Short disclaimer: This manga helped me get through a tough mental hurdle, but I can't say the same for everyone. So if you do need help, call a hotline and remember that you matter.

This short but impactful manga has a simple but powerful message, living with dying. If that sounds familiar to you, you aren't alone. This is a line from a movie called I Want To Eat Your Pancreas which similar to this one, portrays living with dying.

The story talks about the life of Shiino, a salary woman working her usual nine to five, who finds out about the suicide of her other half in life, Mariko. That's when her reality starts to crumble and when she begins living with dying. It's an incredibly gripping, heart-wrenching and gritty story that not only seems believable but portrays itself so well in the mere 4 chapters it has. From the start to the end of the manga I was holding back my tears constantly, trying my best to say it's okay, it's just a story but truthfully, throughout my reading, it became frightening to me how real the story seemed and I just exploded. In the scene of the fisherman staying aside Mariko and the sign at the beach, humanity is ugly, but sometimes I just wish everyone was good at heart no malice, no evil. All pure and white.

And last but not least, the scary realness of the story. Almost like people are going through the same troubles and struggles of life just like Mariko and Shiino are, but suppressing it and sweeping it under the rug to go on with their lives and live. But to those people, I ask, are you living? Or are you just surviving? Death is something inevitable, we will all go through it one day no matter who we are, how much money we have and how many friends we have, Death is what grounds us to the earth and reminds us that we are human. Be it human enough to be kind to people and love, or human enough to take that kindness and love to crush it into the ground and stand above it just to feel some sort of satisfaction or a form of happiness.

At this point, I just want to show my appreciation for the story and its writing, but I can only do so much through my own words and thoughts in my head, so please take a moment of your time to read this beautiful story for yourself, you will not regret it.

All in all, I love this manga. Its short, but meaningful message helped me out of a hard mental block and I hope it does to anyone else reading this. If you are having any second thoughts holding yourself back from living your life, just do it and never look back. You only have one life to do what you want so live it to the fullest.

Once again, thank you for reading! I hope my thoughts and feelings will convince you to check out My Broken Mariko and support the author in her other works!