Kokoro o Korosu Houhou

Description

When his father remarries in his fifties, Haruki suddenly becomes step-brothers with Hikaru, a boy ten years his junior. Hikaru usually is a shy boy, but he likes Haruki immediately. Like an ideal little brother, Hikaru asks Haruki to play with him and spend time with him. But, Hikaru might like Haruki more than as a brother...and he might not be so innocent about it.

Official English Translation

Type

Manga

Related Series

N/A

Associated Names

How to Kill a Heart

Kokoro wo Korosu Houhou

Method of Killing the Heart

Способ убить душу

Способ убить сердце

心を殺す方法

杀死心的方法

杀死心脏的方法

殺死心的方法

마음을 죽이는 방법

Groups Scanlating

S.O.P.O Scanlation

Latest Release(s)

c.Bonus Track (End) by S.O.P.O Scanlation 7 years ago

c.17 + Extra 4 by S.O.P.O Scanlation 7 years ago

c.16 by S.O.P.O Scanlation 8 years ago

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Status in Country of Origin

4 Volumes (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

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User Rating

Average: 7.2 / 10.0 (112 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7 / 10.0

23%

18%

16%

13%

Last Updated

April 14th, 2025 7:46pm PDT - 3 months ago

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Genre

Drama Psychological Tragedy Yaoi
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

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Boku no Kirai na Otouto

Jeongin's Key

Yokubou to Iu Na no Karada

Matsu no Ma

Recommendations

N/A

Author(s)

Kashio

Artist(s)

Kashio

Year

2014

Original Publisher

Shodensha

Serialized In (magazine)

On Blue (Shodensha)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Futekiya

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #740

(-7)

Monthly Pos #1615

(-150)

3 Month Pos #3358 (No change)

6 Month Pos #5069

(+234)

Year Pos #6150

(-1327)

List Stats

On 222 reading lists

On 127 wish lists

On 212 completed lists

On 11 unfinished lists

On 176 custom lists

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User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

Awesome until the last chapters happen

by divinebubbletea
10 months ago

Rating: N/A

It was very realistic about rape throughout but

THE AUTHOR HAD TO TIE THEM TOGETHER AT THE END? Fuck that. It makes all the development goes down the drain. I feel so upset after finishing it, but the psychological progress is really great.

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The last two extra really messed up everything

by Mahk971
3 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

For whoever who wants to read this story, help yourself and stop at the last chapter. Do not read the last two extra cause it will mess up everything.

My spider sense was on point tho, I knew the mangaka would pull up some crap like that at the very last end, and I was right.

Except for the non sensical extra, this manga was amazing. Calling rape a rape and treating it as such, not romanticize abusive and toxic relationship, showing incest as something immoral and depicting narcissist as self-centered monster.

That’s why it didn’t make sense why Haruka went back to Hiruka, because he NEVER liked him. He never had feelings for him, he was in love FOR YEARS with Hanabusa. Even during the last arc when Haruka leg Hiruka do everything he wanted with him in the villa, he didn’t show any feelings for him.

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Very emotional

by F0rcefi3ld
3 years ago

Rating: N/A

The bulk of the story is great, deserves a high rating. The conclusion is incomprehensible perhaps because I saw Haruki finally healing after going through so many chapters of his nightmare, the ending is a shame. Haruki deserved better than Hikari or Hanabusa.

I wished he was able to move on. I typically prefer happy endings and happy pairings but in this case I'm not sure (tragedy aside) this is a good ending. I usually don't mind such endings for twisted dark stories, but here the abuse was portrayed so well and Haruki's prolonged trauma so realistically vividly that this falling back makes me sad for him even if he doesnt realize it.

Nevertheless, the characters and relationships between family and friends were interesting.

... Last updated 3 years ago

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EVERYONE NEEDS THERAPY & BETTER PEOPLE

by Mmatriuska
4 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

is fantastic, but is a world of pain
trigger warning for all the things, seriously there is NOTHING LIGHT, EVERY IS HEAVY AND IT HURTS
the writting and progression of the story is sublime, I have yet to read a something so heavy that at the same time treats the topics at hand with such an understading (there is nothing HOT or Sexy or romatic here folks) and respect.

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Heavy but good

by meniel
4 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

The first thing you must know about this is that everybody's basically named the same: Haruka, Haruki, Hikaru, Hanabusa... for real? I mixed them up so much, fuck you author-san Q.Q you did this on purpose didn't you?!

Joking apart, this manga tackles some heavy themes like rape, death, suicide and pathological relationships really well. It takes the most controversial themes from BL, the themes BL is hated (and loved) for, and makes them feel real, showing how ugly they are and how they can destroy people. The themes are portrayed seriously: people realise they're victim of sexual violence, therapists are taken into account, etc. So if you want a dark, tough manga that fully knows how bad the things it portrays are, this is it.

Now, speaking of my personal thoughts on the series, I loved how this makes you torn on who's to blame. Of course what Hikaru does is wrong, but you are brought to pity him because of his history, how mentally ill he is and how much sorrow he feels. His humanity is shown in his pain and in his love for his mother. Haruki makes you understand what being desperate really means. His slow and gradual fall to the pits of hell feels very real. The other characters are portrayed more quickly, but they look realistic as well. I'll be that person and say

that I was hoping for Hanabusa and Hikaru to get together at the end. But the manga decided to stay realistic, showing how Haruki cannot get 100% back to normality. Ever? That's left to our interpretation, as the ending is somewhat open, hinting that it will still take a long time for Hikaru and Haruki to get their mental health back, if they ever will.

As for negative points, the art is baaad. The fact this manages to still be good is admirable, but I wish characters well drawn better. The non-anatomy really killed my eyes in some scenes. As for the time skips and point of view changes, I appreciated them as they are proof of an actual attempt at narration. I say "attempt" because as someone else mentioned it was not 100% successful. Sometimes I was confused and needed some re-reading to understand what was going on. But other times I found it meaningful and nice. This felt like a proper story and not just as sequence of scenes told neutrally.

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BRUH THIS IS GEM

by Miachann
5 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Ah bring back memories, i remember i read this manga back then when i was still in high school, and i was waitin for this manga to update the new chapter or something new patiently, and tbh until now i do reread this a lot- so much alot- I really do love this.. the stories the character, the plot is really good no kidding, and the art is unique and beauty indeed, tbh we can said that Hikaru and Haruki do have character development (in wrong path) Like-- Haruki character really really does change, not just a little bit, but many things happen also his mental health goes bad poor Haruki huhu and At first too Hikaru is such a Cute boy but because many things happen, like things with his teacher and his bestfriend.. he suddenly snap- you know sometimes i confused because that 3 families member name is similiar Like Haruki, Hikaru and Haruka his mom, and talking about his mom idk like the moms is- i- don't know- i speechless about the mom, and the dad, stand up for your son can u? i feel bad dor Haruki and Hikaru too, like they got their karma but it really saddd- this stories not a fluffy and lovely one, its really heavy and angst and tragedy, it hurt me a lot- and tbh sadly the ending feel rushed, but yea i love this so muchh (｡･ω･｡)

... Last updated 5 years ago

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Unexpectedly loved it? Moral ambiguity at its finest.

by skawaii
6 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

The moral ambiguity in this manga is top-notch. You cannot label either Haruki or Hikaru as "completely evil." You cannot call Hikaru evil without calling Haruki evil as well. It is because they both did evil things and they both numbed themselves to the point of dissociating and hurting others. Because Haruki is the protagonist and many other reviewers explained Haruki's side of things very well, I'll skim over his side in order to provide a fully fleshed out discussion about this twisted and oddly realistic story.

Hikaru was not a sociopath because sociopaths do not feel emotions. However, narcissists do feel emotions and twist their reasoning to delude themselves enough to fulfill their cruel and selfish agendas. Hikaru felt emotions, and Hikaru was depicted as a narcissist very realistically. Most narcissists abuse their victims, and most of them never repent for their crimes because they don't feel accountable for their crimes. It's always "they (the victims) made me do it!" The depiction of that narcissistic sexual abuse was incredibly realistic and well-done. You can call Haruki weak all you want, but he is far from it. Having a big heart doesn't make you weak. Haruki was kind that's why even Haruka (the mother) was worried about Haruki's kindness.

Hikaru sexually abused Haruki and emotionally manipulated him too, but Hikaru kept repeating over and over he doesn't want to hurt Haruki or for Haruki to hate him. (Those parts hit too close to home for me with my own abusive ex-boyfriend.) He was a fool in love who didn’t know how to properly love another person when it came to sex because he himself was constantly sexually molested as a kid into his pre-teens. Most narcissists don't have to go through abuse as a child to become narcissists, spoiling kids to an unhealthy degree can also make them narcissists. However, Hikaru was so blinded by his own infatuation/love for Haruki as the first non-parental adult to show him kindness and not sexually molest him--because Hikaru was that beautiful and alluring to people. (This felt more like a commentary on society and its obsession with physical beauty and sexualizing beautiful people since they were young kids.) However, all of this does NOT justify Hikaru's actions, but it shows the mental inner workings of Hikaru's thought processes and how he is not a classic case of narcissistic personality disorder even though he played out narcissistic sexual abuse very well.

As for Haruki,

Haruki’s revenge on Hikaru was initially supposed to be killing Hikaru himself. But, he ended up taking revenge on Hikaru by telling Haruka (the mother) everything that went on between them so she can come and save them both--the drugged out Hikaru and the suicidal Haruki. Haruki inadvertently kills the pregnant hypertensive mother as she had a stroke or heart attack while frantically searching for them...while Hikaru laid at the edge of the lake drugged out because Haruki was so close to killing Hikaru's sleeping self, but decided not to do so. Haruki also let Hikaru take ALL the blame of killing Haruka, letting the father disown Hikaru, letting Hikaru live the next 3 years as a disgrace and he couldn’t even go to his own mother’s funeral. He could have killed Hikaru to prevent Hikaru from dealing with the repercussions, guilt, heartbreak, and pain. But, killing Hikaru was too merciful, so he let Hikaru live and be psychologically tortured with the guilt of inadvertently "killing" his own mother who died while searching for him...his own mother who he actually loved. No matter how you look at it, that is psychological abuse. Especially when ! Hikaru didn’t fight back and accepted the shame, humiliation, and guilt when he finally appeared at the 3rd year memorial.

Hikaru loved his mother, and I thought the mangaka did a beautiful and painful job at portraying their relationship.

The mangaka also did a beautiful job at portraying how a narcissist will only change when they finally hit rock bottom and have to face themselves. Even then, can a leopard ever change its spots?

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The title is a warning

by LittleMissPerfect
7 years ago

Rating: 7.5 / 10.0

I hate it and yet I find it incredibly fascinating…
The title translates as “How to kill a heart”, in the sense of finding a way to crush one's spirit. With that in mind, you have to expect the worst outcome while reading this story. It's a very cruel tale about a man who becomes the shadow of himself because of terrible circumstances. That is, rape. And, incredibly enough, it does a very good job at showing how much sexual abuse can be debilitating, as the main character’s physical and mental condition deteriorate throughout the four volumes of the series.
It’s not really a depiction of the illusionary Stockholm syndrome trope, as it feels like the way people around him dismiss the gravity of his situation weights on the main character as much as his persecutor’s deeds. The ones around him prefer to blame him for being in this “shameful” situation and they turn their backs on him when he tries to seek help; in doing so, they avoid facing the dreadful truth. It's a very acerbic criticism of Japanese society and its obsession with honor and the idea of minding your own business to stay out of trouble.
Now the end is what upsets most readers, but bear in mind the meaning of the title. It’s not a love story, it’s a tale of resignation and surrender. As much as I hated it myself, I have to admit that it’s quite thought provoking and it can be interpreted as a big middle finger addressed to society.

As the two main characters would rather rely on each other, despite all the wrong they’ve done to one another, than being rehabilitated in the society that created the conditions in which everything escalated to the point of no return. Also, bonus points for that fact that the main character is seeing a shrink at the end, even if it somehow didn’t stop him from reconnecting with his crazy brother… At least he’s getting the help he needs.

Now there are obvious limits to this, mainly due to the fact that this is still BL. First there’s a forced triangular dynamic (I wouldn’t call it a love triangle though); it’s very painful and seems more like a bait to captivate the readers than anything else. More importantly, there’s the very explicit representation of the rape scenes that does contradict the stance of the story has on rape as it is, evidently, also used as an excuse to show smut…
A beautifully ugly mess.

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stupid

by mojoyoyo
7 years ago

Rating: 3.0 / 10.0

i'm just gonna preface this with the fact that idgaf about rape being trivialized in yaoi. it's porn and idc. but if you're gonna treat rape like super serious business and give us chapters of discomfort and pain because he is not having a good time, and then have the victim end up with the rapist anyway, well a-fuck-you buddy

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What's with the awkward sequencing?

by azariie
7 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

I just started reading this one and I can't tell yet if the scanlating group is to blame or the author is just awesomely bad at transitioning scenes, but the time jumps and cuts in between make for a rather awkward reading. Oh well. The art is pretty rough and sometimes it gets hard to tell certain characters apart, but I don't remember running into such a good description of sexual abuse trauma before? Negotiation, denial, shame - it runs through the entire spectrum. I just hope it doesn't get romanticized later on because there you have the rare opportunity of making the topic justice and tell a survivors story till the end without cheapening it with a forced "love" story.

Also, thank goodness gracious you get someone like Haruki's senpai for every sociopathic Hikaru out there. It would be unbearable to bear witness to Haruki's pain otherwise.

EDIT: Oh boy. They sure as hell weren't fooling around with that tragedy tag, huh? Can't complain about Haruki's development through the story, it all ringed true if somehow frustrating from time to time. I still hated the ending due to personal ship preferences and though the last coda was absolutely unnecessary, but it's still a solid 10/10 for me.

... Last updated 7 years ago

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