The Fall 2024 K-Comics Guide

My Numbered Days of Happiness

What's It About? 

A terminally ill orphan is gifted a second chance when she is reborn into her favorite novel as Princess Isabelle Bilothian. Despite being born with a curse that will kill her at age 21, she eagerly embraces the opportunity to relish two decades with her loving family and friends. However, as she tries to cherish her borrowed time, the story takes unexpected turns, putting her in a series of dangers. Can she overcome these threats and make the most of her limited days to live in happiness?

My Numbered Days of Happiness has a story and art by DARAK, based on the novel by Dana. English localization by Kakao Entertainment. Published by Tapas Entertainment.

Is It Worth Reading?

This is a story that leaves you with two very strong and conflicting emotions. The premise is predicated on a mountain of sympathy as a terminally ill girl gets reincarnated as a princess from her favorite novel. The problem is that in the story, this princess is cursed, and will die at the age of twenty-one. So while she has a chance at a second life, by most metrics, it is a short life, which makes you think that this is going to be a relatively short story. However, the story fully acknowledges the rather limited time frame of our main character's life, and so does everything it can to squeeze content out of every precious moment that she is alive in this new world. So while the premise is depressing, the overall theme of embracing every single moment that you're alive does leave me with a warm feeling inside. It also helps that our lead pretty much retains all of her memories and mental maturity from her previous life, so the minute that she is born, she is the most capable newborn that I've ever seen in media.

A significant amount of this story just focuses on this little girl in the very early years of her life, trying to enjoy herself and get close to her father. He's stern and almost comically disapproving for no reason whatsoever. But seeing him come around to his daughter and all of her little impressive feats from such a young age is charming, and the artwork highlights a lot of the facial expressions of our lead, particularly as a baby. Also, the side characters are very fun to watch. They all have their own internal monologues and comments on the current situation, which led to some rather sharp dialogue that caught me off guard from time to time with a burst of laughter.

When you take the comedy and tragedy of the premise, you mix them together to get an overall wholesome story about living life to the fullest. Even though our main character is armed with the knowledge of what is going to happen in the world that she lives in, she seems to prioritize trying to make the lives of her new family and companions better instead of trying to extend her lifespan. Honestly, I'm on board with this approach, because the story really takes its time in establishing why this family is so likable. You see the impact this child's birth has on her parents, and you see the joy that her presence brings to everyone around her. Maybe this will make the knife twist that much worse when we eventually get more into the inevitable death at age twenty-one, but I'm not thinking about that at the moment. Just like how our main character is trying to make the best of her situation, I made the best of my time with this story, and I think you will too.

This is a standard transmigration fantasy differentiated by its expression of joy. The protagonist is a terminal cancer patient reborn as a baby princess cursed with just 21 years to live. Or at least, that's one way to look at it; after her past life of illness, Isabelle is no stranger to confronting her own mortality, and sees these 21 additional years to be able to live as a healthy child as a major blessing. Armed with adult-level intelligence from the moment of her birth, Isabelle is just happy to be here, and her delight is infectious. However, the many scenes of Baby Isabelle laboring to ply her chilly father with attention to melt his famously cold heart left a sour note.

When Isabelle is born to a grieving mother and a father furious at her existence—all because she is a girl, she does not despair. Instead, she feels gratitude for being allowed a second chance at life. Even when she is only days old, she attempts to communicate, comfort her mother, and snuggle up to her cold father. During a ceremony similar to Korea's Hundredth Day Celebration, in which each royal baby is expected to instinctively choose the strongest sword out of an assortment, Isabelle uses her adult intelligence to bypass the swords and instead crawl to her father, saying “my choice” in her babyish voice to eliminate any uncertainty. The people around Isabelle, from her mom to her maid to the commander of the knights to her villainess-in-the-future governess all admire Isabelle's filial piety, prowess at magic, and unwavering optimism in the face of mortality. But Isabelle devotes most of her time to appealing to her father, who shows no outward signs of affection toward his only daughter at all. The underlying message here drove me nuts. So if a parent isn't doing their job of caring for you, you simply need to become a perfect child and eventually they'll love you? A parent's love should be unconditional from the start.

Isabelle's positive outlook is infectious and gives this entire story a joyful edge. All of the illustrations of her precious smile melting the hearts of the adults around her are adorable. It's no wonder that even the father who professed his hatred for her at birth is even becoming one of her many fans. Still, that's the one component of the narrative I can't stand! I wish Isabelle would offer her affection to the adults who openly love her back rather than the father who can barely admit his true feelings. I'm far more invested in the discovery that transmigration is a known phenomenon—and even considered a crime—in Isabelle's world, than anything about her deadbeat dad.