There is certainly no shortage of stories about shinigami or grim reapers out there in manga land. There's Ryuk, the creepy demon from Death Note. There's heroic shinigami like Rukia and the rest of the Soul Reaper corps in Bleach. There are cute shinigami with rabbit-eared hats in Full Moon o Sagashite. Now there's a new shinigami on the block: Momo, the not-so-grim reaper in white from Ballad of a Shinigami by K-Ske Hasegawa and Asuka Izumi from CMX Manga.
Ballad of a Shinigami is a shojo manga adaptation of Hasegawa's popular series of light novels, so the focus here is on romance, regrets, and yes, death. But while death is a ongoing theme, these stories are more about celebrating life. As Momo encounters teens at the end of their ropes, she doesn't escort them to the afterlife -- she seems to prefer to give them reasons to live again.
Check out my review of Ballad of a Shinigami Volume 1 , and see if this new shojo series sings a sad song and makes it better, or if it hits a few sour notes.
Looking for more new manga to check out? Take a peek at my Fall 2009 New Manga Preview for 50 new and notable titles that are out now or coming soon.
SHINIGAMI NO BALLAD © 2006 Asuka Izumi / K-Ske Hasegawa, HAKUSENSHA, INC.
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