Birthday

Description

When a Tokyo teenager botches a suicide attempt, he finds himself recovering in a hospital where most of the patients are more than twice his age. Rejecting his mother's visits, he spends his time counting the hours between meals and blood-tests until a run-in with another teenage patient leaves him with an unlikely new friend. A bittersweet story about how even a tragically short connection can change a life.

"Birthday" later got included in the tankoubon Dokusaisha Granada.

Type

Manga

Related Series

N/A

Associated Names

Birthday (SUGIMOTO Ami)

Doğum Günü

Groups Scanlating

DokiDoki

Latest Release(s)

c.2 (final) by DokiDoki 19 years ago

c.1 by DokiDoki 19 years ago

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Status in Country of Origin

2 Chapters (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: 7.9 / 10.0 (161 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7.65 / 10.0

24%

19%

24%

12%

10%

Last Updated

September 11th, 2021 1:03am PDT - 4 years ago

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Genre

Drama Shounen Ai Tragedy
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Heaven's Door (HONGOU Ranko)

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora

Diamond Dust (KANG Hyung-Gyu)

Pieta

Shinigami Nurse Nono-san no Yakusai

Recommendations

Deep Love - Ayu no Monogatari

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan

Dear Friends

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Tokuma Shoten

Serialized In (magazine)

Chara (Tokuma Shoten)

Licensed (in English)

English Publisher

N/A

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #761

(-23)

Monthly Pos #1707

(-157)

3 Month Pos #2257

(-1116)

6 Month Pos #4611

(-284)

Year Pos #7219 (No change)

List Stats

On 20 reading lists

On 81 wish lists

On 388 completed lists

On 5 unfinished lists

On 123 custom lists

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User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

One of my first and favourite manga

by PSedits
5 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

This is the twoshot that convinced me that short manga can also tell a beautiful story. I downloaded it off DokiDoki about a year after it was first scanlated. I was probably 13 at the time. I had never read a serious manga which included death before... It made me cry for hours. I resolved to never read any BL ever again.

It's now 13 years later. I reread Birthday (and Ami Sugimoto's Dokusaisha Granada) every couple of years, and I feel like it means more to me every time. The character writing is raw and a bit lyrical, both boys feel real even though we only get to know them for a short time. The art style, which once seemed old-fashioned due to the strong sense of realism, actually feels more like modern BL, where styles are more diverse than they were in the 2000's. The story itself, which features a mostly unspoken and surprisingly mature relationship, is just perfect. Over the years since I read this manga, I feel like I have been both boys - I've been suicidal, I've loved a friend, I've lost loved ones, I've been in hospital. I've grown alongside it, and it has always been here for me when I've needed it. Birthday isn't just one of my favourite manga; it has changed me for the better.

My only sadness is that no one has licensed it. If you read this, please ask your favourite company to license it and Dokusaisha Granada. (Or any of Ami Sugimoto's work other than Animal X, tbh.) You'd have my everlasting gratitude.

If you like this manga and are looking for something with a similar vibe, try X-Day by Setona Mizushiro, 3-Ban Sen no Campanella by Kyoyama Atsuki, or Asterisk by Torino Shino.

Was this comment useful? Yes

Tore my heart apart

by PatyR
10 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Like, really. I didn't expect that to happen, I thought this would have a happy ending. But I learned that even the darkest situation helps you become who you are, so it was a nice read.

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....

by MirayAllen
12 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

It's definitely a touching, heartfelt story. However, I would have liked it better without the small portion of shonen-ai it actually has. The relationship was built up wonderfully up to the sudden confession, and the story didn't need that to excel. If anything, the "romance" weirds things out, so to speak. It was still a very interesting, if sad, story though...

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Wow

by Ginny
13 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Truly inspirational. It tells a sad, but invigorating story. The shounen ai was not very developed it was more bromance, but the kiss told otherwise. I like it. It was short, a little sad, but sweet.

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Good two-shot

by HanaTenshiHimeko
14 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

Hmmmm...I question it being shounen-ai. More like a friendship two-shot for me. Felt weird 'cause there wasn't really a plot building up toward romance and suddenly out of nowhere, it was like, "I love you, gimme a kiss." O__o;;; Nevertheless, it was a really good two-shot. The building of the story and character development is good.

... Last updated 14 years ago

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yey

by takitogr
15 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

that was nice...made me think about some things

i found the art quite nice actually..effective and not dated at all but not any eye-candy in it which is not a bad thing...makes you concentrate more on the story and it doesn't idealize situations and appearances...it tries to be a realistic and not idealistic depiction

the story is quite nice and true to life...it talked to me...it might touch you as well depending on your experiences in life

the good thing is that it can be appreciated and enjoyed by non-shounen-ai fans because i'm not one...i find them quite boring and repetitive...i wish i could read more by this mangaka...her works are very interesting

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Sad, but Sweet

by XKamariaX
17 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

I believe this was a very touching story. It was well written, had beautiful art, And it wasn't too short or too long. Also I could honestly see their relationship. Sure it was all shoujo-y or smutty, but it really did work.
All in all it was a wonderful read and I would even recommend it to people who aren't necessarily shounen-ai fans.

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Touching but kind of confusing

by xObscurexOmenx
18 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

Yes, this is a touching two-shot that involves both angst and a relationship between two boys. However, I for one could not detect any sense of "love" in their relationship. It seems very random when the phrase "I love you" is put into the open considering that friendship was the only thing that I could detect until that point. I could see no hints to such a confession, and the conversations the two main characters had did nothing to make this manga seem romantic in any sense. Even after the confession, I found it hard to detect any actual emotion in the two characters. But I must admit that the ending was touching, even if it wasn't in the romantic sense.

In short, I found that this manga was more of an attempt at a shounen-ai that failed rather miserably, instead seeming to be more of a story of an unlikely friendship. If the whole confession and whatnot was thrown out I think that the manga could've been much better.

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Birthday

by louie29
18 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

For me, this is a favorite. Short and sweet, with two engaging characters whose lives are made so much better because they found each other. The story is sad but very uplifting.

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birthday

by pleochroic
18 years ago

Rating: N/A

it's not a bad manga, and contrary to the previous reviewer i didn't find it confusing or too fast moving, but there are two drawbacks to it for me: 1) the drawing style is quite dated. and 2) because i don't expect it in my yaoi, i think others might benefit from this warning: character death.

... Last updated 18 years ago

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