Forum - View topicLife by Keiko Suenobu (?)
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hentai4me
 Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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I have ordered the first volume (got it for £2 so whatever) but is it actually any good? I have read some good things about it but I have reservations about how absurdly melodramatic some of it sounds. Cutting oneself...then someone else also trying to commit suicide...I'll have a hard time believing in these characters if they just seem to jump straight into these kind of self harming suicidal depressives without a believably good reason (as in the manga itself presents this in a believable way rather than hopes you can imply a reason).
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Kasunca
Posts: 2 |
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The entire series is simply amazing. It's dramatic, of course, it'd have to be with the situations it's taking ahold of here. The second book may frighten away some readers due to the fact that your thrown into a world you never expected to read about, but my goodness the farther you get into this series the more enticed you are. I've gotten to the sixth book, and as it has for the last three or four volumes, it's left me craving more. You get to know the main character to the point where you simply have to keep reading to see what happens. It's like any other story, they fall to hard times and slowly they are dragged back. Hey, it's worth it, believe me.
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hentai4me
Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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It is annoyingly a page turner and I have ended up buying and reading the second volume.
What annoys me is that apart from the sheer ability of a drama to keep you turning there is little that makes this 'good'. True the characters have had little time to develop in only two volumes but they are, to me, stupid and lacking in any kind of common sense. Perhaps it's just me and I'll admit I have had my own problems but suicide? Self harm? it all sounds so absurdly melodramatic and stupid, regardless of their mental state it is still stupid. Further I could understand if there was one or two people totally messed up within the same small group but there being a spoiler[suicidal, a self harmer, a 'trying to be good' delinquent and a sadistic rapist hiding behind his 'good boy' persona all within not just one school but within a single group of 'friends' seems over the top and cheapens the issues at hand. Considering the way this story is developing I can see there being several more characters introduced with their own 'secret evil type thing' just to stop the story stagnating and too many people in such situations in such a small group really aggravates and cheapens.] Yet the author does have a good grasp of pacing and really knows how to keep you coming back. There are so few things I actually like about this story and yet I feel I want to read the next volume. The only thing I really like is in a sort of Higurashi Shion crossed with Jugoku Shoujo style...spoiler[I do love dreaming up the rather unpleasant ways of torturing the bondage guy.] |
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Kasunca
Posts: 2 |
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The drama lowers to a more acceptable level as the volumes continue to flow. It's true the drama does keep the pages turning in the first two volumes, but when it gets rolling, it really does. The main character at first is so dramatic it's almost annoying, true, but slowly she learns. The second volume actually made me wanna stop at that point, couldn't handle the...disgusting value of 'it'. spoiler[ In other words, the creepy bondage dude, as you've named him, scared the crap outta me and made me wanna cry for my mommy. ]Yet, couldn't help but sit there wondering...well what now? Finally after my friends kept bugging me about it, I drove out to grab the volume...and I'm truly happy I did. I mean...it really almost makes you proud to see the way the story is turning from shitty black hole to...something more, inspiring, ya know? If you continue past the second volume, tell me what you think.
spoiler[ Hm...it's true there is a lot of insane maniacs in such a small group, but in real life, there isn't just one bully, they run in packs, always with one leader they follow stupidly and relentlessly.] [/spoiler] |
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hentai4me
Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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Oh I know they run in packs, but I am not talking about them, I am talking about the fact that there is an absurdly disproportionate number of people with 'the crazies' in such a small group...it's almost as if no one in the series so far has been a normal person...With a lack of normal people there is nothing in the series to draw as a parallel to the characters and that makes their conditions less powerful...as I said, it cheapens the effect. Her cutting herself would be far more powerful if there were normal people around her acting as juxtaposition...at the moment it relies entirely upon our own input and her own self beration to make her actions wrong and having her provide it makes it far weaker. Relying upon the reader to act as the normal element can backfire. I actively dislike Ayumu because she cuts herself and I feel no real desire for things to get better for her simply because I don't get cutting, as far as I am concerned a bit of common sense and will power should sort it. I myself experienced clinical depression and I never took any action to harm myself, I contemplated suicide but never took any action on that either...so from my experiences self harm is entirely incomprehensible...
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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You'll find that there's other things besides cutting that really gets this manga moving. You have to read into the series more, because you'll discover that there is a lot more behind the scenes that is happening than what you're seeing in the first two volumes. Who is responsible for what, and who is on who's side is the question, and what is the truth. A very thrilling series if you ask me, this series still holds my own personal record for most manga read in a short time, 12 volumes in two hours.
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Terrestrial_Cel
 Posts: 99 Location: SF Bay Area |
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What I really love about the artists style is her ability to portray facial expressions The crying faces really get to me.
I picked up the first volume by sheer chance. After reading it I had to get volume 2, and now I can't wait to read the third. 'Life' reminds me of 'Confidential Confessions', but this one is a tad more surreal. |
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Momoko_Yumi
 Posts: 98 Location: Heidenheim, Germany |
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Here in Germany Vol. 9 was released. And let me say, "Life" is getting really hard. Like Terrestrial_Cel said, it is a little bit like "Confidential Confessions". But "Confidential Confessions" is more to real life than "Life". Sometimes I think the mangaka of "Life" wants too much. So the manga seems to be a bit overload. It's brilliant, of course, but not really realistic.
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chrisb
 Subscriber Posts: 664 Location: USA |
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I'm really into melodrama and this series won me over at the start, the manga is quite annoying in how the characters can act but you have to take into consideration that these kids are rather emotionally weak and don't think straight, not to mention in Japan bullying is quite severe, people I know who have read LIFE say it can be even worse than the manga portrays (minus the spoiler[rape]) the manga also does get better when Ayumu spoiler[starts fighting back] but if the manga isn't your favorite I recommend the live action show version. It plays out better than the manga because it gives more realism and you're able to see these characters have to go through their pain rather than just read and wonder how they feel. The live action version also shows more normal people so it's not all "crazies" and it also shows kind of why the bullies all follow one girl. You may like it also because it has no spoiler[self-harming, it does have attempts and thoughts about hurting oneself but in the end the characters never do it] and in the tv show spoiler[Ayumu actually starts fighting back against the bullies alot and sooner than in the manga ]The live action TV show does stray but I liked the changes made.
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spedbus
 Posts: 7 Location: Right behind you... |
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Wow. I seriously /was/ scared by the 2nd one. I basically dropped it. But now I sorta want to pick it up again, since you say its so good. |
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