Before we begin:
This review for the most part does not contain spoilers, but assumes you have read the description -- as well as containing one detail about a character that's revealed on the second chapter
I'd say this story is very character-oriented; every aspect relies on the decisions of some character, which is why it's tragic to say the characters are decent for what the story aims to achieve. I specify that last part because they are actually good characters, it's just that I feel in terms of the whole emotional aspect they fall short.
Apart from a few odd exceptions (will be touched on later) I never really felt bad for any of the characters. There were times were I said to myself, "Damn," out of shock from a cold moment, but I feel like they never fully explored these kinds of moments. The thing is, the parts where I felt the most came from the notebook -- that is, Shizu talking with herself. I'll go over that a bit more in the next section, but my point is character-to-character emotional nonsense doesn't really excel -- which is all a bit tragic since a lot of the story centers on how characters feel (and no, not just the romance).
My guess as to why nothing hit me so hard is that it's a fairly fast manga when it comes to... well, a lot of character related nonsense. There isn't much build-up for certain emotional moments leading to them coming off as a bit flat. Additionally, I wish there were more moments of characters thinking or lingering on what someone said -- and no, not like those internal monologues which always finish with, "I'm gonna make 'em so happy."
The ghosts and nearly everything related to them is definitely the strongest part of the manga for me (I REALLY like the concept). Now, about the notebook: there's something about it that really gets me. I'll skip over the minute details, but I found it to fulfill my wish of wanting to see how the characters think while also showing more of Shizu's relationship with the ghosts. It shows Shizu's loneliness stunningly -- even though it's a direct device to show she isn't alone. The unfortunate part is that it's hardly shown -- and thus, you hardly get to see how Shizu thinks. Regardless, and to extend, the ghosts were definitely my favorite characters -- I also thought it was pretty nice/cool/interesting how easy it was to discern between them all, they're all pretty distinct.
There are a few things I want to comment on but don't deserve their own section, thus they'll get compiled here
Altogether I think Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty is good, but only just barely in my eyes. It has an incredibly interesting concept that's done pretty well, but the characters don't relish in their circumstances and a lot of the emotional aspects come off as a little flat -- they have content, but they don't pop as much as I feel they should. This isn't to say the characters are bad, it's just that the story is so absurdly character-oriented that the bar that the characters need to pass is way higher than it would be for most. I would still recommend trying it though, it still makes for a good story and I can admit I'm pretty hard to please when I'm so infatuated with a concept.
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