If you, like many other people on this website, are a fan of psychological drama, then I think this is the right manga for you. Really! It's a great choice for anyone into this genre.

Story: 7/10
In my humble opinion, when you see the chapter start splash for the first chapter, you pretty much have a clear example of what this manga is about. The children are like the people of Japan in this series-- they're afraid. Some of them don't really seem to be afraid, some seem angry or maybe just slightly concerned or perhaps just questioning. But for the most part, they're afraid. And the government-- the nurses and the doctors, even if they are afraid, they can't show it, so they're pretty much all smiles. But they're not exempt either. From what you ask? from the device that keeps the story moving forwards. And what keeps this story moving forwards is that shot you see.

The shot in that picture is the turning point in the children's lives, in Japan's life. The shot is indicator of life, and for some, death. And because you don't know what the shot holds for you, eat, drink, and be merry, because what happens tomorrow? You might die.

Basically, in this story, you follow those who have been condemned to or are close to those condemned to death. The people whose shots have rendered fatal, who have to deal with the terror of imminent termination. And I think that the author has done a really good job painting fear into each of these characters, and manifesting that fear into other emotions as well, like sadness and anger. I guess I'll talk more about this later. This story is supposed to be cut and dry after the first chapter. You know people are going to die and you know it's going to be sad. But following these people around, learning about some important event or person in their lives, watching them suffer and then watching them die-- that's why this story isn't cut and dry.

Art: 10/10

I think most people are used to the 'we're all 12 year olds that are really cute all the time everywhere' aspect of manga and anime, mostly because popular anime happens to be like Bleach/Naruto, and I think you can say most characters don't look their age. But this is a very realistic manga, with a lot of realistic issues and characters, therefore the art is quite realistic. The children look like children, the adults look like a adults. And they're not all varying shades of beautiful, but all very... average. Yes, once in a while, a beautiful character comes along. But more often than not, the characters are average looking average people. And that, I think, makes this manga all the more pleasing. For using a style that matches the tone of the manga, I give this a 10 out of 10!

Character: 6/10

I have to say that while I really do enjoy this manga, I noticed that there isn't really a main character that you can identify with and at the same time that that's cool, it's kind of... lonely. If you decide that the government official that you often see as you go through this manga is the main character, then you'll be surprised to note that you don't strictly follow him around. And that would be the point of making him the main character, I think, to follow him and survey his cases. But the thing is that not only do you not always follow him around, but you usually don't even focus on him-- he's just a person who delivers Ikigami-- you follow the receivers of the Ikigami. And you might not follow them to the extent to which you might think-- you don't really know anything about who they are, you only have a snapshot of something important to them, something that makes them special. And that paints them as good in your eyes, even when the character is trying to get revenge on other (unfortunate) people. But they die. They're not main characters either. They're not backgrounds, but they aren't characters- you don't learn anymore about them after their death (save a few sentences or so for some characters). It's nice to be able to get to know so many different characters, and I guess the government official is your only real reoccurring character which would make him the main character, but seeing as the reader only reads about death the entire time and all the characters you get to know die, it's kind of lonely to be reading this story. You're not really familiar with any one character-- even the government official is kind of vague. However, all the characters have differing and often extreme displays of emotion when they hear about their Ikigami, and that is always interesting.

Enjoyment and Overall:

I think this is a pretty enjoyable manga. I'd say that it at least gets a 7. I can't really say people will agree with me on that, but I think that this is readable. Definitely something worth reading again, just to have it in mind. Dealing with death is difficult and this book doesn't really make it seem easy, but by only having snapshots of a character, you don't actually feel bad. I mean, you feel bad that they've died, but it's not the same as if the author built up a character only to kill him. You only know a snapshot of their life, barely anything about them-- I can't say it's really dramatic because you never follow around someone who doesn't die, but I can't say it isn't dramatic because after recieving an ikigami, the story gets intense. The political aspect of ikigamis is also really interesting. The story doesn't lack in interest.

So over all, I would give this an 7. It is a good story with believable characters, even if the characters themselves are short lived, with humanitarian and political aspects to Randomized Controlled Human Death. From the time that a child receives a shot onwards, tomorrow could be their last day. You get to see how each character lives in their own environment, for the final day of their life.