The art is decent, I even like it. The story & characters though…
The characters behave in very unnatural ways and the backstories and explanations fail to justify these behaviors. The relationship itself is very disturbing! this guy That level of possessiveness makes perfect sense since he experienced such a “traumatic” (😒) thing, right?
…If you’re really disturbed in the head that is!
And the ending. It seems like the author just wanted to give it the sort of end that feels like “bitter reality”, but the circumstances of the boy and everyone’s easy acceptance if it makes everything even more disturbing…
Honestly, this work was terrible all around, though I’ve read better works from this mangaka…

... Last updated on November 5th, 2023, 1:00am

It's clear that the mangaka set out to write a bittersweet, heart-rending story; it's unclear how successful she was. The art style isn't bad but also nothing extraordinary, which means to say that this type of simplistic, melancholic plot, so often carried by a deftness of artistic weaving, required much more development than was available here. Neither of the characters had much of a personality beyond their own personal baggage and grievances; yes, I pitied them, and I certainly did feel (a hollow kind of) "sad", so if that's what the mangaka was going for, then--bravo. I'm of the view that it takes real care and skill to write a "tragedy" in BL when the narrative is, physically speaking, so tightly constrained--the emotional impact must be earned, somehow. Most BL manga don't achieve that, and Nigatsu no Eden is no exception here.

don't reread this manga if you don't want to cry like shi lt again

I might have bad comprehension, but I think the selling point of this manga is gradually picking up the signs that all of the stuff that's been built up will come crashing down eventually.

It really is a well written manga, but it is too sad for my liking. Sensei has a nice simple art style and gives depth to the characters without even revealing much about them. Definitely one the more realistic manga out there, but if you're looking for a happy ending, go look elsewhere.