Die

Very very very short manga that keeps you captivated during the full...16 pages ^^
The art is something that's worth looking at and the story is one full of pain and regrets but that's the reality of things.

The characters are not described or shown but you know their whole lives by reading 16 pages. I think that that is something that's near impossible.
A must-read.

The forbidden desire of loving oneself beyond all others...

A curious, dark one-shot that I'm still puzzling my head over. On the outside it begins with a brother reading the suicide letter of his sister. Throughout its course, our belief about what this story really is about changes dramatically. Whatever your original impression may be, several plot twists reveal the reality of the matter. We are slowly drawn into the cruel world of this brother and sister. Their names are never revealed.

The dark, gothic nature of the art befits the themes of this one-shot. The silhouette of trees is beautifully drawn as is the sister's long, spidery hair, cascading across her shoulders. There is an old crime, film-noir aspect to the art. And the focus on shadows creates a feeling of being enclosed, trapped in.

The characters are something that I had a problem with. Despite the depth and the darkness of the plot line they remain relatively two-dimensional and are used only as caricatures to progress the story along. There is very little depth to their characters and their motivations and ambitions are left quite undeveloped.

The story portrays a very bleak view on humanity and exploits the faults of man. Overall, I thought that it was a very interesting, albeit confusing read and if you are you looking for something very dark and melancholy then this is definitely for you. The last line of this one-shot was, I thought, very poetic.

This one-shot is far better than many long manga I have read, the character development and story portrayed in the short 16 pages really show the ability of the writer. This is based off of a song from the Japanese Rock band 'Buck-Tick' of the same name and it shows just how far some people would go to be with one person above all else. The art is great, the story is fantastic and amazingly fleshed out for 16 pages, and the overall the manga is a must-read. Highly recommended.

The length requirement makes it hard to review stories like this one, where there just isn't much to say about them.

Story: sometimes, a story is best told in the span of one chapter, this is one such case. There's an intricate story of 40 chapters contained in this handful of pages.

Art: the art is this bizarre 80s style (think mullets and suits with shoulder pads), quite different and unique compared to the mainstream.

Character: there is enough narration to have a good understanding of all the characters and their motives by the end of the story.

Enjoyment: I found it to be a story better than most. I suppose part of the beauty of the one-shot format is that it doesn't drag on for too long so it can't fall into the traps of longer format stories; the fact that there's no room for unnecessary details and story arcs means that it is destined to be a suspenseful ride through the entire story, if the author is competent (she is).

Overall: 8