Full Moon wo Sagashite

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If you want something cute with a little magical twist, I would recommend this.

-Story-

There are times when the story of Full Moon wo Sagashite is really good and really makes you cry and there are times where it really just comes off as unrealistic and over-dramatic. Part of it is due to poor characterization and the other is due to the lose plot.

The ending felt a little... unexciting. I mean, it's nice and wraps everything up in a nice little bow. But you get there and you're just like, "all right, well. That was nice. Cheers." You expect it. It doesn't wow you. It's cliche.

-Art-

Tanemura has the best art that I've ever seen in the Shoujo Manga genre. That's half the reason why I read through all of Full Moon wo Sagashite in the first place.

-Characters-

They're all right. That's, really as much as I can say. You do start to sympathize with the characters, as each of them their mandated backstory.

My favorite character is Takuto because I like cats. Izumi is a close second.

Dramatic but somewhat shallow.

Mostly

Full moon is the story of a 12 year old girl trying to become a singer because of a promise she made to someone she loves. However her grandma hates music. She also has throat cancer. She also never went to school. Her dad was also a top tier singer. Also 2 death reapers try to reap her soul since she is supposed to die in 1 year. But she convinces them to help her instead so she is now this model looking woman who is now an idol.

Its a very fast paced story which is for the better. If you stop and actually thought about the series you'd notice how shallow majority of the characters are. Most of the woman are just motivated by the male organ. The heart. Every single character is like in love. And it feels very superficial. Some of them get the very needed backstory but some of them feel incredibly vain.

Despite this I did like most of the series to my own surprise. Combined with the art the author is able to convey the right emotion albeit barely. Like i've said due to the somewhat shallow behavior of the heroines and heroes the dramatic moments feel a bit hollow. But the art is good enough for me to still be gut punched by it at least initially.

The story is also interesting for the most part. It gets a bit convoluted near the end. But the author does a good job of grabbing you by balls and tugging you along. If you can't tell the series is a sad story. But it never overwhelms the reader. Lightheartedness and playfulness is throughout the manga. The cheery atmosphere just adds to the gut punching later on but the gut punching also adds to the levity the series has.

TLDR: I enjoyed this series. Despite 4/5 heroines being major simps, the art is good enough, the story is interesting enough and the characters are likable enough to make me wanna keep reading. 7/10

*Disclaimer: The TLDR is at the bottom.*


Not your typical magical girl transformation shojo, to say the least: 'Full Moon o Sagashite' is much more than that. It's a story about second chances and the pursuit of self-love, forgiveness and redemption.

The characters are layered so wonderfully, and grow naturally as the story progresses. Arina Tanemura does a fantastic job interweaving the relationships and back-stories within Full Moon's universe; you'll find yourself falling in love with all of her characters over and over again. She masterfully and delicately handles the topic of childhood illness and young love. Somehow, she is able to keep the atmosphere of the story lighthearted, though bittersweet, while still maintaining a believable fantasy universe where shinigami and ghosts not only exist, but are fully-realized main characters. Tanemura wonderfully builds her characters up bit by bit, all the while slowly revealing more of the darker elements of her story.

Read 'Full Moon o Sagashite', and you'll not only be impressed, but you'll be laughing and crying along with its beautiful characters. However, if you're looking for a light and fluffy, easy to digest, magical girl transformation shojo, this may not be the right story for you. 'Full Moon o Sagashite' is much darker and more complex than its cute characters and gentle themes may imply; the story has magic, yes, but it also speaks on other topics such as suicide, cancer, death, heartbreak, betrayal, sacrifice, love, self-harm, depression, trauma, fame, etc. The themes in 'Full Moon o Sagashite' are very adult, despite its cute appearance and overtones.

TLDR:

Story -9
Art -8
Character -10
Enjoyment -10
Overall -9

Story: 10/10
A girl and boy promises each other to fulfil their dreams. Her dream is to become a singer, however, unfortunately, she suffers from throat cancer. But, with the help of two shinigamis, she is able to sing once again. It's a unique story, I don't think I've ever read something like this before. It was definitely a childhood favourite and WARNING! It will make you cry.

Art: 8/10
Typical shoujo manga art style back in the 2000s, big eyes and quite small head. But the character designs are unique and easily remembered.

Characters: 9/10
There's a lot of character development and you get to know more about the characters' backgrounds so you are able to connect with them and feel sympathy. They'll make you cry so much.
Enjoyment/Overall: 10/10
Losing a lot of those tears was worth it, it's such a unique manga and you won't regret reading this manga! Watch the anime too!

My eyes still have the beginnings of tears in them from this story. I laughed and I cried it was so good. The story is amazing and it really makes you think about certain things. A lot of the time there isn't one clear answer and thats what makes it so interesting. I really wish that I could hear the songs that she sings because they would be so rich with feelings. It ends so beautifully.

Read it.

This Manga is a must read! The innocent looking cover should not trick you into think this is a happy story (it does have that too) for kids. It deals with death, shinigami, and even suicide. If you've watched the anime; the manga in many points is a better more mature story.

In the manga- more information is given on the shinigami's past lives, why are they connected to Mitsuki. In the manga Izumi was my favorite character, in the anime I just wanted to shoot him.

Eichi in the manga is more then just Mitsuki's first love, and it will either creep you out, or make you cry. I cried.

Even secondary characters have much more to handle in the manga in the cases of the Dr., Oshige, Madoka, and even Mitsuki's grandmother.

Best of all though, is the manga has a happier ending for more characters.

The artwork is of course the detailed cute innocent style of Arina, No complaints. I would say this anime and manga deserved more attention then what it got in the USA.

It's about time I rewrote this.

Full Moon wo Sagashite is the sad, yet inspiring story of a girl who has one year to live, as she found out when two shinigami visited her. Upon learning this astonishing fact, Mitsuki decides to make the best of it and try harder to achieve fame as a singer so she can reach her childhood love, Eichi-kun, who is living in America.

When reading any cutesy manga where there's drama and tragedy, I like to keep a box of tissues on hand. But don't worry, you won't need to use these until the second half of the series =)

Story: Now, I've already watched the anime, and the two are not that different. There are several things that are changed in the anime, but other than that, they're the same. I very much liked that Mitsuki had a dream that she wanted to follow, even if for slightly skewed reasons. The best parts of the manga are the funny chapters that are solely filler.

Art: Art? Clean, and very shoujo-y. But in a cute way. I am definitely a fan of Arina Tanemura and her artwork. The tears, the happiness, the anger, the disappointment--all of it is shown wonderfully in this art style.

Characters: I absolutely adored the characters in this manga! They are all very well developed, all with their own histories and drama that they each have to deal with during the course of the series. It's seemingly impossible to do so unless the character was really annoying. Even the ones you initially hate for their spite, you start to feel sympathy for by the end. Except Eichi. I hated Eichi.

Enjoyment: I loved this manga! It was a tearjerker, and I wasn't even the least embarrassed to be crying in front of the computer. There was tragedy, drama, inspiration, and even humor! What more could make you happy? Well, the art style, the ending, and the characters, among several others.

Overall, this is an amazing manga and I would recommend this to any man, woman, or child. At first, one might think that it's just for girls, but it's not. The carefully crafted story and drama and tragedy would surely please anyone :)

Admittedly at first I expected this story to just be cute. Something light, something fluffy to "baw" at for a while. It is as sure as hell cute, but there is a hell of a lot more to this manga that initially meets the eye.

For one, it's PAINFUL. For all that the ending feels a little deus ex machina, there is a lot that is not idealized. Suicide, death, and loss permeate the characters' lives. There is a focus on letting go of loss, on being held back by past tragedies, and having the courage to keep living when you have to reconcile that your worst fears are, in fact, true, and are not going to change. Many of the characters have stopped LIVING because they do not want to let go of their pasts, and as Mitsuki discovers, the more you step forward, the more your past becomes detached from your heart. And it hurts, especially if that pain is the strongest link you have left.

At its core, this is a story about living one's life to the fullest and being willing to get go of the past for the sake of the future. Mitsuki gives the people around her, dead and live, the courage to let go of the tragedies chaining them to the past and move forward with their lives (or afterlives, as the case may be). Mitsuki's love for Eichi is heartbreaking, and anybody who has loved and lost has felt her gut-wrenching sorrow. This understanding of what she is going through makes her courage all the more remarkable.

I highly recommend this shoujo title to anybody who has ever known loss, who has ever wanted to give up, who has wanted to curl up in a ball and stop the world from turning while they stay in stasis. If you don't belong to that group, I have to wonder if you have experienced life yet.

Wow. I am not normally a big fan of supernatural works because often the scenarios are so outrageous the characters themselves become unbelievable and the story suffers. This, however, is a huge exception. I didn't really notice any "fluff" characters, even the supporting characters had their own backgrounds and seemed real. Unlike many similar works, where you have to make yourself believe everything, here you only have to believe in shiragamis. After that, everything just flows and the characters behave as, with their respective personalities, you would expect them to. I laughed. I cried. I cheered them on and at the end, felt like I had really learned a lot about life too. All this despite the fact I was a bit reluctant to read it and initially suspected that it wouldis be a bit too short to accomplish what needed to be (btw, I was wrong. It finished beautifully, coming to a natural conclusion). Whatever reason you think you have for hesitating to read this manga, forget it. I have read many manga, both shorter and longer ones, but this is the first one I took the time out to review.

In conclusion, read it. The story and characters are fantastic, and you grow and learn right along with them. The art is good, my only possible criticism is the typical, eyes are half the head, thing that shows up in shoujo so often. But, it doesn't detract in any way from the fabulous overall work.

The best way to explain Full Moon wo Sagashite to somebody is that it is overcoming loss, and moving on. The entire story encompasses the cycle of grief and acceptance beautifully, more so then any series I've ever seen before.

Each character is the main character of their own story, making it truly believable and interesting to read through. On top of that, each character is likable in their own way, and if they're not, their actions are completely understandable anyway. It's honestly brilliant.

And of course, Arina Tanemura does not disappoint with her brilliant art. It's absolutely gorgeous, as always.

Overall, this story fully grasps the feelings of giving up, the bittersweet feelings of moving on and overcoming your past, and most of all, the sadness of accepting that whoever is no longer with you wants you to continue living. Full Moon so perfectly shows these feelings. Even if you have never experienced them, you will understand after reading. And if you have experienced any of these feelings, you will feel genuinely more whole after reading the struggles of the characters in this story.