"Masterpiece" is a buzzword commonly thrown about in relation on this website. There are many pieces of fiction people consider worthy of the title, and many more people overlook. To be honest, when I looked into reading this, I was not expecting much. At the very most, it seemed a redundant amalgamation of all of the generic clichés that come with "school life" fiction. In addition, having read Oyasumi Punpun and Onani Master Kurosawa prior to Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria (which fans have likened as Hakomari), the bar was VERY high.

My God, was I shocked.

STORY: 9 -- Immediately from volume 1, you get a grasp of this odd sort of chaotic coherence, and the ordinary conventions and tropes are deconstructed and defenestrated. The utter nuance of the piece is incredible.

Volume 1 does take its time unraveling the plot; details aren't force fed, but allowed a slow digestion time as the story lets you catch up at the same pace as the characters. Volume 2 was rather weak, in my opinion, as the story had very little to grant--it seemed almost as if an episodic nature had been born. Volume 3 seemed to continue the trend, and I had even considered absconding from the series for a short reprieve...but then I read volume 4. Suddenly, the characters develop at an incredible rate, and their stories are enough to send chills down your spine--and it only picks up from there.

I won't dally too much on the details of the story, but I will say that it is intricate and complex; there is no definite plot for the first few volumes, as it forgoes that for developing the character interactions.

ART: 9 -- The art, of course, is Light Novel art. There's not really much to work off of, but the art is very befitting for the sort of story the author is trying to convey.

CHARACTERS: 10 -- This is, in my opinion, where Hakomari excels above all other. The characters in this story are so well-made that realistic does not begin to describe them. Every single character's complex psyche is explored in this story, and you begin to realize the sheer intimacy of the characters that acts duplicitously from the grand scale of the plot.

ENJOYMENT: 10 -- This is a series that you can't seem to put down. It latches on to you with incredible force, and you find yourself absorbed into the story to the point where it would not be surprising to find yourself making exclamations while reading. I certainly did.

Overall: 10 -- The themes dealt with in Hakomari are dark. The story is a very cynical take on society, but it deals with that take so fluidly that it almost feels comfortable with the flaws in its society. It is a perfect union of euphoria and melancholy.

Is it a masterpiece? That depends entirely on how Eiji Mikage ends the story. But I will say this: it is the single greatest piece of fiction I have ever read from Japan.