Reviews

I received this book from the publisher/netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

8 friends, a time frozen (multiple times even that all have to do with what happened), a mystery. When I spotted this one up on Netgalley I was intrigued. A bit hesitant as well due to the suicide theme and the fact that NONE of these people could remember who killed themselves that faithful day (HOW? I mean if a friend of mine died or even a classmate I would fucking remember). But I decided to give it a shot.

I love how things seemed normal at first, just 4 friends meeting up and then heading to school, but when they arrive at school… things are weird. The campus is empty. It is just them, and so it starts. I loved seeing the kids try to figure out why the school was empty, walk around and check the campus out, and then the mysterious thing mentioned in the blurb starts. The kids find out they are stuck. LORD, I would have panicked so much if that had happened to me. And yes, I would have also thrown furniture at things to see if I can break a window, or a door, or something to the outside.

OK, so the part that they forgot, I thought that meant they just had forgotten it from the start… but it seems something is messing them inside the building. That definitely changes things for me and makes things more suspenseful/mysterious. What is causing them to forget. Who did die? Will they find out… but also what happens when they remember? That is quite a scary thought.

The story continues and boy I was just sucked in. We see confessions happen, we see them ponder and question what is going on, worry, cry, get angry, and there are other creepy things happening…. and then Mitsuru… he remembers and so we come into his memories. Not just of that day or the day near to it, but also his youth when he had found a cat. I was frankly pretty disgusted by how the author/mangaka showed that Mitsuru remembered to his friends/classmates. I don’t want to delve to far into it, but boy I was practically puking. Bah. Couldn’t there have been a better way? One not so traumatising and disgusting?

I loved the reference to Drifting Classroom! I was indeed thinking of that one when I saw the blurb/title! I am glad I am not alone, the characters also thought of that.

All in all, I want more. This is one manga that has me very curious. I want to solve the puzzle. There are so many hints and puzzle pieces, but I need more if I want to get everything together. Hopefully we get more hints and memories in the next one.

The art? Fantastic, but I already knew that would happen given the mangaka who work on this one. I love their style.

I would highly recommend this one if you like mystery along with spooky/creepy things.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

motterbine's review against another edition

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5.0

It almost reminds me of a horror version of Orange.

callistocake's review against another edition

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4.0

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha comic for giving me a opportunity to review this manga.

Trigger warning: Suicide
3.5 stars, rounded to 4
This manga deals with the aftermath of a suicide and follows eight students trapped in a school with no way out. It is a psychological thriller and I think so far the author is doing a great job establishing the characters and building the story. It is often hard to judge first volumes cause you really don't know much about the story then. So, I usually use my likelihood of picking up the next volume as a measure for the first volume. In that regard this one has been quite successful. I am curious to know what happens and I trust the author to do a good job.
I liked that there were trigger warnings in the book. There are also moments which are interjected by humour, which I really enjoy. It takes quite some talent to pull that off.
I hate the trope of the perverted character and there was one here. Granted he didn't do much, but I'm just so tired of reading such characters in mangas. I also feel kinda sketchy about the student who has a crush on the teacher. So far there hasn't been any interactions between them on page, but I hope that it is handled properly.
Final verdict it that it is worth the read.