I was unimpressed by this supernatural mystery (Manga Review)

This is going to be something of a strange review, as it serves neither the purpose of praising nor criticising a manga title. After all, Ken Oshiba's Kimi ga Shinu Natsu Ni (In the summer when you die) is neither an interesting enough series to recommend, nor a popular enough series to merit criticism, but in the best of times, it may yet help you pass some time.

So why am I writing this? Chalk it up to my whimsical tendencies. I suppose I just wanted to record my thoughts after sinking time into this series, and if it's worthwhile to put it to paper (metaphorically speaking, of course), it might harbour some utility for you guys as well.

The slow build of a real mystery

When you cut to the chase, this manga—whose name is such a mouthful (and with no nicknames either...) that I'll do everything in my power to avoid typing it—is supposed to be a mystery, which is partly what makes its initial premise rather interesting. Far from solving a murder mystery, our main protagonist, the sleuthing Tomoya Yamano, finds himself haunted by the ghost of his crush, Saki Tanigawa... Except Saki isn't dead. Yet.

If you've caught on, you'll realise this is where the supernatural element comes in. The convenience of the setup aside, there's definitely something novel to preventing a crime before it happens, especially when the main protagonist isn't sent back to the past (a là ERASED), leaving them to figure out the details of the crime in full.

This focus on investigation, as opposed to prevention, was this series' greatest strength in my view. It put the MC on a backfoot, as he had no way to convince others of his suspicions, and demanded genuine deduction from him and the story.

No asspulls here: it's clear to see our guy is genuinely thinking on the spot.

At its very best, the narrative had Tomoya playing grounded psychological games to unravel circumstantial evidence, which was then used with other clues to slowly, labouriously eliminate possibilities. While we told from the beginning that the protagonist was "smart", there's something cathartic about a mystery manga that's willing to show us the MC's thought process, particularly the time taking brute work that follows from real investigations.

Due to how deliberately the mystery unravelled, and how few resources Tomoya had at times, the series also excelled in the application of dramatic irony, making seemingly innocuous seems ripe with tension by letting the audience see what the main character needed to know, all the while keeping the whole picture muddled.

Once again, the inclusion of authentic deduction as a rarity that should already make this a rewarding read, but unfortunately, it couldn't keep its momentum. The heavyhanded addition of time travel and spectral elements came back to haunt it (edit: pun unintended), creating a reliance on narrative contrivances that became increasingly evident as you go along.

You know what, I'll admit: you had me in the first half.

Wheresoever plot points and general writing were incomplete or flawed, the poorly defined supernatural elements very conveniently swoop in to cushion the main cast's fall. It's bad enough that having this safety net robs any sense of danger and consequence, but it gets worse when these convenient constructs are used to justify plot points and reveals that hinge on their shock factor. After the first two of these (which ultimately became irrelevant, because time travel), I was done taking the plot seriously. The author should've seen that coming.

Killing off your reader's engagement and tension is a particularly damning mistake for mysteries, because there's nothing worse for the audience than finding the full picture underwhelming at the end. No matter how interesting the steps to get there were, a shoddy conclusion kills the gravitas of the entire mystery.

A romantic afterthought

Oh, right, I forgot to mention: this series is also a romance. At least, it tries to be. I throw this in as an afterthought because the mystery is by far the highlight of the series, leaving the romance to be—unfortunately—an afterthought.

While it very much seems like Ken Oshiba would like for you to care about the romance elements, the chemistry between the characters wasn't quite there. It tries to carry itself through interactions and flashbacks, but when you consider how little time and attention is given to the romance compared to the mystery, it becomes clear why one dominates this review while the other feels like it was forced into it.

Sorry kids, I can't bring myself to care.

The characters were weak stand-ins or manga stereotypes that brought little to the story beyond existing, propelling it forward, or being fluffy for the sake of levity. Unfortunately, this is also when they're at their best: when they're vessels for the narrative, since character interactions and the series' attempts at drama are lukewarm at best.

And that's really all that this series amounts to: lukewarm. While something of a decent read for mystery fans, it fails to become anything unique, and the time travel ghost elements, which some might consider the series' main hook, becomes a curse that anchors it down.

Closing thoughts

I like to think the time and care I put into my writing is communicated to my readers (assuming there are any). Hence, the dearth of shits I gave when contemplating and reviewing Kimi ga Shinu Natsu ni is hopefully self-evident. Coming in at a reasonable seven volumes, there's enough going for it to make for a passive read, but don't expect to be blown away.

Mystery fans might appreciate some of the process that went into the writing, but neither romance nor suspense junkies will find this a meaningful investment. Unless you're contending with your only real enemy—boredom—In the summer when you die is time pass at best.

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