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æ„ăźćȘă
8
2
Finished
Nov 28, 2015 to Nov 28, 2016
8.8/10
Average Review Score
100%
Recommend It
11
Reviews Worldwide
Such a shame that this manga doesnt get the recognition it deserves! story: The story follows the life of haru and her dead sister's fiancĂ© togu. Now, you may think that romance between these 2 people may be a bit inappropriate; I know I did, but I decided to give this a chance. And boy am I glad I did! The story and the protagonist are well aware if the messed up situation she's in. The characters actually deal with the fact that their relationship is peculiar, to say the least. The story also shows how haru dealt/deals with the death of a person she was soclose to. The pace is just right and despite the kind-of messed up plot, this series pulls it off very well! Art: This is where it truly shined for me. The mangaka does such a good job of portraying the emotions of the characters! The disgust they feel, the horror of losing someone, hesitation and so much more is so real. And the character design is very well done too. Honestly, one of the most unique and best arts IMHO in manga. Characters; Also where the manga shines. Like I said, they know what situation they are in and act and react like actual human beings. They are realistic, which is so much more than what can be said for a lot of mangas. Especially Haru. She feels like aperson you could actually meet and even relate to a bit. Overall: Amazing. Not clichĂ©, realistic. Characters donât automatically fall in love, everything takes time. I wouldâve liked it to be a bit longer, but if it had been, it wouldâve been to stretched out. The pacing was great. Highly recommended to everyone.
Still recovering from her beloved younger sister Haru's death, Natsumi harbors a terrible secret. She is currently dating her dead sister's fiancĂ©, Tougo. Although Haru and Tougo were only to have an arranged marriage of convenience, Natsumi knew that her sister's feelings toward him were utterly genuine. Despite this, when Tougo asked Natsumi if she wanted to become his new girlfriend, she agreed, but on one condition: he must take her to all the places he went with Haru. Torn with shame, Natsumi meets him every week, seeing the places he visited with Haru and hearing about their experiences. Parting ways after a notably painful encounter overcome with guilt, she is ready to join her sister and begins to move in front of an oncoming trainâuntil Tougo stops her and announces that if she dies, he will too. As the curse of spring leads to a fleeting summer, two people connected by death find solace in each other, grappling both with their own feelings and the ever-present memory of one long gone. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Haru's Curse is a manga that goes far past any forbidden romance or typical love triangle, and it oftentimes deal with familial relationships more than the romantic. This manga demonstrates how grief can affect people far after their loved ones are gone, sometimes even making it resemble a curse. Natsumi, our main character, is dating Togo. The only problem is that Togo was Natsumi's little sister's fiancé up until her untimely death. Natsumi agrees to go out with Togo in exchange that they visit the places he and her little sister visited, as a sort of way for her to pan through her grief. Natsumi, however,doesn't realize Togo may be dating her for more than family obligations or as a way to deal with his own grief. Both Natsumi and Togo are forced to wade their way through the obstacles of a relationship, made so much more difficult with the burden of a lost loved one. It is also up to them to decide what they truly want, and whether this guilt is worth it. If I had to sum up the storyline in one sentence while also completely butchering it, I'd say, "A love-triangle that surpasses death." Again, this is a horrible butchering of what is actually a heartfelt love story. Life doesn't always work out like in countless shoujo manga, and Haru's Curse really exemplifies this. People don't always casually bump into each other, but are rather thrown at each other in the most unexpected ways possible. Natsumi knows for a fact that her sister, Haru, loved Togo, so she's afraid to act on her own feelings. She's constantly thinking about what her sister would have wanted, and her day-to-day decisions are impacted by this. Togo, on the other hand, was born into a rich bloodline, so he's never been able to make a single decision for himself in his life. Even Haru was not his decision, as sad as that is, so it leaves the reader wondering what exactly it is that Togo really wants. Haru's Curse is a mixture of romantic love and the love between sisters. It even demonstrates the maternal love between a daughter and mother, despite there not being any actual blood relations. I'd have to say Natsumi's heartfelt conversation with her step-mother really put this manga at a nine for me. The balance between themes in this manga was perfect, and I feel like the reactions were genuine. The mangaka's art is pretty to look at, but I can definitely see how it has improved in her latest work, Raise wa Tanin ga li. The characters are handsome, but they definitely have more detail in her latest work. One of my favorite images was when Natsumi and Togo fell down, just because their faces were priceless. I thoroughly enjoyed Haru's Curse, and read it in the span of two hours or so. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was definitely the breath of fresh air I needed. Despite the gloomy topics it covers, the manga is genuinely uplifting, which sounds like it would be difficult to accomplish. It's about learning to live for yourself, because it may be the only life you have, and it might be a short one. Overall, I'd recommend Haru's Curse to someone in the mood for a short, bittersweet love story. It's only two volumes, and the one I picked up is one, collected volume. I didn't even know it was published in English until I visited the store, but I was delightfully surprised. If it sounds interesting, please go pick up a copy!
Basically this very sad story is about Natsume and her late sister's fiancee who are in the process of grieving because of her sad passing. I do wish this series expanded out even more like I did feel ok about it at first but the same time, I would've liked to have seen where and what the main characters have decided to do for themselves in a epilogue chapter. That the main reason why I'm giving this a 7/10 rating. I'm trying my best to keep this spoiler free so please just read this manga and you'll understand my point here lol. If you're expectinga fluffy happy go lucky romance story, this definitely is not for you. It is quite heavy and intense in some scenes so you have been warned if you're planning to read this!
This was an immensely engaging read. It takes a premise that could be very trashy or messy and treats the characters with depth and nuance by examining their conflicting feelings of grief, guilt, and desire. Feelings and behaviors are often recontextualized as the story progresses which results in a deep investment into the characters. The story primarily focuses on three people - Natsumi, Togo, and Haru, all of whom are well-realized. The story starts with Natsumi distraught over the loss of the only person she's ever loved, her sister Haru. In an attempt to navigate her grief Natsumi enters into a relationship with Togo, her sister'sarranged fiance, under the caveat he only takes her places he went with Haru. He agrees and what starts as a seemingly bizarre request evolves into something more beyond what either character expected. The story is all character focused, less focused on an overarching plot vs. the shifting relationships between characters. Natsumi is very interesting because of how conflicting and contradictory she is. She's the character most unmoored and distraught but also the funniest and most boisterous, with her outgoing and jovial personality resulting in a lot of humorous moments. However she frequently struggles with feelings of isolation, self-loathing, and guilt which creates this powerful contrast and clash within the character. Togo is also interesting in a different way, being much more composed, blunt, and direct in his thoughts and feelings. However he's a very numb character, having never formed any personal interest or dreams due to the status of his upbringing and family. He's internalized and made the entirety of himself the expectations and desires of his parents in lieu of his own. In his burgeoning relationship with Natsumi, he is forced to recognize and grapple with having his own desires and feelings for the first time. Finally there's Haru who, despite being dead, is at the crux of the story and relationship between Natsumi and Togo. She's initially presented as more of an object of affection or narrative starting point vs. having much character depth. However more is revealed about the Haru over the course of the story which paints a more complex and detailed person struggling with her own issues and feelings. The story focuses on the characters' burdens and how those resulting from outside forces feed into and birth self-imposed ones that result in even greater dismay and stagnation. It's a vicious cycle that the characters attempt to find relief, solace, or answers in their interactions with one another. Family also plays a significant role as the impacts of arranged marriages and the differing dynamics between the characters and their mothers vs. their fathers all contribute to the burdens they face. Despite the drama and bleakness that the characters struggle with, there are plenty of funny and cute moments. Togo and Natsumi have great chemistry with her frantic and active personality playing well off of Togo's blunt and cool demeanor. The comedic moments are bolstered by good timing and humourous reaction faces. And despite there being few physical manifestations of intimacy, the romantic moments are satisfying as they feel genuine and honest to the characters and their experiences. The sweeter moments are all the more potent because they contrast with all the negative thoughts and emotions the characters struggle with. It ends with an ending that feels earned, warranted and satisfying as the theme of the characters realizing that they're more than a singular (whether it be emotion, experience, etc.). That their multitudes, good and bad, known and unknown, etc. allows for the potential to progress and overcome or live with what may seem unfathomable. It's a really beautiful idea that I found incredibly well realized by the end of the story. Outside of the characters and story, the series is very well paced with no chapter feeling superfluous. The art style is simple and straightforward and extremely consistent throughout. The somewhat thicker line work matches well with the grounded character designs and slice-of-life actions. Characters' faces do a great job at conveying emotions and the style complements the the tone of story well. In terms of criticisms, if you don't buy into the premise of the characters and their emotions everything will come of as melodramatic and flat. I could see someone finding the characters melodramatic if they don't buy into its premise and the characters emotional reactions. Everything, from the romance to the characters' personal struggles, hinges on accepting the characters' feelings as understandable and if you do not the entire thing will fall flat. Physically, the volume feels very solid and comfortable to hold (like most Vertical releases). There are some nice color pages throughout the book featuring Togo and Natsumi alongside bonus pages that feature extra scenes or insights into the characters. I really enjoyed reading this and highly recommend checking it out. It gave me a lot to think about and was a worthwhile and fantastic experience.
This manga is unexpectedly raw. I expected it to be a sad-sob love story, which is partially what it is, but there's an element of darkness and an unforeseen twisted mix of sinister emotions. The characters are so well crafted, everything is explained amazingly in the limited amount of chapters. I didn't expect each character to have so much depth and similarities to every mundane actions and thought processes. Whilst reading the manga I saw a lot of raw and innate human emotions that was wonderfully expressed, it shows how humans are innately selfish and ignorant to those who care about them most. The varietyof different character emotions and ambitions, a plethora of people to relate to, made me feel an attachment to each character. If you want a dark, sad but bittersweet love story I highly recommend this underrated piece!