instances where how the action went from one image to another looks disjointed or unfocused. The one point the manga could use improvement is on the variation between shades, which would help bring more detail to the expressions.

Gods, I sound like a boring twat now!

Personal Ramblings

Happy Time is currently the 10th highest rated manga on My Anime List, which is sufficient to give it untouchable status to some extent. The danger of a show or manga achieving that kind of status is that it makes general consensus unfriendly to criticism of any type, especially if it’s harsh criticism like what I proposed to do here. Deviation from the common opinion is disregarded often as “you simply watched/read it wrong”, which I’m willing to admit might happen but either way is not a worthwhile form of counter-argument. I for once believe that every work should face scrutiny to some extent, even if it’s something regarded as “The Greatest of All Time”, like Fullmetal Alchemist, Berserk or Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It’s by exposing or discussing a show or manga’s shortcomings that we can get to an understanding of what truly makes a Greatest of All Time.

As you might have guessed, the question that I would like to ask now is: How did Happy Time become so acclaimed? In art, and especially in fiction, objectively defining the quality of a work is near impossible (unless we’re talking about Metroid: Other M, whose story objectively sucks!), but I think it’s possible to have a good understanding of the general quality of a work by looking at its audience. Now, I’ll not pretend I have a deep understanding of the audience of a manga I just read, I can only theorize. Considering that the most popular manga on MAL tend to be shounen, it’s possible to pull out of my ass the idea that this title, having achieved some initial praise, might have been a gateway into drama-centered manga for many readers, who were likely tired of shounen or drifting into other genres and ended up finding an appeal on its quirks. But this is all conjecture.

I’ll not lie, I find disheartening that a title like this is so acclaimed, in front of works far more nuanced and respectful to the audience, like Vinland Saga or Parasyte (or even some shounen!). I don’t maintain hopes that this review will somehow “enlighten the masses”, but I hope to throw some perspective into the discussion and challenge some notions about what qualifies a good drama. Feel free to post any angry comments on my profile, I have popcorn ready and a brand-new keyboard, so you are welcome.

First thing first - this manga is a MASTERPIECE

By far the most beautiful story I have ever come across. It may be short but as you read on you get intrigued with what you’re reading because of its deliverance that by the end of the manga, it feels like you just read the longest story ever made.

The paste of the story at the beginning of the story is slow as we learn about both characters current lives. Once they meet, as a reader I became engulfed with each page. Yuu and Juri’s relationship just blossoms from they as they open up to one another for 30minutes every Thursday.

Even though the ending is not as satisfying as you may hope it to be; I can honestly say personally that the chosen ending makes the story that much more believable; allowing you as the reader to picture yourself as Juri :)

I am not ashamed to say that this manga brought tears to my eyes at the last few pages and i just hope you are as intoxicated of the story with each page as i did.
I am gonna stop here before i end up spoiling it by writing the actual story.

* But believe me when i say that you will surely not be disappointed by reading 'Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan' if you are a romance and slice of life fan; especailly if you are of the mature audience*

One reason why I like seinen and josei manga is that the themes, characters, and messages presented are sophisticated. Not to say that shoujo and shounen manga aren't, but the percentage of the latter manga that actually contain such attributes is minimal. Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan (Our Happy Time) was a surprisingly astounding read I came across around one in the morning, hoping to find something short, sweet, and rid of filler material. Upon reading the first few pages of the manga, I realized that what I discovered was much, much more than just that, and consequently provided a MEANINGFUL literary experience -- something that tends to be rare when it comes to manga, which particularly specializes in fan-service.

STORY: 10
The reader is quickly introduced to protagonist Juri and her wish to commit suicide, though reasons are not completely revealed until the latter half of Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan. She's then taken by her nun of an aunt to accompany her visits to jail, where the aunt attempts to emotionally aid convicts. There, Juri meets serial killer Yuu, who has a death sentence hanging over his head. The rest of the manga unravels the tragic pasts of both Juri and Yuu, and we begin to discover why they act as they do (or did). Though it was initually Juri who was supposed to provide help for Yuu, he also returns that same favour by gently letting her realize the beauty of the world, and of life itself. It's a heartwarming tale that not only delves into both characters' pasts, but also brings the characteristic contribution from the past to the present in order to resolve each other's current conflicts, providing a wonderfully woven tale that ties in a clean knot at the very end.

ART: 8
The first few pages of the manga gives the reader a concrete idea of what the artist is capable of. Characters are drawn extremely cleanly and with incredibly accurate proportions (and you'd be surprised how many mangakas can't draw properly, despite the nature of their occupation). Expressions are also well-conveyed. Backgrounds are present enough such that the reader has a general idea of where the characters are, though some more use of far shots would have helped establish a sense of relative position between characters and create greater atmosphere. Nonetheless, the mangaka made great use of toning to compensate and was able to generate a solemn mood throughout the story -- fitting for its nature.

CHARACTER: 10
Juri and Yuu are very convincing characters in that they actually have dimension. They're believable. It's not often you find (in manga) suicidal women that have understandable reasons for their actions, and convicts that actually seem to be human, including wishes, likes, and quirks. Definitely one of the strongest points of Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan. Juri and Yuu may not stand out, or even be likable for many, but they're relatable. The characters' pasts AND present states are so well fleshed-out that you can't help but empathize. You can't help but realize the dire states that both Yuu and Juri are in, and I believe it's empathy that's lacking in a very large portion of today's manga. Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan is able to bring that back to us by providing such attention to detail; the mangaka explores every nook and cranny of both characters' personalities to ensure that with each action, there's justification for it through characterization.

ENJOYMENT: 9
Quite a mellow story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it because of that. The morals and messages given pertaining to gratefulness are absolutely heartwrenching. As a reader, I wanted to know more and more about the tales of Yuu and Juri, and eight chapters more than sufficed, given the well-paced plot and character development.

OVERALL: 10
A must-read for those who know how to appreciate an actually well-written manga that's not out in the market to simply vaccuum our wallets like virtually every other manga out there. And even if you don't like it (and admittedly the dark nature of it is not everyone's cup of tea), the beauty of it is that it's only eight chapters long.

As far back as I can recall, I've always had a soft spot for tragic romances (I blame you, Shahrukh Khan and your Kal Ho Naa Ho!). There's a melancholic charm to be found in these stories that makes everything more heartfelt and sincere and those are two things that a lot of conventional romances these days tend to lack. Of course, with that said there's always something underwhelming to be found with these kinds of romances as well. The way these stories present themselves makes it painfully obvious that it will end in a certain way, and that just takes some of the fun out of it for me. One of life's many pleasures for me is trying to figure out how a manga I'm reading will end, but that can't exactly happen if I already have a good idea of how it'll end. Does this mean that stories such as Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan aren't worth reading? Of course not. They're definitely worth reading, but I wouldn't put it past you if you didn't find yourself crying rivers like some people claim they have whilst reading it.

I'd like to take the time to point out that Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan is first and foremost, a manga adaptation of the Korean novel: "Our Happy Time" by Gong Ji-young. Considering the fact that the manga's so short and I actually have read the source material from end to end, I'll just want to make a few things clear:

- I'll be referring to Yuu and Juri as Yunsu and Yujeong respectively, as those are their names in the source material.
- I'll be referring to "Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan" as "the manga" for simplicity's sake.
- In reference to the book, I'll be referring to it as either "the source material" or "Our Happy Time."
- Given the fact that the manga's so short, this is less of a review of the manga and more of a review of the source material since I didn't want this review to be so short and worthless.

Got all that? Good. Let's get into it.

***

Our Happy Time is a Korean romance novel written by bestselling author, Gong Ji-young that chronicles the story of a suicidal former teen pop star named Yujeong and her interactions with a Death Row inmate named Yunsu. After her third suicide attempt, she decides to skip going to rehab once more so that she can go visit Death Row inmates with her Aunt Monica. Through these meetings, Yujeong and Yunsu meet and they start learning more about one another as time goes on. The novel makes it incredibly clear that Yujeong and Yunsu are polar opposites both in birth and in upbringing. Of course, this isn't to say that they don't share any common ground because they actually do.

Despite the fact that Yujeong has lived an incredibly privileged life, it's quite evident that she is NOT the picture of what a well-adjusted person looks like. In between her terrible relationship with her mother (who openly displays animosity toward her daughter), a series of unfortunate events that befell her when she was younger, followed by the subsequent isolation she felt in her teen years, it's no surprise to see why Yujeong tried committing suicide multiple times in her life. This isn't to say that Yujeong is a one-note character and her strife is all that defines her because that couldn't be further from the truth because she's invariably human in her portrayal. Anyone who's dealt with or is still dealing with depression will find Yujeong to be nothing short of an empathetic character.

Yunsu on the other hand enters the picture as an unrepentant and hostile Death Row inmate: someone whom most of us would say deserves to die if we were to meet this man in person. Every chapter in the novel is preceded by a "Blue Note" which documents Yunsu's life story. We see the very circumstances that shaped him into the person we see him as now. Unlike Yujeong, Yunsu lived a life of abject poverty and has known nothing but strife throughout his childhood. In between living with abusive parents, dealing with bullies at the orphanage, being homeless for various stretches of time, among other things, Yunsu's childhood innocence was wiped away and replaced with the demeanour of a hardened criminal for as long as he could remember. At first, Yunsu doesn't seem like someone we can relate to but again, that couldn't be further from the truth. Yunsu speaks out to those of us who've ever been afraid to open up to others because we don't want to make ourselves vulnerable, those of us who've ever longed for a second chance that we know we'll never get, those of us who genuinely feel remorse over the actions of our past and wish to be forgiven, among other such things.

Yunsu and Yujeong's relationship is that which defies superficial contrasts in upbringing. Brought together by Aunt Monica and drawn to one another by their mutual loneliness, they find a comforting message in each other's company: "you are not alone." This is Our Happy Time's greatest strength: the romance between Yunsu and Yujeong is incredibly well-developed and just feels so genuine. What's more is that you know that the days that Yunsu and Yujeong have together are limited, so it just keeps your eyes glued to the page and also makes you anxious to even turn the next page because you know not what development would come next.

In addition to that, Our Happy Time reminds us all that those of us who've committed countless atrocities in the past are still capable of redeeming themselves. Make no mistake: Yunsu's past actions are condemned to hell and back in this novel, but Gong Ji-young does not go out of her way to portray Yunsu as a monster. Despite the fact that Yunsu has committed many crimes in his lifetime and might not even deserve forgiveness from those who he's wronged, he is still invariably a human and deserves our sympathy at the very least. I feel like where Elfen Lied failed with its attempts at showing whether or not someone is truly capable of atoning for the sins of their past, Our Happy Time succeeded. Yunsu is everything that Lucy should've been but wasn't.

For all these reasons and more, Gong Ji-young's Our Happy Time is certainly a novel that I heartily recommend reading. Now, there exist two adaptations of it to my knowledge: a live-action film adaptation produced in 2006 and a manga adaptation made in 2008. I'd talk about the film adaptation but this is a site dedicated to anime and manga, so I'll skip that and talk about the manga. What do I think about it? Well... it was the thing that got me to pick up a copy of the source material off Amazon for $10 so it has that going for it. But as someone who craves depth and detail alongside his romances, the manga doesn't exactly do it for me.

When I read the manga, I instantly became attached to Yujeong and Yunsu but I actually ended up completing the entire manga within the span of 45 minutes. When I finished the final chapter, I was actually on the bus on my way to English and it was just so... shall we say, dissatisfying? When I picked up the actual novel to see what I missed out on, it turns out that I missed out on a LOT of stuff like the specifics of Yunsu's terrible past among other things. Everything that the manga was missing out on, the novel had. I know that conventional literature and manga are two totally different mediums but there was a LOT of stuff present in the novel that could've easily translated over to a monga context without any problems whatsoever. It just baffles me as to how the manga was even penned like this. If it were a one-shot, I could forgive that but this was actually serialised over the course of several months. Why couldn't we get more? Ultimately, that's a question that'll probably never be answered but it still irks me.

It also doesn't help that the manga's artwork is just so... bleh. In some of the manga's most iconic scenes (i.e. when Yujeong is playing the piano for Yunsu before the inevitable happens, that panel where they're holding hands whilst Yunsu is chained up), it looks good but it never goes into great territory and there are some parts of the manga that just look really badly drawn (cough cough the image that MAL uses for this manga's database page cough cough). I mean, it's fine for what it does but you probably won't see me using images from the manga as a Facebook cover any time soon.

This isn't to say that the manga isn't worth reading, because I still say it is. For what it's worth, it focuses on Yunsu and Yujeong in the present so that their relationship could develop a lot quicker. For what it's worth, the manga also stays 100% spot-on with Yunsu and Yujeong's characterisations, so the relationship between the two still felt sincere as fuck. I just wanted to see it play out a little longer, but I guess we can't get what we want all the time. Anyway, that's all for now. Feedback's welcome and all that, so I'm out. Peace :)

***

I finished this review at 3am when I first wrote it, and I finished my revisions an hour later. Writing reviews is so tedious sometimes. Also, I still think Lilium fits the tone of the story quite well. G'night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWW8DMpfI9U

I knew it would be good from the beginning. Juri's first lines within every chapter were always captivating. What was particularly special about this piece of literature was that the characters were so relatable, so honest and so real. I felt immediately close to them. Every monologue was special, and read twice, three times, just to fully enjoy it.

This story was simple, but carried questions and thoughts that we all ponder when we're alone. You can read this manga in a day, but it's one that can really change you, one you'll think about for a long time.

Very important that you read this review before reading this manga. Believe! You can thank me later ...

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan, is a story that keeps all its focus on the story, that is, art will not be its strong point, but this must be disregarded, for the reason that, this manga is a beautiful lesson of life, which will put it on the tightrope. Deciding what is right or wrong will not change your opinion as to the end if you follow my tip.

So I say, watch when you are going through a difficult time in your life, this manga will show you that life is not just selfish ...

Story: 90%
The story of "Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan" may seem a bit too simple and even cliché at first, but after about two chapters we realize that this is not like this... The manga depicts the love as it really is: a pure love, without ulterior motives by the characters or stupid things like: "I met you today, let's get married!". It's a mature and poetic love, which is emphasized with the beautiful phrases present in the script. Good joob!

Art: 50%
The art is the worst part of the manga. Sometimes a simple thing can be better than a complex one, but in this case this is VERY simple and there are moments that the background is completely white. Even if the ambients are limited (the most of the manga happens inside of the prison), Yumeka could have put more details and a better contour even for the characters. The simple art can transmit a bit of nostalgia, but here it does not work very well.

Characters: 90%
Even if with 4 characters, it is too difficult to develop calmly and carefully each one in 8 chapters. But 'Watashitachi' could tell the story of each of them and made sure we are going to treat the characters as real people and be concerned what will happen to them; in other words, that isn't superficial. Because... Ok, you have the most beautiful story in the world but you don't have good characters. So, your manga will continue bad.

Enjoyment: 92%
Read the manga was a extremely fast experience. By the whole set (good characters and good story), each chapter has gone faster than the wind, for me. I became increasingly enchanted by every single word of the manga and each chapter, which made me super anxious for the end... Which is very sad...

Overall: 8,02% = 80% show less

[ Note: This is my very first review, so please bear with me ]

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan is one of those unexpected mangas that you randomly read out of curiosity just to see why everyone else gave it a perfect score (at least that's what happened to me) .. I'm not really a huge fan of tragic and dramatic plot lines that are suppose to be very meaningful, but this one in particular was an exception.

Juri is a pianist who attempted suicide 3 times, her aunt tries to help her out and therefore takes her to a prison where murderers are sentenced to death, that's where she encounters Yuu - an orphan with a tragic childhood who is similar to her and could understand her most - and gradually changes her perspective of life.

The characters weren't a lot, but that was fine since it was only one volume long and the story was focused on both Juri and Yuu. The art was fine too, not the best out there but was suitable and nice.

Overall it deserved a solid 10, the flow of the story was amazing and it left a huge impression on me

Recently, I've been reading non-stop from bloody stories to gooey ones, sometimes it's the art that makes me remember it, sometimes it's the story but most times it's not enough to make me stop and write a review and give it enough time and it leaves the back of my head and fades away but this one’s different.

The illustrations themselves aren't 'wow' but they are pretty fair-good quality and the fact that it isn't on the top 10 list will make it hard for you to find it (I don't really like to read from the top ten list because you find that the best aren’t really noticed), AND it's a pain to find online but believe me; it's worth it.

The story hit me hard, it isn't a I-bumped-into-this-person-and-now-we'll-fall-in-love kind of story, and it isn't an I'm-so-bad-I-slaughter-people kind of story but it is a close look at people, we, as a society mostly ignore, a coincident that you honestly don't know if it is better that it happened or that it's bad that it happened.


It's real;


That's why I like it so much, it's not only possible that things like that could happen but it could have happened and maybe it is happening right now. It's a unique story and I think that's what matters in the end.

That it's enough to make you go 'wow'.