Shiki no Zenjitsu

My score is heavily affected by the subpar work that ShoujoSense made translating this manga.
The translation was bad to the point were I didn't understand most of the dialogue, and I ended up wondering if it was like that in the original japanese, or if the characters are extremely obtuse when they talk, or if I'm just too stupid to understand what I was reading.
I did understand the overall plots of these short stories, though.

This is a quick read that shouldn't take more than 20 minutes.
None of the little stories are particularly interesting, impactful or eye catching. You probably won't remember them for very long after finishing reading this. Some of the concepts, though, are very interesting, even if they're very simple.

The art is (probably) the most positive aspect of this work, simple drawings and a nice-to-look-at artstyle that has an all around ethereal feeling to it.

If you're able to read japanese, or you find a better translation, then your score will probably be higher than mine. If you do, feel free to send me a link, thank you.

This manga is very good. I think it might be underrated.
I wouldn't label it as a romance manga. If there is any kind of reference to romance it is only as a trigger to show some other kind of conflict. The manga does deal with love, but not romantic love... rather fraternal love, or family.

Story: 10
It includes 6 unrelated stories (one of them is two chapters long), that vary in length and in depth. Some of them have a more elaborate plot; others are more like a glance to the characters feelings. Some of them have a fantastic components, others don´t. Most of them deal with the relationship between siblings (except for the second and the fifth -chapter 6- stories, which don´t).

1) Shiki no Zenjitsu: it is about a man who is getting married. Cannot tell much more without spoiling, as it doesn´t have much of a plot... it is all about emotions.
2) Azusa Nigou de Saikai: tells the story of a girl that can only meet her father once a year.
3) Monochrome no Kyoudai (Monochrome Brothers): it goes about two brothers that were in love with the same woman, and how they dealt with it.
4-5) Yume Miru Kakashi: a man returns to his childhood town for her sister´s marriage.
6) Juugatsu no Hakoniwa: a writer is visited in his dreams by a crow that announces death.
7) Sorekara: a cat analyzes the nature, mood and behavior of his master, and his reaction when he receives a call from his brother in law.

I especially recommend the second, third and fourth stories.

Characters: 8
As they are all short stories, there isn´t much of a character development, but the characters are all very realistic and "imperfect", which is what I like most. I guess, after reading the whole book, the feelings I get from the characters are lonelyness and sorrow. But that doesn´t mean they are all sad characters... just like in real life, sadness and happiness coexist.

Art: 10
It is very good. It is very realistic, and there is some sharpness to it that goes so well with the stories.

In short, I highly recommend reading this book.