Rec: Kimi ga Naita Hi

After reading Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan, I thought that I would never feel so moved ever again. Oh boy, how wrong was I.

The story wasn't unique, but the way everything unraveled was so good. You wouldn't expect something so heavy with only four chapters, but then again, the world is full of surprises.

The art was outstanding, the way the characters and scenes were drawn. Although there are some unclear images, it's still worth a 10.

The characters. They lack development, but considering the few chapters, you wouldn't really expect that much. Their romance was too euphoric, too short-lived. Young people shouldn't go through so much pain and suffering in their early years, but that's life.

I liked how Satoru was determined to make sure that his hardwork paid off. I kind of see many people in Aizawa; putting their emotions in a bottle and after too much pressure, the cap just ticks off and all of the feelings they've been trying to hide just... explode.

I'd give this manga a two-thumbs up any day. Kudos to the mangaka.

This is the first time I review a Shoujo manga, so bare with me.

My review will contain neither spoilers or a synopsis. You can read the review without fear of being robbed of the experience. Also, you can find synopses pretty much everywhere, hence why I will not provide one.

I found this manga to be quite touching. Yes, it's a fairy tale, and I don't say that in a negative way. It works here. We all want someone to walk in our lives whom we can not only click with, but relate to deeply. It's like the two characters were fated to meet each other, their lives completely changed by this chance encounter. Is it incredulous? Yes. Does it take away from the enjoyment of the narrative? It didn't for me, but you'll have to be the judge of that.

It's not superficial in it's handling of the relationship that it weaves between the two main characters. It's classy, but tragic. More bittersweet than anything, I guess. There are moments that pander to emotion, but the manga treats these moments differently enough when compared to other works of it's genre that you welcome them. They are delivered with an earnest, heartfelt sentimentality that does not turn into saccharine nonsense.

The art was to my satisfaction. It's not stellar by any means, but neither is it underwhelming.

Overall, if you like romance stories, or if you just like human stories in general, gives this one a try. It's definitely worth that much.

I found this manga completely Amazing. Of course that's probably partly because I love Heart Warming and Tragic stories. This was definitely one those. It's like even though it was only 4 chapters there was so much emotion, that I literally felt like I was watching a movie. The Art was very well drawn too. As far as the characters though I absolutely loved them. I mean the lead girl who on the outside looked cold and heartless, but on the inside was truly caring, gentle, and lonely. I could relate to her, which made me love her more. And then theres main guy, who on the outside looks happy and carefree when in reality most of his life has just been an act. And when the two meet they change each other, open eachother up, come to love each other, and then tragedy strikes. This'll sound cheesy but if you like these kind of stories than it'll literally grab a hold of your heart until the very end.

This is a beautiful manga. I do not know how to describe my feelings towards this manga beyond that, but I will try.
I really enjoyed the art. The art is pretty standard for its genre, but there is something about although I am not sure that makes me enjoy it even more than other of similar styles.
I also really enjoyed the story line. It is sweet, innocent, and beautiful. It has a good flow. It is also sad. The story is not that original, but ya know, great writers steal. :)
Characters: The characters were well done to the point that they were not lacking in any aspect, and yet I wished that they could have gone a bit deeper into both characters, but that is not possible with only four chapters.
This is my first review. So sorry.

I'm not crying...there's just...something...in...my...eye...

I'm doing another two-part review for this, so the first part is for the people who like a flow of words, the second part for the people who like a numerical breakdown of things. You could read both parts, but a few things might be repeated.

I discovered this manga quite a while ago, but being the manga newbie I was, I thought it might do just to read the last chapter. It was a pretty bad mistake on my part, but even reading the last chapter of Rec completely destroyed me. I sat there crying for several minutes- the ending was the exact definition of bittersweet, and I haven't found many things that display that concept so much as the end of Rec.
The ending ingrained itself into my mind, and just a few weeks ago, I suddenly remembered it- but by then, I'd forgotten a lot, even about the video camera! I posted on various message boards to try and figure out what this manga was, because I wanted to read the rest of the story, but I couldn't remember much about it, so I had some vague descriptions about photography, the end [ no spoilers for you all ], and that it was probably shoujo.
Well, I was pretty off. Photography and videography are similar, but they do have their differences, and if you describe a manga as having photography, it would be a bit of a stretch for someone to figure out that you were talking about film.
Needless to say, I didn't get any results that were the manga I was looking for. So for a week I searched through lists and lists of tragedy shoujo manga, until I found something that sounded vaguely familiar. Lo and behold, it was this manga, Rec: Kimi ga Naita Hi.

I was immediately reminded of the ending, and I had to sit there for a few minutes before I could bring myself to start reading the manga. And oh, the ending did reveal a lot, but there's many things that could only be described through the rest of the manga.

This manga addresses emotion in a deep and touching way, and from the very beginning, you get the feeling that something terrible is going to happen. There are four chapters, and you try to hang on to each of them for as long as possible to prevent the end, which becomes clearer and clearer as the story goes on. For me, one of the most compelling points is that Satoru, an actor, is the only one who can really understand Aizawa. Even though he has to fabricate most of his emotions for his entire life, he still has the capacity to perceive the emotions between Aizawa's ice-queen exterior.

The story also mentions the issues with discrimination in schools- how one small action that might not even be connected to you can destroy your reputation, and how easily people will accept you back once that has been disproved. Even though it was a relief for Aizawa to be able to make some friends, I felt like this really implied that friendships and acceptance are shallow at best, easily changed by an alteration in the direction of which way the wind blows.

There are also themes of the influence of media. Rec presents a rather cynical view of the media- continuously bending the truth to satisfy an audience like some sort of machine, the fact that it's impossible to ever completely escape the spotlight, while tragedy should suggest that somebody should receive privacy- but, if you stop to think about it, it's true. Since Satoru has been acting for much of his life, that's his identity, and he can't escape it. There are people constantly trailing him. When he falls to the ground, unable to rise again, people don't help him, they whisper and take pictures. I think this says something about the decency and the attitudes of society. Where has our sense of moral conscience gone so that we no longer help people up but take pictures and laugh?

Aside from the main plot, thus, many of the themes that I noticed in Rec are really applicable to our present-day society. Rec isn't meant to be happy, so it doesn't portray those themes in a shiny, brilliant light; it shows them as they are. And that, in the end, is what Satoru wants. His entire life, his identity has been formed by media and he isn't really his own self. His last attempt to find out who he is really impacted me, for some reason beyond my conscious knowledge.

A story can make up a lot of a manga, but there's also other factors to consider. Let's start with the artwork. The character designs aren't distinct; without some colouration differences and a few eyelashes, I might not be able to tell the difference between Satoru and Aizawa. Even so, the people are drawn nicely. Tying in with the theme of media influence, the public masses and the media are often portrayed as faceless creatures, constantly holding up cameras to share things with their friends, without another thought about emotions or how the person being filmed might feel. The backgrounds are not exceptional, but they blend in well to the setting of Rec.

A lot of the power of art comes from the ability to accurately portray emotion. This is difficult to accomplish with Aizawa, who's never cried. But if you look at Satoru's smiles, and consider the scenarios, sometimes you can see emotion in the art. This isn't really evident until the very end, when we see the toll of tragedy on our characters.

One of the major issues I had with Rec is that it could have had a bit more character development. Even though I had adequate time to relate to Satoru and Aizawa, I think there needed to be more to the story. Maybe I'm a bit sadistic, but there probably should have been more scenes given to show the changes in both of their character, happy scenes, or scenes that just show a different side of them. As many people have mentioned before, if you read this manga too fast, you won't be affected by the ending. If you read it at a slower pace, then it'll really hit you. However, because of the constant foreshadowing and ominous tone to this manga, a reader might tend to rush through, trying to figure out what the ending is and just shrugging when it actually occurs. I think that's what happened for most people, and even I, though I made sure to read it slowly, thought that Rec could have used some more plot and character development, just to make a more compelling story.

My final scores, for the data analysts-

Story - 8
It needed more development, but I think many of the themes portrayed in Rec are touching and relevant to today's society. Aside from the obvious ideas of love and tragedy, there's mention of the effects of the media, the potential artificial qualities of friendship, and the expectations of society. All of those are things that might not be initially obvious to the reader, but once you sit there and think about it for a bit, there's much more to this short and bittersweet manga than the description of love.

Art - 8
The art is nice. It doesn't stand out, but the characters are well-drawn, albeit somewhat homogeneous. If good art is a factor in deciding whether or not to read a manga, worry not; this manga's art is still exceptional by any standards and most certainly won't burn on the eyes as you're reading.

Character - 6
Even though we are shown the basic personalities of each character, and there is some development, I think that there needed to be a lot more to the story in order to really make these characters seem realistic. At the end of reading this, I'm still a bit confused about who the two main characters really are.

Enjoyment - 9
That ending, oh my. I didn't cry at 5 Centimeters per Second, but this made me break down in tears, so grab your box of tissues before you start reading. Aside from the end, though, I enjoyed the story woven in this manga, something that isn't really understandable until things start changing.

Overall - 8
It's probably not the best manga I will ever read, but Rec will certainly be one of the most significant ones in my mind because of what it targets and describes. This is much more than a simple tragic love story.

Shits sad man.....

Bruh

This series is about a girl who doesn't feel anything and the MMC who is a teenage actor and there romantic connection with each other. thats pretty much it

I mean the series is a small 1 volume series. Saying anymore would be a spoiler. But like Shit is sad man. Its not like bawling or anything but goddamn the author really pulled my heartstrings like that. The series is ok overall though. But i think it does a decent enough job to want you feel for the characters. To make you want to cry like they do. Its quite impressive how the author is able to make you get attached with 1 volume. Overall its good. Just not a must read. 6/10

The series HAL is a collection of oneshots. the final oneshot is actually a prequel to Rec. You can decide to read before or after Rec.

As for the story, its refreshingly nice,it was kind of cliched which is definitely good for shoujo-romance sucker like me,but it also has its twist and turns that makes the story original on its own. A HEART WARMER that will touch your heart and will jerk your tears.nicely plotted manga!

for the art: its a typical classic japanese manga art( i mean you can see the difference by manhua, manwha andl mangas through art like mangas are quitemore of an anime wit huge eyes,while manwha their hairy thingy -like the extraeyelashes and puffy hair) the characters are good looking and well detailed.

character: they embodied and presents the role greatly. they sure touch you as if you are watching a drama. :P i mean i really like each and everyone's role.

enjoyment: i really really enjoyed this manga enough to make a review:) really enjoy every part of it. try it so youll see what im talking about.

Overall: i really did enjoy every part of it so i highly recommend this to everyone. a-must-see manga that will melt your heart away. :)