Maddies Manga

After experiencing a near-death accident, Akari sees death everywhere. She can’t help but be a little gloomy, but she still wants to live a fun life. Being scared of leaving the house makes things a little difficult, but luckily she has a brother who often brings his friend over to their house. Akari, not really being able to socialize with anyone else, needs to soak up as much of his attention as she can.

You can check out volume one below

What’s this manga about? (Chapter 1 spoilers)

After having a near-death experience, Akari is terrified of most of her surroundings. She sees death everywhere—in the little old ladies that compliment her, in the cars that drive by, and even in the cute dogs that she sees out in the park. She’s become a little bit gloomy, and a bit of a shut-in, but that comes with the territory of having experienced a near-death accident!

Although she wants to have fun in life, her anxiety makes it difficult for her to put herself out there. Thankfully, she has a younger brother who comes in handy, often bringing his friend over. His friend, Mikage, really enjoys teasing Akari. And Akari, though she would never admit it, really really likes being teased by Mikage. The two of them have a very friendly, almost flirty relationship, with neither being able to admit to anyone (themselves included) that they have any feelings for the other.

When Mikage jokingly tells Akari that he only comes by to see her, not her brother, Akari can’t help but get flustered. She likes him so much, that she devises reasons in her head that will allow her to see him—like, “if I offer to go to the convenience store, I’ll be able to see him when I offer to get my brother something, and when I bring that something back to my brother.” She’s really down bad.

These feelings seem to not be all that one-sided though, as while Akari is the only one to outwardly show her reactions to Mikage’s teasings, Mikage also gets quietly flustered when Akari says the right things.

My thoughts (spoilers)

This was the funniest thing I’ve read all week. Watching Akari try and think of reasons that would allow her to naturally get to see Mikage again reminded me of how I used to act when I had a crush on someone in middle school. Both of them are so down bad for each other, and it’s so much fun to watch.

Normally I’m not a big fan of comedy in my shoujo romance, but the way the comedy is written into this story really works. There aren’t all that many gag’s, and the comedic moments are brought about in the form of Mikage teasing Akari. He quite literally always gets to her, and it’s always really funny to watch.

In one scene, Akari almost falls over when she trips on nothing and Mikage is able to catch her in time. After the save, all she can think about is how strong his arms were and that she can die happy now. I cannot emphasize just how down bad she is for him, and how funny it is to follow along. She is so over the top dramatic, and it works really well with her character. In my opinion, this style of comedy is one of the best when it comes to rom coms.