Usotsuki Satsuki wa Shi ga Mieru

Antoine de Saint-Exupery once said "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." In this regard, Liar Satsuki Can See Death is *almost* perfect, and is definitely worth recommending. It's just got that one last thing it doesn't need. Liar Satsuki tells a relatively tight story around the question "are some lives not worth saving?". The pacing is overall pretty solid, with good moments of both tension and relaxation. The story is a series of mysteries: when presented with nothing but an illusion of a corpseto come, Satsuki must figure out how that person died and do what she can to prevent it. Satsuki is a delightful protagonist: she's easy to empathize with, clever, and you *want* to see her succeed. Her supporting cast do a great job of both lifting her up while also being their own people, rather than extensions of the plot. Each is unique and well-written and extremely enjoyable, and it's genuinely a great time whenever they're on the screen doing their thing. The only place that the novel really stumbles at is in the middle third, when the antagonists are introduced. Without giving too much away, they are incredibly boring as villains, and their overall contribution to the story is both minimal AND could have been handled better in other ways. Having the 'villain' be the concept of death would both have been more interesting and also opened up more space in the story to show us more about some of the less-visible supporting cast members. The manga does finish... moderately strong, but the overall conclusion muddies the themes somewhat. Still, it is a very satisfying read, not ultra long, and is enough to keep you guessing for a good chunk of the plot.