Title: The Gods LieAuthor: Kaori Ozaki
First Published: March 25, 2013
Publisher: Vertical Comics
Pages: 216
Genre: Drama, Romance, Shojo, Slice of Life
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
Rating:
Synopsis:
Natsuru Nanao, a 6th grader who lives alone with his mother, strikes up an unlikely friendship with the reserved and driven Rio Suzumura. Natsuru plays hookey from soccer camp that summer, and instead of telling the truth to his mother, he spends all his time with Rio and her kid brother at their rickety house, where a dark secret threatens to upend their fragile happiness.
Review
I didn’t expect to have a manga make me cry but here I am. I won’t mince words, The Gods Lie is a heavy hitter and an emotional rollercoaster. It’s about friendship, young love, and the difficulty of parenting. Ozaki hits all the right story beats to pull on the reader’s heartstrings.
This story is bittersweet and is about unhappy things. The story follows two classmates as they become friends, wrapped up in the adventure of childhood until everything comes crashing down. I loved that the main characters felt so grounded in reality. Their honest friendship made my heart melt and the summer setting reminded me so much of my childhood. The sweet romance that blooms between Natsuru and Rio was so pure and made me so happy, I couldn’t help but adore them. My heart broke in two seeing these characters grow up far, far too fast.
The only thing that bothered me was an early part of the manga when Natsuru squeezes his mom’s breasts, everything about it was gross and uncomfortable, it felt contradictory to Natsuru’s thoughtful character. Despite that hangup, I still absolutely adored this manga. It has easily made it onto my list of favorites.
It was surprisingly sensitive about some extremely dark topics, and really highlights the importance of parents as caregivers to children. To kids, a parent is like a god. As children mature, they have the shattering realization that parents are flawed people too. Beautiful. A masterpiece.
Quote
“The gods lie. They lie because it’s the best they can do.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Kaori Ozaki
Kaori Ozaki is a professional comic artist and character designer. She made her debut in 1993 at the age of 15 for shojo publisher Shinshokan with the short series An Angel above the Piano.
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