It is quite unfortunate that amazing manga like this will rarely see the light of day outside of japan. Wether it be the series is considered too short or that people don’t believe that it would do well, it is when you come across a manga like this that you really just hope that someone notices it’s brilliance and decides to pick it up for translation. For those who have read this series you no doubt enjoyed it and agree with what i’ve said. As for everyone else, if you are a fan of romance then I cannot recommend this enough. It rivals Kanon 2006’s Makoto story arc which (IMO) was 1 of the 2 best and saddest romance stories i’ve encountered. This is a short series that only runs for 5 books, and was made quite awhile ago but it still remains a brilliant work. However lets get on with the point of all this.

STORY

We follow a man by the name of Yoshizumi Ikuru who lives in the future. As I read this series over 4 or 5 months ago I cannot remember exactly if you find out how old he is but he seems to be around his eairly 20s. Unfortunately due to a major traffic accident when he was young that claimed his parents, he is now close to dying. He was able to survive and avoid his imminent death by scientists grafting body parts of another person onto/into him. This allows him to live but not for much longer. As he only has short time left to live, he turns in his application for an Ai-Ren. What is an Ai-Ren? Well as the manga puts it they are

“Human beings made out of artificial genes with the purpose of relieving the mental despair of a patient during his/her last moments of his/her life”

They are custom grown to suit the person they are given to. Unfortunately their life span is also not as prolonged as 1 would hope. They usualy die a few months after being “born” which in itself is quite sad but in this case is just worse. Ikuru decides to name his Ai-Ren simply Ai, as that is all she can say for the first few hours after taking her home. With both of the main characters introduced, the story now follows them together as they experience life together and eventualy fall in love with each other.

Characters

I figure more information on the main focus of this series wouldn’t be too out of order so i’ll go into some further depth of the characters. There are more that you meet but Since 90% of the story is based on 2, I will only go into detail about them.

Ikuru: He is a rather intelligent person who often has dreams/nightmares about his impending death and about his body’s deterioration. Sometimes these are so severe that they leave him unable to eat or even move due to bodies reaction. He doesn’t seem to mind cleaning and is pretty good at cooking too. He is an exceptionaly kind and understanding character that unfortunately feels cut off from the rest of the world. He seems to feel guilty about applying for an Ai-Ren but that later disappears through time when he becomes truly happy he did.

Ai: Born/grown at the request of Ikuru in a lab. She physicaly looks about late teens, eairly 20s but since her mind requires a short span to mature to her physical age, she acts very childish at first. Drawing on walls and never being able to stay still and the like. Although her personality is designed to compliment Ikuru’s, she seems to enjoy flashy things in life such as rock music which Ikuru doesn’t. She learns to play the piano thanks to Ikuru but soon passes him in skill and picks up the guitar as well. Together with Ikuru they grown vegetables outside of their country house. She keeps a diary of her life with Ikuru and always writes in it about her day and what happened.

Final Comments

Unfortunately that is about as much as I am able to write up about this due to it being short. However don’t take that as a bad thing has writing any more would just spoil it for the people who wish to read it. If you are looking for a great romance series that wont suck up too much of your time then I cannot suggest a more perfect book. It has great artwork in it that is minimalistic at times, but really shows a sense of the atmosphere and surroundings. A great read that should be on everyone’s list of “must read” manga.