otakulys's manga / #death(131)

I love Kunieda Saika. It feels like there's no new stuff from her in years, so I hope that changes soon. This is a sweet, cute, and sad little oneshot.

I really like this so far, especially in the sense that they didn't immediately fall for one another and live happily ever after. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens, and I hope it continues to explore the fact that he always loved this boy like a brother, rather than erasing all of that to make them a couple as easily as possible. Poor babies, either way. Can't wait for more.

Haha, started reading it because it had cutesy art but was listed as horror, so I was intrigued. Definitely takes a sudden turn. I wish it weren't so short and abrupt, but I definitely like how it flows so quickly from cute to horrific.

I debated back and forth on whether or not the black haired guy was just imagining all of this in order to cope with the fact that the blond died before the black haired one could return and save him, or if all of the foreshadowing and hinting didn't mean anything, and it was just a rushed story that could have been a lot better. I'm really on the fence, because all of it, even telling him that they're leaving to get his things, could be him imagining what would have happened if he'd come back in time. I feel like that's more heavily emphasized when the guy is talking about how he left. But if it's a really straight forward story about two guys getting to be together after the other's abusive dad died... well... I mean, if the concept had been fleshed out, it could work, but as it was, it was too short and rushed to have much impact. I don't like sad endings, but in this case, I think the sad ending would have been stronger and made more sense.

This is... really weird. I cry very easily, and I figured I was taking a risk here, but the stories are so quick and shallow that it doesn't have much of an impact. I gave it three stars so far, instead of two, just because the third story was actually kind of intriguing despite its silly premise. The first one's ending made me laugh out loud because it was so abrupt. They had an opportunity to make these stories powerful, but they really missed their mark. If Harada has a piece in here, it'll no doubt be awesome, but I don't know what to expect from here on out.

Gaaaaahhhhh. Okay, unlike the one I just read by the same scanlation team, this one freaking killed me. I cried so hard over that first story. Wtf, why do all of these things have really sad or bittersweet endings? I wanna read more about these character's, damn it. I have to say that, aside from the endless rape-to-love in most of the Omegaverse stories, I really like the setup. It has its flaws (like even if you're married to a beta, if you're an omega and an alpha rapes you, then you're with them forever? What?), but I would love to read more stories surrounding it. Less rapey would be nice, or at least less rapey from the guy he ends up with, at least.

Very, VERY weird. There are definitely some interesting elements that come from understated horror, and some of the stories in the collection are stronger than others, so it's kind of hard to say where I stand with this one. I think the story with the little girl who can't make any decisions on her own is my favorite, just because it's so subtly creepy until the end. But I'm intrigued, nonetheless. The stories feel a bit rushed, but I wonder if that's a cultural thing, as that often seems to be the case in these snapshot types of horror.

I love Kunieda Saika so much. I wish all of her work were translated. It seems like she hasn't written anything new for a while, either. I hope I see more of her stuff soon. I'm obsessed. This was an interesting little collection. So far, two chapters haven't been translated yet, so we'll see if that ever happens. Fingers crossed. I liked the first one the most out of the ones that were here, I think. Kinda weird and sad, definitely sorta creepy ending. Like, creepy uncle literally, not creepy as in horror. Hope the other two are translated someday.

Very sad, some more than others. I think this anthology showed strengths and weaknesses among the mangaka involved. Short stories can be challenging, writing something satisfying that fills in the blanks and makes sense in such a limited amount of space. The first story broke my heart into a million pieces. I was ugly crying and my cat came and forced me to hold him, which made me cry harder, so there's that. I was super bummed to see that mangaka has yet to produce anything else. I hope that just means she's new and we'll see a lot more from her in the future. Several stories were a little brief and rushed, but the ones that hit you hit you hard. Definitely a sweet but very heartbreaking anthology. Obviously, haha. But it was a good kind of sad. It felt real and emotional. The stronger stories, at least.

I really loved Demon Flower, which has a bittersweet ending itself, and I know this mangaka's style is to kill everyone as much as possible, especially sweet and innocent characters that stumble into the frame (I've never read a shoujo manga with so much graphic murder and torture of children), but the ending petered out so oddly. I've owned all four manga since they came out when I was in high school, but I only now read it on here, and I have to wonder if she'd meant to continue this but then it didn't work out, because even compared to her other abrupt endings, this was like she walked off a cliff mid-sentence. Plus, I hate it so much when a character is like, "You're all I care about! I don't have anyone else!" when friends of theirs are literally dying all around them to protect them. Seriously, bitch? You have no one else? The ending was a miss for me. It could have been more powerful, but in the confusion it just fell flat. 2.5 stars overall. EDIT: Apparently there's a follow up out there that she wrote in 2007. I had, in my delirious, sleep-deprived state, thought it was a continuation for Demon Flowers, though I'm not sure how that would have worked, and I got super excited. Now I'm a little sad, but I'm hoping it gets translated eventually, because this ending is so random. We need a follow up.