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Manga Info
Life ![]()
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Description
Ayumu Shiiba is studying for the all-important high school entrance exams. She is struggling to get by, but thankfully has help from her best friend Shii-chan, who is at the top of their class. Test results come back and their friendship falls apart when Ayumu surpasses Shii-chan’s scores and gets into her high school of choice while Shii-chan doesn’t! Losing Shii-chan is so painful for Ayumu that she starts cutting her wrists for comfort. Hoping for a fresh start, Ayumu arrives at her new high school and finally opens up to a new friend, Manami. But will Manami prove to be the friend t...
More...
Type
Manga
Related Series
Life 2: Giver/Taker (Spin-Off)
Associated Names
Life人生
Raifu
حياة
ไลฟ์ (Thai)
ライフ
라이프
Raifu
حياة
ไลฟ์ (Thai)
ライフ
라이프
Groups Scanlating
Latest Release(s)
c.74-80 by Ame Scans over 4 years ago
v.17 c.67 by Manga Yobai over 11 years ago
v.9 c.35 by Eclipse Scans over 13 years ago
Search for all releases of this series
v.17 c.67 by Manga Yobai over 11 years ago
v.9 c.35 by Eclipse Scans over 13 years ago
Search for all releases of this series
Status
in Country of Origin
20 Volumes (Complete)
13 Volumes (Shinsouban, Complete)
13 Volumes (Shinsouban, Complete)
Completely Scanlated?
Yes
Anime Start/End Chapter
N/A
User Reviews
N/A
Forum
2 topics, 4 posts
Click here to view the forum
Click here to view the forum
User Rating
Average: 7.8 / 10.0 (261 votes)
Bayesian Average: 7.65 / 10.0
Bayesian Average: 7.65 / 10.0
10
33%
9+
15%
8+
16%
7+
12%
6+
8%
5+
5%
4+
2%
3+
1%
2+
3%
1+
3%
Last Updated
April 17th 2024, 3:47am
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Genre
Categories
Category Recommendations
Recommendations
Author(s)
Artist(s)
Year
2002
Original Publisher
Kodansha (2002; 2016)
Serialized In (magazine)
Bessatsu Friend (Kodansha)
Licensed (in English)
Yes
English Publisher
Activity Stats (vs. other series)
Weekly Pos #623 
(-2)
Monthly Pos #1411
(+237)
3 Month Pos #2407(+385)
6 Month Pos #3417(+426)
Year Pos #4350(-402)
(-2)Monthly Pos #1411
(+237)3 Month Pos #2407
(+385)6 Month Pos #3417
(+426)Year Pos #4350
(-402)List Stats
On 777 reading lists
On 775 wish lists
On 428 completed lists
On 79 unfinished lists
On 298 custom lists
On 775 wish lists
On 428 completed lists
On 79 unfinished lists
On 298 custom lists
User Comments
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This is a pretty depressing manga. Just when you think things are looking better for the heroine, she falls into some other bad situation. I kept reading the Chinese version (I think maybe up to vol 13) hoping things will get better but they didn't...
See, it would be one thing if Ayumu was a normal sensible girl who changed after bullying, but she was angsting and cutting herself loooooong before the bullying started. In fact a lot of people at her new school made an effort to be kind and friendly and she rebuffed them all, then she got involved with a bad friend and now she's whining about bullies?
She's just WEAK, dumb and naive. I know someone who had the exact same experience where she got into a school her best friend wanted and the best friend didn't, and yes it was the end of the friendship but guess what. She didn't get depressed, she didn't start cutting herself, she didn't withdraw into a little shell because "no one needs me around." In real LIFE, sometimes people win and sometimes people lose. That's LIFE. Anyone who can't understand that is just weak, full stop.
Not to mention the pathetic way Ayumu keeps turning her life over to other people to control. She's one of those disgusting girls who latch onto one friend and invest their everything in that one person then get upset when that person turns out to be a user. Not putting all your eggs in one basket is part of LIFE too. This manga is just bad, guys.
But at least the art is nice, so that's one extra point. I guess.
... Last updated on May 4th, 2010, 6:30pm
She's just WEAK, dumb and naive. I know someone who had the exact same experience where she got into a school her best friend wanted and the best friend didn't, and yes it was the end of the friendship but guess what. She didn't get depressed, she didn't start cutting herself, she didn't withdraw into a little shell because "no one needs me around." In real LIFE, sometimes people win and sometimes people lose. That's LIFE. Anyone who can't understand that is just weak, full stop.
Not to mention the pathetic way Ayumu keeps turning her life over to other people to control. She's one of those disgusting girls who latch onto one friend and invest their everything in that one person then get upset when that person turns out to be a user. Not putting all your eggs in one basket is part of LIFE too. This manga is just bad, guys.
But at least the art is nice, so that's one extra point. I guess.
... Last updated on May 4th, 2010, 6:30pm
Artists who like to draw action scenes should take note from this manga. The art is stunning... For many reasons. It really portrays the intensity of each action scenes. It really enables me to envision what it would look like if it was a movie.
There were some scenes that freaked me out, like further into the volume, when Manami becomes dopey and go crazy, she would appear out of nowhere and freak the reader out because we wouldn't expect her to be there (I'll let you read it).
My favorite characters would definitely be Ayumu and Hitori.
It's a shame not many people know about this manga. It's also a shame that it's not completely scanlated.
There were some scenes that freaked me out, like further into the volume, when Manami becomes dopey and go crazy, she would appear out of nowhere and freak the reader out because we wouldn't expect her to be there (I'll let you read it).
My favorite characters would definitely be Ayumu and Hitori.
It's a shame not many people know about this manga. It's also a shame that it's not completely scanlated.
those that dislike the weak character of the girl probably have never witnessed these type of situations in real life.
this is the hellish high school life that is actually quite common in asian countries- and i think that Life portrays it very well. the overdramatization only compels the readers to feel a bit of the life of a suffering girl- and even the exaggerated pages could not express the horror, i imagine.
i cried buckets in the last volume- because the series is so realistic that it cannot give the fluffy-everything-is-perfect conclusion.. yet it was enlightening and heart warming.
i think this is a series that everyone should read: female, male, and whatever age (except too young of course)- and everyone can learn something from this.
one of the few manga out there that really teaches humanity a life lesson.
this is the hellish high school life that is actually quite common in asian countries- and i think that Life portrays it very well. the overdramatization only compels the readers to feel a bit of the life of a suffering girl- and even the exaggerated pages could not express the horror, i imagine.
i cried buckets in the last volume- because the series is so realistic that it cannot give the fluffy-everything-is-perfect conclusion.. yet it was enlightening and heart warming.
i think this is a series that everyone should read: female, male, and whatever age (except too young of course)- and everyone can learn something from this.
one of the few manga out there that really teaches humanity a life lesson.
I can understand why some people have a problem with how weak the heroine is in the beginning, but I don’t find her overbearingly dumb or anything-- so I can basically tolerate her. I mean seriously, in the real world, people are weak. That's the bottom line. Also, she's a teenager. Puberty is a bitch for some teens, so her timid disposition isn't so unbelievable. Um…The constant stream of horrid characters that the mangaka introduces is a bit of an overkill, but the bullying is pretty much dead on. I've actually had a few of my friends from Japan tell me that it can be much worse than that, so that aspect of the storyline has been done pretty well.
I haven’t read the entire series yet, so I can’t rate this higher than a 6 right now. Once I finish everything, I’ll decide whether to raise the rating or drop it. I do like this one though.
As always, I recommend giving it a try. My taste is my taste though, so take my review with a grain of salt.
... Last updated on January 6th, 2010, 8:05am
I haven’t read the entire series yet, so I can’t rate this higher than a 6 right now. Once I finish everything, I’ll decide whether to raise the rating or drop it. I do like this one though.
As always, I recommend giving it a try. My taste is my taste though, so take my review with a grain of salt.
... Last updated on January 6th, 2010, 8:05am
Kieko Suenbo can tell a very pungent story. If you want to read about bullying I suggest reading Vitamin. It's short and to the point. Yes it's sad and upsetting but it's a oneshot. Life on the otherhand will frustrate you beyond end and make you rage and it goes on forever! The main girls life is one of the saddest and upsetting things ever. The people in her life all need to be burned.
Now that I've thought of it, it really makes me upset that there are human out there like the side characters. :/
I strongly DO NOT recommend this for people that have weak stomachs. (Or need bright spots in manga THIS IS NOT FOR YOU)
... Last updated on August 22nd, 2009, 1:42pm
Now that I've thought of it, it really makes me upset that there are human out there like the side characters. :/
I strongly DO NOT recommend this for people that have weak stomachs. (Or need bright spots in manga THIS IS NOT FOR YOU)
... Last updated on August 22nd, 2009, 1:42pm
Never thought that I will bother to look at this but it is indeed very psychologically scary!!! (Probably resulted from me reading this at 2PM!) However, I think it is really good! Very unexpected! My brain kept yearning for some happiness will soon happen to Ayumu. *sign poor, little Ayumu!
The beginning is so tedious. You have this weak heroine(which everybody's complaining about), but that's only for the first few volumes. After that, everything starts pulling together. I felt so horrible for Ayumu. Not only for her, but also the other students. Even the teachers. All of them. I feel like this manga in some way is a satire of the whole bullying issue. There's lots of commonly-held beliefs presented and challenged here: the one who cries is not always right(the boy who cried wolf, basically), majority overpowers minority(minority's fighting hard in this case), turning the other cheek. Maybe I'm giving this manga a bit too much credit(satire probably wasn't the intent at all), but I feel that this is the meaning that I'm getting.
I want to recommend this to everyone so that we can all understand that these ideas aren't always right. Shoujo readers, shounen readers, whatever. I think this is something we all could use learning from.
... Last updated on November 11th, 2011, 1:32am
I want to recommend this to everyone so that we can all understand that these ideas aren't always right. Shoujo readers, shounen readers, whatever. I think this is something we all could use learning from.
... Last updated on November 11th, 2011, 1:32am
Well, I can't STAND stupid/weak people, and I must say, Ayumu is REALLY frustrating. I just want to slap her on the face and yell at her, not to mention tell her to get her ass into gear. (I'm at volume 5 or so)
Other then that, its really great, and I like it a lot.
Its very interesting.
... Last updated on February 14th, 2009, 7:47pm
Other then that, its really great, and I like it a lot.
Its very interesting.
... Last updated on February 14th, 2009, 7:47pm
This manga tells a story of a girl with a low self esteem that evolves into someone strong. The mangaka doesn't sugar coat on anything and it gives the readers a realer look at the characters and what they're going through. This shoujo manga isn't the cutesy fluffy love story that most shoujo mangas are, it's much more realistic.
FOR THOSE WHO LIKE THE TYPICAL CUTE SHOUJO MANGA I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THIS TO YOU.
but to all those looking for a realistic story that deals with real life issues I HIGHLY recommend this manga.
FOR THOSE WHO LIKE THE TYPICAL CUTE SHOUJO MANGA I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THIS TO YOU.
but to all those looking for a realistic story that deals with real life issues I HIGHLY recommend this manga.
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