In my humble opinion, Colette Decides to die is the best shoujo manga. If you were to ask me to recommend you a shoujo manga, I wouldn’t even have to think. That’s how much I love this manga!
As I love it so much, you may not be surprised to hear about just how ecstatic I was when I heard that it was getting an English release (better late than never) !
Interested in reading about what happens in volume 1? Read my recap here!
- Info about the manga
- Why I like this manga
- The story…
- Is there drama? (we’re generally not a fan of drama)
- Maddies Ratings
Info about the manga
You’ll like this manga if you like…
Tropes
- Greek Mythology
- Quiet and kind ML’s
- Stereotypically kind FL’s
Other manga
- Fruits Basket
- Kamisama Kiss
- Snow White with the Red Hair
The author, and their other manga
- This manga was written by Alto Yukimura!
- Pizzicato no nemuru mori (completed at 4 volumes)
How many volumes? In English?
- This manga was first published in 2013, and has been completed at 21 volumes in Japanese.
- Volume 1 has been released in English. You can see it here through Indigo!
- Volume 2 will be released February 4th.
Why I like this manga
This manga has absolutely everything I want in a story: depth, relatable characters, some drama, and well-written romance! Colette decides to die is a very lighthearted story at times, and very serious at others. I think the manga-ka does a fantastic job of showing the ups and downs that people go through just living their lives, and it gives her characters an incredibly realistic feel.
There is also a mix of fantasy and reality that I really enjoy! The fantasy aspect is just enough to keep you interested, and the world this manga is bound in really does feel like a real world.
The story…
The characters
Colette Decides to Die is a story featuring both normal everyday humans, and Greek gods. Our two main characters come from both categories: Colette, a regular human who works as a doctor, and Hades, the god of the underworld.
Colette
Colette is a doctor residing in a rural village. As she puts her patients before all else, she is incredibly overworked and often sleep-deprived. This is what lead to her first meeting with Hades, she ends up working as a doctor to both humans, and gods.
Personality-wise, Colette is an incredibly kind girl who always does her best to help those around her. As a doctor, she sees it as her life mission to help those around her, and to be a good successor to the doctor who raised her. She isn’t scared of much at all, as one day when she woke up in the underworld surrounded by supernatural creatures, she wasn’t taken aback at all, and eventually made friends with everyone.
Hades
Hades is the god of the underworld, and just like Colette, is incredibly overworked. He takes his job of reigning over this kingdom very seriously, so the only time he does rest is when he’s physically unable to move. As he puts it, when new souls enter the underworld, they are stuck in wait until they are deemed good or bad by Hades. It’s only after receiving judgement that these souls can either move on to paradise or prison, so how could he make them wait in limbo any longer than he has to?
Personality-wise, Hades is very stoic and aloof. Despite this, he has a very kind nature, and is very much beloved by all of those in his kingdom. He quickly gets along with Colette after meeting, and soon designates her as the official doctor of the underworld.
Is there drama? (we’re generally not a fan of drama)
While there is soooome drama in this series, this is such a perfectly executed story, that any drama serves a greater purpose. There’s no drama just for the point of drama, and there is quite a bit of payoff for every sad / dramatic part.
Maddies Ratings
Romance
Literally my favourite romance manga.
World building
As this manga uses greek mythology, I feel like it isn’t all that difficult to understand how the world works. There is the heavens, ruled by Zeus; the earth, where Colette lives; and the underworld, ruled by Hades.
Character development
Watching Colette and Hades’ love story is so fulfilling! While not every single character is fully fleshed out, I do feel like the more important ones are.
Is it entertaining?
This is one of the very few manga that I didn’t need to put down when it started getting sad. It is so well-written than I found myself needing to continue it just to see where the story went.
Have you started Colette Decides to Die yet?
Maddies Manga 
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