
Death Love Letter
a review by isa154

a review by isa154
Originally I saw a panel with little context and I assumed this manga could be an endearing story, but after reading, context didn't really help and the story hardly supports the moment.
I kinda thought this manga would be a lot deeper, or at least the relationship between the characters would be, but it's a weird story, i don't really see what the appeal would be either, the reasons he likes the girl he does are never really stated, and being childhood friends is an overused trope, it's more of a cheap excuse for attraction and/or love than actually having to write a genuine connection between two people, like yeah 'they've known each other for ages so he obviously likes her', I dunno, this stuff gets old fast.
The audience can assume why the girl may be insecure, but the audience isn't shown how that may affect her life all that much, she assumes the MC is pulling a prank on her and the audience can assume why, but it's shallow, the author seems to be making a feel-good story about two people, and the audience can see the guy as a good guy for being able to see beyond the girl's looks in his attraction for her, but if he's not superficial in his attraction, why is there no reason as to why he likes her? Saying that they were childhood friends is hardly any less superficial, the story almost feels harmful for trying to insinuate that his feelings would somehow be noble for feeling that way, simply because she looks different, it certainly tries to push message that by showing that every girl likes him. If the story wanted to actually be noble, they would have either not made a point of it, or shown how insecurity affects the life of someone like her, but our main character seems to be flawless, and our girl is awfully shallow, despite having the potential to be more.
The art is just fine, the panelling is nothing special and the artstyle is relatively cute, but the way the girl is drawn can seem a little off, the art is not saving this manga, it's fine but can feel subpar at times.
The concept of a 'death letter' is sort of interesting but it's hardly explored at all, and doesn't contribute to the manga that much, especially considering the final confession has nothing to do with it. Worst part is that it was probably the most interesting concept the story had, maybe the girl,in her insecurity, assumes he is giving her a death letter, even though she had never confessed to her would have at least been more interesting drama than what was shown.
I wish there was more to say about this manga so I could expand my word limit, but to be honest, it's really short, and not very dense either, you will simply read this manga and not think about it much after. The cute art may lure you in, but I wouldn't be excited if this one shot became a series.
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