A chilling dramatic series about Shinjyurou Mamiya, an embalmer in a nation where men of his profession are viewed as outcasts engaging in an unaccepted and unclean practice. For Shinjyurou, it’s just a job. But in doing it, he’s gained an understanding of death, and more important, what it truly means to live
Candy’s Score: 8/10
Candy’s Notes: This was one of the first Joseis I ever read, and I must say, I extremely enjoyed it, except the fact that literally only the last chapter wasn’t out and it took me like a year + before I was actually able to finish it. This caused a big disconnect so my feelings are kinda cluttered about this one. It has an interesting premise to say the say. The manga focuses mostly on the embalming techniques and the toll it puts on Mamiya. The romance aspect is more of a back story that gets brought to the front around the middle to later side of the manga. It’s an episodic manga, meaning there are multiple stories told within the manga. Some of them we’re really freaking good. Omg the ballerina one, I adored it. It was so sad an tragic yet so beautiful, basically like the embalming process. He’s fixing a person to look beautiful again even in dead. The manga romanticizes the F out of and I loved it. I found myself thinking it was a beautiful and necessary practice. I really enjoyed Mamiya and is need for touch. Though it may be something cliche, in his line of work, it makes perfect sense. When dealing with nothing but dead cold bodies, wouldn’t you seek the warmth of another? His back story was sad and gave him the depth that was necessary to make the story not fall flat. The romantic interest, the girl next door was also given some depth, but like I said, the romance wasn’t the main aspect of the story for a while, so she spent a lot of time being a bland character. She’s kinda adorable when you know more about her though. The misunderstandings were dumb and unnecessary but at least they were cleared up rather quickly. The ending is satisfying as it wraps up a lot of the things and the manga doesn’t really leave too much hanging. All in all, a very solid and enjoyable josei that I highly recommend to people who want a more mature and unique plot.
MAL | Read Online | No Download | JDrama
