Manga Review | Haru's Curse

Natsumi’s little sister Haru means the world to her. However, after Haru tragically passes away from cancer, Natsumi begins dating her sister’s fiancé Togo on one condition: that he takes her to every place he visited with Haru.

However, as the seasons pass, both of them remain haunted by the shadow of Haru’s death.

Haru’s Curse by Asuka Konishi isn't a sugar-coated romance. It’s an emotionally-driven story about reconciling love, guilt, and loss. It navigates both romantic and family relationships with heartbreaking honesty and skill. Love is complicated and humans are too, and this story makes a point of that. There’s an incredible rawness to it. The characters are messy, flawed, believable.

I’m going to be honest though. The art is also more simplistic than I’m used to and it took a while to grow on me. However, by the end, I found the art style charming and the sheer earnestness in the dialogue is enough to carry the emotional weight of the story.

Lastly, one of my nitpicky issues with the manga actually boils down to the typesetting. It's the same issue I had with Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest since both manga are published under the same imprint of Kodansha: Vertical. The font can be small at times—especially for sounds effects—making it more difficult to read in certain parts.

Overall though, Haru’s Curse is a tragically poignant and bittersweet josei romance about two souls coping with the death of a loved one while coming to terms with their own feelings for each other. I cannot recommend it enough.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kodansha, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Manga Details:

Publication Date : February 16, 2021

Publisher : Vertical Comics

ISBN : 9781949980264

Pages : 358

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