This manga got a tear out of me for how well it depicted intimacy and death, and its depiction of illness and young romance was also stellar. The cutesy fluff chapters were fine too, helping to give meaning to the ending. The setting for most of the story is extremely similar to what you find in Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (Quiet Country Cafe) and it mirrors exactly the feeling you get from the main couple; that the end is near but it will be peaceful and warm until then. The scenery and composition really puts you into the story, while character art is simple and sometimes feels dated but it doesn't detract from the work.

The story would be improved by shaving off 4 or 5 chapters and making a couple needlessly cryptic things more concrete. I have big problems with everything regarding some godlike entity known as "Kilit" . Chapters that heavily feature him or the philosophical waxings from the secretary-general character were an awful slog for me to get through.

This is the Manga I was looking for, there is some skinship but that add to the story and the protagonists love, where as in other manga it cheapens it. It is the second time a manga made me cry and this story will remain with me for a very long time.

great manga.. made me crying alot and think to be more appreciating life and to love even more people around me.
thx Mr.tanaka

... manga where i actually cried. I mean sometimes i do get sad and my eyes get a little wet, but this time i had to use the handkerchief. It was really beautful but the end was just so saaaaaaaaad I didn't really care for the whole world-crisis thing and I didn't really try to understand it, I only wanted to read the events between Ai and Ikuru, and it is these that I rate here.

So if you don't mind crying and you like heart-breaking stories, read it, you won't regret your decision.

This was definately the manga that had me crying the most out of any manga I've read so far.
I should rephrase that a bit. It was the first manga that had me crying because I was sad.
Until today I've only shed tears of laughter, happiness and heroism, and rarely at that.
That alone makes it good for me, but it also got me thinking about a lot of things I haven't put much thought into until now, which also very few mangas managed to do to me.

Honestly, one of the best mangas I ever read, moreover the best one of it's kind. As always a story depends on the readers taste, and this fullfiled mine in each term. An emotional manifestation that Iet me shed far too much tears..
I loved the plot as well as its philosophical conotations. Sure due to this and also trough the sci-fi background it can seem confusing at times, but that leads you to reflect about the topic - mangas as well as book should touch your emotial core, as well as let you think about sth.
The artwork of this manga is great, there were many scences that I just gazed for a while..

This beautiful story will let an deep inpresion, I can only recomend it

My god nothing other than the death of my grandfathers has ever moved me to tears before, but this story did....multiple times. I wish this was licensed and published in English so I could buy a bunch of copies to give to friends and family. It's just so touching and moving that as I type this I'm blubbering like a child and as a 6'2" 280 lb concrete worker I'd probably be mercilessly taunted if anybody seen me as such but I don't really care I was just so moved by this manga.

... Last updated on September 10th, 2010, 1:59pm

This story when read from a perspective of thinking about what it means to be human is absolutely amazing. There's so much it says about humanity as a whole, and is really powerful. It easily draws your emotions out making you feel pity at all the right times, and love for the characters in it. it's extremely well written, and i plan on reading it again in the future.

This is an story about birth, life and death, filled with sorrow and love. I was really sad reading the last chapters but I realized that the end could be no different. The cycle of life is the same for all of us. Life couldn't exist if there is no death.
Ai-Ren is not perfect because there is some side plots unsatisfactory developed till the end and the whole plot about world crisis is superfluous, but this manga is a remarkable work. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou readers may notice some influence of Ashinano Hitoshi's masterpiece on Ai-Ren. Thank you Solaris-SVU staff for translating this one.

... Last updated on May 2nd, 2009, 5:31pm