Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa

I feel like the more you read, the harder it is to get though new stuff and the more negative your opinions become. Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is nothing new; stick in a good guy Greg, have him love the school Madonna and chuck in the Madonna’s insecure best friend and we’re golden.
The Art’s fine; on the better side of average, but unless it’s strikingly beautiful or amazingly strange, you aren’t going to get any stars in my book to be honest, the art could look like garbage and it could still get full stars if it had an amazing story.

Let’s move on to the story, I don’t know if it is the dull, generic characters, the lifeless uninspired setting or the shallow attempts at humour but this manga was just boring and suffocating to get through. The ending didn’t seem rushed it just felt like the author ran out of things to say and brought the story to its excruciatingly obvious conclusion.

This is a, boring read with an unsatisfying conclusion if you love stories where the greatest disaster is some perv might look up a few skirts and you think panty shots are funny, this is a story for you. If not move along definitely nothing to see here.

The mirror device is a good concept. There are plenty of moments when the characters are well done and the surprise tsundere is good craic. It plays some clever tricks on the reader too. For all of that it is also a generic peekaboo & pantsu show that tried my tolerance a few chapters in. You can’t shoot this manga more than most but it gets victimised by the God of Plot to where common sense & natural reactions just fall into the coffin. Obs I didn’t read to the end but it felt like the creative battery needed a recharge along the way.

Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is an unfortunate manga that never reached its true potential, in my opinion. The pilot chapter showed much potential for this piece, with me thinking that it could be carried on for a good 70 chapters or so. However, Kano Yasuhiro decided to go a different route, and the result was not as pretty as I expected it to be.

Kagami no Kuni starts out with our typical adolescent lead, Harisugawa Tetsu. He has a crush on Satomi Mao and even saved her from a tragic accident when they were younger. Now, in present time, the same incident happens yet again, with him not in a hospital bed but inside a mirror. The only way to escape this despairing world inside the mirror is to share a mutual love with the one you admire.

The backbone set up from the first chapter is phenomenal. I was sold by the premise of this imprisonment and what the characters were able to do with it. This had me thinking of all the possibilities this could lead to or what the mangaka had to work with. The only problem was that Kano-san was looking for a romantic comedy alone (which I have no qualms about), but that meant his scope was drastically narrowed into a short lived manga. With the main character trapped inside a mirror, this could only lead to a stalemate and no progress would be made with the story past a certain point. Kano-san decided to cut his losses and make this manga a quicky.

There are several problems and factors that I would like to address that contributed to the downfall of this manga. Not enough support from the readers was shown in its middle stages of production. If they turned in the polls with just a few more votes encouraging Kagami no Kuni's serialization, the mangaka would have had more time to develop his story and make it less plot-holed. Kano-san threw in a few "surprises" that seemed desperate and a little bit annoying to try and grab attention and votes so his work could stay afloat. Maybe Kano-san should consider moving to another magazine where his manga would be more likely to succeed.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like the story was terrible. It was actually quite engaging at some points. With the little room he had to work with, the mangaka put in a few elements that made this story different from the typical romantic comedy. The two female leads were unique enough to the extent where they both have character and life in them. Unlike most harem/triangle manga, you get a little farther than the "kawaii" factor that others rely too much on. In this way I am grateful for reading it.

While on the topic of characters, characterization was decent. You understood each character's train of thought as Kano-san is very good at that kind of step by step formula. You also feel for the characters. You are happy when they are happy, depressed when they are depressed, and angry when they are angry. However, misunderstandings between them could get very frustrating. This can be a good thing at times, but most of the time it's just a ploy to draw attention and can be annoying when the author smoothly tries to cover it up. The three main leads are dynamic, though, but are the only ones you become attached to. Supporting characters are thrown to the side and are completely static. They are mostly used for ecchi and comedy, nothing more and nothing less.

Aside from all my ranting, the art is beautiful. Lines are clean, backgrounds are detailed, and panels are refreshing. Also, in important events or turning points, the mangaka has a perfect sense for how each character should be positioned or drawn. He has a terrific sense of perspective in these cases as well. He draws with life oozing onto the manuscripts and you can tell that he put in much effort. This would be the selling point for the manga.

The artwork contributed heavily to my entertainment. The way he draws seemed so fantastic that I was encouraged to see what his characters would be doing next. He has a good sense of humor and I laughed out loud a few times. Also, by the end of the story, tension is high and you can't stop reading. The final chapter is somewhat confusing to some though. There is an epilogue that explains what happens afterwards supposedly somewhere in the next issue, but I can't find it anywhere. It also can seem aggravating. However, remember what the author had to deal with. This was probably the cut off date so he didn't have enough room.

Despite its shortcomings, Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa brings a good deal to the table. This manga deserved to be in serialization for long enough so that Kano Yasuhiro could have improved it. His artwork is amazing and breaths life into his manga. It is heartwarming, frustrating, and comedic. Kagami no Kuni shows us how serialization is do or die, and sadly it did not reach what it could have been. Regardless, this manga should not be overlooked and should be enjoyed to its full potential.

Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa has a pretty good story line. The art work was done well. It has lots of little twists and turns and LOTS of humor. The only real problem with this work is that just like Mx0, the series comes to an abrupt ending with no closure. If you are okay with that fact, then this is a very good read, if not then you may want to stay away.

I will detail every aspect of the review and then make a brief conclusion.

Story 8/10 - It was pretty decent, original concept, it was a perfect romance manga till half of the series, where it started to be too much rushed, the author decided to cancel this work, I don't know why, but it was just a shame.

Art 9/10 - Beautiful art, the characters are very well drawn, the scenary is great, no complaints about the art, it is really great, sometimes it is not very well detailed but it is great.

Character 8/10 - The fact that the manga was so short and got cancelled, it could at least have 10 chapters more to finish this propelly, it was a waste to not use the full potential these characters and story had.

Enjoyment 8/10 - This manga has funny parts, good romance parts, it is a great read till the last chapters.

Conclusion - The manga was left with an unsatisfying ending but it is still above average and worth reading, the final 5 chapters or so are badly made, but at least it has an ending, it sure is a open and rushing ending but whatever, it is a bad ending because we feel like one character is totally left aside in the end, even tough the main character appeared to have very strong feelings for that character, but it can't be helped since the manga was cancelled.

Story : 8
Art : 8
Character : 8
Overall : 8.6

Brought to you by the same manga-ka as Pretty Face and Mx0 (Where Mx0 was axed due to low user ratings), Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is a shounen manga that has captured my attention after reading the first two chapters. Being a fan of Kano Yasuhiro myself (Having read his two previous works), I immediately started reading this manga after a recommendation from a friend.

The story itself is pretty unique in my opinion,I mean c'mon,who could've thought of a shounen manga about a mirror? That being said,the story gives out the same aura as Mx0,with the main character being infatuated with a girl,going as far as having his life almost taken to protect the girl he loves. As the story progresses,we learn about the feelings that Harisugawa holds over Mao,and the obstacles he has to overcome to have his loved one(s) by his side.

The art seems to have improved a little since Pretty Face and Mx0,it looks even more detailed especially the way Mao was drawn. I like artsyles like this,because it makes it easier to read and it is also drawn beautifully at the same time.

The main characters,Harisugawa and Mao somehow gives the same feeling as the main characters in Mx0,with Harisugawa being totally in love with Mao and Mao not realizing it. Harisugawa even looks similar to Kuzumi (Main character in Mx0). Then comes Saki,a close friend of Mao's,who becomes an important character later on in the story. What I like the most about the story is how the mirror complicates with the character's lives,and the troubles that arise from it.

Overall,I give this manga a 8.6/10,and I would love to give it higher,but i've yet to see how the story progresses and how the ending is going to be,and I hope it will not end up being axed like some of my favourite mangas,e.g. Slam Dunk,Double Arts,Mx0. If you loved Pretty Face or Mx0,then i'm pretty sure you're going to want to read this.

Not much to say. Kagami No Kuni No harisugawa is a good manga. But he left to be desired (in my opinion) at some points.

SPOILER ALERT

He hoped that in the end its relationship with Satomi would be resolved after she loses the "memory", something that did not happen. It was just an open ending where Harisugawa to declare but do not we hear the response of Satomi.

The manga actually ends up in ep 28, and the 29 is just a filler where they all go to the beach.

Although it is a good manga to read.

PS: Sorry for my bad English.

Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa, or Harisugawa in Mirror World, is about a young boy named Harisugawa Tetsu, who has a crush on Satomi Mao his childhood friend who is basically the school idol. He is stuck in the dreaded friend zone and cannot find a way to get out of it. Then one day Satomi buys a strange mirror that traps Harisugawa in it. Is this a misfortune that has befallen him? Or is it an opportunity for him to get closer to Satomi?

Story 8/10:
Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa a fresh new romantic comedy, where the hero, Harisugawa, is trapped inside a mirror and is trying to find a way out, but at the same time has to worry about protecting his crush, Satomi, from the swarm of guys chasing her. Each chapter is almost like a cliffhanger, leaving the reader wanting to read the next chapter and is filled with many jokes and laughter. Even though it is filled with laughter, there are still many touching moments that makes it fall under the romantic comedy genre. Technically the series was supposed to be longer, but the magazine decides to cancel it. Making the last few chapters somewhat of a rush, since the author had to quickly end it. However, the author does a remarkable of job of ending it. So those "rush" chapters doesn't feel like a rush and still maintain the flow of the manga.

Art 9/10:
The artwork of Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is really nice. The characters look great and the background is fairly detailed. The author does a spectacular of displaying the characters emotions through the art style.

Character 8/10:
Unlike most romantic comedies, Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa has a really small cast consisting mainly of Harisugawa Tetsu, Satomi Mao, and Matsukawa Saki. Harisugawa has always been Satomi's guardian since childhood, protecting her from harassment from classmates to even saving her life, but because of that he was trapped inside the friend zone. Satomi on the other hand is totally oblivious to Harisugawa's feelings of course and is a total klutz to top it off. Matsukawa is Satomi's tomboyish best friend and knows that Harisugawa is heads over heels for Satomi, but doesn't tell her friends out of fear that the two's friendship will be compromised.

Enjoyment 10/10:
This series was really amazing. Its a fresh new story that had so much potential but was sadly cut short. Even though the announcement of the series being cancelled came in the middle of the whole story, the author did an amazing job of closing it without the reader feeling rushed and doesn't leave any sort of confusion. Overall Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is a great new romantic comedy that is filled with both laughter and touching moment. It is a great short manga that you should read if you are looking for a good laugh and a fresh new plot.

So Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa has an interesting twist to the love relationship that the male protagonist is in for. He is trapped in a mirror world and has to make sure the one he loves can reciprocate his feelings before he can be released.

There are rules that are shown for him to be able to get out of the mirror. Even though he can do so for a short time, there are some issues with this story as a whole.

His parents are fine with him dropping out of school and to take a trip around Japan. This is only a ruse for him to be gone and as an excuse for his parents and school why he can't tell them he's stuck in a mirror the entire time. Secondly, the rules are not fully laid out for him at all making it feel like the author is making this up on the fly. And sadly, we don't get to see what happens to him and his love interest when the series ends.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

He does get out in the end and the curse is lifted on him. Unfortunately, this is where my biggest issue lies with this series is the last chapter. The last chapter is only a filler like piece of the story. You don't know if she will love him or if they fall in love again. Just one more chapter where we see them in the future with a family or even if they just date would be fine. But sadly the mangaka said he'd end it on this note, falling flat on a potentially great series.

Even though the protagonist got out of the mirror in the end by 2 chapters before the last one, it would have been good to keep a few more chapters going to be able to see if they could make it as a couple.

Other than these gripes about the series, it is a good thing to fill your time with. It is short and doesn't draw anything out too long, a meat and potatoes type of manga. Good to tide you over but the last drop leaves a bitter aftertaste that makes you wonder why you ordered it in the first place. It sounds good at first and gets going really well but I was left with a sour feeling in the end rather than a sweet taste.