The manga Colette Decides to Die has so much happening right from the beginning, just reading my recap and review of it won’t do it justice! If you’re at all interested in this series, I recommend trying to give it a read yourself!
Looking for more information?
Please check out my introduction to this manga series here!
Already read volume 1? Read my recap for volume 2 here!
Setting
Volume one takes place in both our main character, Colette’s domain, the human world, and our male love interest, Hades’ domain, the underworld.
This story takes place in a world where the Greek gods, and the Greek heroes, are in existence!
What happens in volume 1?
After hearing the rumor that wells connect different worlds together (maybe she read Inuyasha?) Colette jumps into the well found just behind her house / workplace. As she’s the sole doctor in a remote village, she has to deal with a never-ending influx of patients.
Upon her decent into the well, she passes out somewhere along the way and wakes up in a dark prison cell. While she was incredibly confused, there was no work for her to do! She could finally take a break! When it was revealed to the strangely supernatural beings (cute little skeleton guys) that Colette is a human doctor, they send her straight to their masters bedroom, explaining that he is suffering from a very confusing disease. They also explain to her that this master is Hades, and she is in the underworld.
**note that she didn’t die upon her decent, she’s a living human girl in the underworld**
How did Hades get sick?
Colette quickly finds out the cause of Hades’ mysterious disease: he has become intolerant to sunlight. One night a soul deemed evil escaped from its cage, Hades explains. As he rushed to catch it, both of them briefly breached the earth, and Hades realized that the sun could now hurt him. It gave him a horrible rash all over his body, and a fever.
Hades, afraid of being seen as having a weakness, did his best to hide this newfound allergy from all those who work in his kingdom. This didn’t entirely fool them, as it was known that something was ailing him. The only person who Hades actually explained the full story to, was Colette.
Paradise in the underworld?
Hades, after being prompted by Colette, decides to explain exactly why he overworks himself so much. Hades, as the ruler of the underworld, is also the judge of all souls that pass. Those that fail are sent to a special prison. Those that pass though, are sent to paradise. This paradise is also located within the domain of the underworld, and Hades takes Colette to visit.
While the underworld is a dark, and somewhat gloomy place, the paradise for souls is anything but. This paradise is called “Asphodelus field”, and is the only place in the the underworld where flowers can grow, Hades explains. It is absolutely lush with flora, and even Colette is surprised with just how beautiful it is.
In answering Colette’s question of how Hades can overwork himself to exhaustion while also being sick, Hades explains that so long as he has this paradise, and the souls that reside in it, to protect, he doesn’t mind ignoring his own pain.
With that, Hades sends Colette back to earth. He sends her personally, thanking her for her help, and advising her to live a life that will leave her confident when she has to face her own post-death judgement one day.
Hades’ Doctor
Although she was sent back home, Colette promptly makes her way back to the underworld soon after. She explains to Hades that she, as a doctor, can’t just ignore a patient whom she knows is sick. As Hades still has his rash and fever from his sun exposure, she vows to see him until he is cured.
Hercules?
A eccentric looking man finds himself in Colette’s hospital, passed out and in need of medical care. After being patched up, he explains that he is grateful, but really needs to continue on his journey. He introduces himself as Hercules, and runs off.
…This isn’t where his story ends though, as he soon is found by Hades as an intruder in his domain. Hercules, who is described as being a warrior half human, half god, explains that he is here to steal hades’ dogs. This is when Colette pops in, expressing her utter confusion at what her former patient is doing.
Hades is able to retrieve his dogs, however Colette is kidnapped in the process. Hercules declares that he will absolutely kill Colette if Hades doesn’t trade her for his dogs, and absconds.
Once alone, Hercules apologizes to Colette and reassures her that his words were just to taunt Hades, and that he wouldn’t actually harm her. He then explains just why he is on this so-called journey. He explains: he has been tortured with vivid nightmares of his family dying every night. Unable to cope with this, he seeked out a revelation from the gods. This revelation suggested that he was to return to his hometown, and to serve the king. After a certain amount of time, he will be freed of these nightmares.
This king turned out to be a fan of unusual items, and requested Hades’ three headed dog. And thus, this situation came to be.
Colette scrutinizes Hercules for thinking nothing of trying to steal things precious to others to placate his own loss, and after a while, she does get through to him.
Hades then appears, and rescues Colette from this situation. He created a fake model of his dog for Hercules to present to his king, and advises him to live differently.
Hades’ Doctor, part 2
To end this volume, Hades explains that as all of the wells in the world are connected to the underworld, he can travel to any location in the world, so long as they have a well. He takes Colette to a village he is particularly fond of, and explains to her that he really loves humans, and prior to getting sick, he would often come there to watch them.
Colette offers to take a walk around with him, and to help shield him from the sun. Feeling incredible touched by Colette’s kindness, Hades makes a declaration: he acknowledges Colette as the doctor of the underworld, and as his doctor. He tells her that he will never hand her to anyone, and that he’s finished trying to not favour her.
…and that’s where the volume ends!
didn’t I say a lot happens!!
Maddie’s Ratings
Fluffiness
Hades is surprisingly fluffy in quite a large amount of this story!
Romance
There isn’t really any romance in 99% of this volume, but Hades’ little declaration at the end of this volume felt really romantic to me~
Story-telling
I was hooked right from the very beginning of this manga! SO much happens, but I never felt overwhelmed with the amount of information that was being thrown at me.
Maddies Manga 
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