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Caution
Introduction
My Broken Mariko by Hirako Waka presents the story of Tomoyo Shiino. After hearing that her close friend, Ikagawa Mariko has died, her life is thrown into disarray. My Broken Mariko delves into how Tomoyo Shiino deals with the death of a loved one, and her past with Mariko.
Plot
From the very beginning, the plot depicts a dark and dismal story, immediately beginning with news breaking of Mariko's death. As we are thrust into this immediately, we do not know what we are supposed to feel for a characters death we just got introduced to. But what this manga does is that it changes this feeling of perhaps initial confusion over the course of the story. As the plot unfolds, we learn more about the relationship between Shiino and Mariko, and the many horrible things Mariko had to go through. Most of the plot involves Shiino attempting to understand and deal with Mariko's death. Alongside this, numerous flashbacks take place showcasing Shiino and Mariko's past together, why their relationship is so significant. The plot is bleak and gives of a sense of hopelessness, conveying the emotions both Shiino and Mariko experience. Despite its overall dreary nature, the plot does have breaks of bright moments, which were welcome to break the sometimes overly gloomy nature of the manga. My Broken Mariko is only five chapters long, but in that short length it managed to craft a story and characters both engaging and intriguing, and easily made my sympathise over the two main characters. Another thing that the plot does well is to illustrate the five stages of grief, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. This was mostly conveyed through Shiino going through the phases of her grief. The stages subtly progressed through; it was not overly upfront about it but I was able to notice the shift in the periods of sorrow.
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When Shiino finally reached acceptance, it felt like a long journey was as its end, and it was very satisfying to see that.Characters
There are not many characters in My Broken Mariko, with the two main characters and one notable side character. Firstly, there is Shiino, one of the main characters in this manga. The most captivating part of her character is how Mariko's death affects her. We see the extremes that Shiino will put herself through for Mariko, and this just makes her the more engrossing. What happens to her throughout the course of the story can happen to anyone, creating a character that is easy to relate to. Coupled with the intense and bleak story, she brings the manga to life. Her development was also executed adeptly, like I stated earlier her transition between the stages of grief was a great part of the manga. The five stages of grief is something most of us can relate to, even if it is not at the scale of Shiino's. Furthermore, her dialogue effectively reflected the raw feelings she held, and further exuding the same emotions to us, the readership. The second main character of this manga is Mariko. Her character is developed through flashbacks, building up her character over time. This method of character development creates a sense of mystery, at first leading us to question why she would commit suicide. Only as we read on, we start to learn more about her, why she took that final step, and we start to connect to her. Mariko's life is a sad one indeed, filled with abuse and depression. Her only light in her life was Shiino, and thus the two develop an intimate relationship. Their relationship was captivating, to see how the two connected even through all the pain was uplifting. As the manga goes on, we see small snippets of their relationship. I found myself wanting to keep reading, to see what their relationship was like. Finally, we have a notable side character who as far as I recall does not have a name. He appears a little later in the manga so I will not say too much in mind of spoilers, but he was an interesting character as well, and played a vital role in the story.
Art
My Broken Mariko's art is nothing short of wonderful, at least in my eyes. The rough art style very nicely compliments the bleak and dark themes the manga holds. The characters are drawn with expressions that seem so real; their raw feelings are projected onto you as you read. Hirako Waka illustrates a world that feels alive, and only helps to further draw you in.
Conclusion and TL;DR
This is certainly different to everything else I have read, but that does not mean it was not a good read. In the end, I was captivated by the story and the characters. I would recommend this to someone who wants a short and engaging read and you can handle the dark themes this manga tackles. In summary:
- The plot tackles the themes of suicide and abuse, tackling the question of "what happens to those left behind?"
- The plot is engaging, drawing you in with its characters and their relationships.
- Well paced and built character development.
- The raw emotions of the characters are conveyed well through the rough art style and dialogue.
The first chapter of the manga received voice acting, which even if you are unable to understand Japanese, is great to listen to alongside reading the first chapter. The voice actors do brilliantly to convey emotions of the characters in the story and overall make it feel even more alive.
Thank you to those who took the time to read this review. Hopefully you were able to get something out of it. If you did not like this review, then I apologise for wasting your time.