2.5/5 stars

I really wanted to like this more. The idea of an otaku and ghost falling in love sounded great but didn't quite live up. There were a few too many spots in the story where I was confused exactly what was going on and had to reread to try to figure out what was going on. Also, the love part of the story felt not only rushed but kinda forced.

Well, this was pleasant! A ghost story with an interesting premise turns into a sweet, thoughtful, look into the world of the living and the dead and the relationships we build. While I guessed where it was going early on, that was not a bad thing at all. If light BL are more your jam, give this one a look!

** spoiler alert ** This manga was so emotional, and I did not expect the ending. Imagine you're walking home one day and you're the only one that can see the spirit. Well this happens to Iku, and he runs into Mimori on this bridge. Iku bumps into someone on the bring and drops a bunch of books, Mimori tries to give one back to Iku, but Iku is startled and runs away. Mimori wants to give the book back, and follows Iku back to his apartment. Iku seems to be the only person that can see, talk, and touch Mimori, and he doesn't know why. Mimori ends up staying with Iku in his apartment, but when Iku wakes in the morning, Mimori is no where to be found. Turns out every night at 23:45, Mimori returns to the bridge and falls over the edge and dies every night. When there are no leads, Iku is about to give up since Mimori's death has no leads. Then one day, Iku's coworker has a picture of Mimori in her group of friends as her screensaver. When Iku asks her about visiting his grave to pay respects, she slaps him and runs away. Iku is confused as ever and conflicted since he loves having Mimori's presence and isn't alone but wants him to find happiness. Finally Iku runs into his coworker and turns out Mimori isn't dead, just in a coma after falling from that bridge. Mimori's memories had returned to him and he ends up telling Iku the way he ended up in a coma. Mimori was fighting with his ex on that bridge when they broke up and Mimori was trying to return her necklace, but she threw it at him and it landed over the edge. While trying to retrieve the necklace, he slipped and fell and ended up in the coma. Iku encourages Mimori to go back to the hospital to see if he will wake up. Mimori eventually wakes up, but has no memories of his time being asleep, including Iku. But Mimori ends up having a feeling that he knows Iku and remembers where he lives. This book was so emotional and had a great ending, and may have brought a few tears to my eyes while reading. I am really grateful for the opportunity for this ARC read, it was truly amazing!

Ooh that was wonderful but too short :)

The sweetest story full of mystery about an Otaku boy who sees ghosts, and one day he comes across the one he actually can touch. Why?.. The answer is at the end of the story.

Heartwarming story for cold days!

This was a really sweet short manga. The ending, I hope the happy one that was implied was everything. It was a story about forgiveness and acceptance. I didn't find a creepy that he fell in love with a spirt it made sense as they both were there supporting one another's growth. Even though I could always use more of a story I enjoy, this one didn't feel incomplete to me. All the plots brought were wrapped up nicely in the final chapter. I thought the twist with the ghost was nice and I didn't expect it. Thank you NetGalley for the the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the Arc!

I absolutely loved this manga! I loved the way the two main characters interacted and slowly grew into their relationship. I wish it was just slightly longer to flesh the characters out a bit and give more story as to what happened afterwards, but it was a cute and fluffy story nonetheless. The chemistry between the two was so soothing and just great to read, as they quickly filled in emotional needs in healthy and natural ways.

Cute, beautiful art, and a wonderful concept. Unfortunately for me, the story felt a little rushed and messily put together. I saw at teh end that this was the author's first full manga, and it definitely felt like that, but they could only get better from here. Solid three stars.

This was a cute little story, well drawn, and aiming to tell a nice message.
Unfortunately, it lacked a bit of depth, spending a lot of time focusing on menial details, rather than the deep drivers.
While I'm happy for my feelings that it was on the much sweeter end of bittersweet, everything tied a bit too neatly to drive a proper emotional impact needed for it to stand out and be remembered .
The author had a good idea and a good style, hopefully with time she'll get a bit more daring, and her stories will have the success they deserve.

<b>Pre-read</b>
A boy and a ghost? 🤔 Curious about how this will go. I hope it won't be too bittersweet.
I LOVE the cover. So beautiful.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Coming out on March 11th, this manga is about a college freshman, Iku, who can see ghosts and one day he meets a friendly spirit named Mimori (which could be a reference to memento mori? Though. I could be overthinking it & it’s just a coincidence) who “haunts” a local bridge.They quickly become friends but every day at precisely 23:45 (11:45) Mimori finds himself back at the bridge recreating the scene of his last conscious moment. And we’re given this quote from Iku “I won’t ever let you die again.” It’s a will they, can they save Mimori from a never ending cycle from his own death. I feel like this could remind me of an alternate universe of A Silent Voice, and that thought startles me and that’s okay.

I gave this 4 stars: I love the relationship between the two boys and the fact that Mimori’s incident was in the same time period as Iku was a cherry on the cake. I don’t see a lot of those scenarios anymore and the ending was really nice. I can’t wait for volume two and see how further their friendship takes them. The art style was beautiful and one of my favorite styles, the way the eyes said everything and Iku’s Otaku personality with Mimori’s go with the flow seeing the bright side of things, not the kind of friendship you’d expect to thrive but it does. This gave enough to want me yearning for what comes next, so thank you Ohana. Mahalo <3

"...I used to think I was just a nobody. That I didn't matter. But then I saw a easily a few stupid words I said came so close to ending another person's life... and it terrified me."

A deeply moving and highly emotional boy's love story that masterfully plays with the reader's emotions—just when you think you know where it's headed, it surprises you again.

The story unfolds in a seemingly simple yet beautifully executed way, centering on young student Iku, who struggles with an overwhelming fear of loss and a heavy sense of guilt. His life takes an unexpected turn when Mimori, a ghost, suddenly moves in with him. Mimori gradually pulls Iku out of his otaku shell, showing him that life is far too rich and complex to be defined solely by fear.

Iku's emotions feel incredibly real, making it easy to empathize with him. His fear—the anxiety of saying or doing the wrong thing, of making an irreversible mistake—is something most readers can likely relate to. At the same time, the mystery surrounding Mimori and what exactly happened to him keeps the story engaging. The revelation behind it is genuinely surprising in the best possible way.

Chapter by chapter, we get to know Mimori better—despite his ghostly nature, he is just as troubled by deeply human insecurities. After all, what truly defines a good person?

Despite the manga’s short length, it manages to explore an impressive range of themes, making the story feel vivid and immersive. I would have loved to see another volume!

3.5⭐
Cute~

Thank you for the Arc, it's such a cute story, not overly dramatic or cliche. I hope to see more from the Mangaka!

23:45 
Release: March 11 
23:45 Re release: July 

Kurihara moves to attend university, although that is just an excuse to run from his fear/problem. One night, his life made a turn when he discovered he could see a ghost. This ghost followed him home and soon they became friends. Mimori remembers very little about his past including the time around 23:45 every night, where like clock work Mimori (the ghost) is “pulled” to the bridge and falls over. Kurihara becomes concerned about Mimori and starts to look into his situation, but more questions arise when he starts looking. As they become closer by the day, Kurihara becomes conflicted about helping Mimori pass on or wanting him to stay by his side. 

I did like the build up of this volume and how we were given more information about their past. Both had their own worries and regrets, but they sorta helped each other through them. The character designs seemed fitting for their personalities and there was some growth at the end (mainly seen in Kurihara). Kurihara is an otaku and keeps to himself, whereas Mimiro is like a ray of sunshine and seems to be social.There is another volume for this series; however, it looks like it may focus on another pair. It is hard to say who the pair is since there were very few moments with side characters (going to guess though it will be the person he worked with at the convenience store possibly). I hope Kurihara and Mimori make an appearance in it and find out more about their relationship. There are no spicy scenes if you are worried about that and if I remember correctly the age gap is only 2 years. 

WARNING I AM GOING TO TALK ABOUT SPOILERS ON THIS ONE 

 At the end, I was really hoping we would get a chapter of Mimori regaining his memories of his time with Kurihara when he was in his “ghost” form. He does question why he started to do certain things he didn’t do in the past and feels drawn to Kurihara; but why couldn’t we get him actually remembering him. Originally it seemed like Kurihara was just going to watch him from afar, but then when Mimori finds himself at his door and hee no longer holds it back and confesses.

This was the literal cutest thing ever.
The characters felt so fleshed out, so real, and their story was everything.
The depth to their emotions, their thoughts and everything that they went though 😭
And the romance was so cute, I love how they got to know each other, and their interests and really started opening up to each other, it was so cute <3
The only issue I had was with a few of the scenes were slightly confusing to me, but that might just be because I don’t read much manga.
I highly recommend this to anyone looking for something that is as good as Heartstopper <3

I loved every moment of this manga. The art is amazing, the story engaging and the characters were interesting.

This was an interesting title that left me with a ton of questions. The ghost part gets completely skipped over and leaves me questioning their connection and the random sex scene? I just found myself confused and underwhelmed by the organization of the story. I believe there's a sequel so I'd like to read it before dnf'ing this series.

Art: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Ease of Comprehension: 2/5 lol

So, this might be a "me" problem, but as much as i loved the art and the overall story of this, I found it really hard to understand. It's in English, mind, and there are no problems with the actual text localization which is perfect native English. The problem for me is that the story is kinda in "stream of conciousness" format, where thoughts overlap and flow into each other and characters are speaking and thinking at the same time, and I had a really hard time following it. This is definitely not my first time reading manga, and while I wouldn't consider myself a manga afficionado or anything, I'm not exactly a stranger to it and I found it really hard to figure out what character was saying what, which bubbles were thoughts, and what was the narration. It was really jarring at times because I would have to flip back a few pages and try to figure out what was going on, which kinda killed the simmering, emotional buildup the author was trying to achieve. I'm not sure if this would be easier to understand in the original Japanese, or the localization editors could have done a better job, or if I just kinda suck at reading manga but unfortunately this fell a bit short of what it could have been.

This was my first time reading a manga on my kindle. I'm not going to lie I was disappointed I had to swipe like a book but read like a manga, but that is more about how I love reading manga than anything wrong with the book. Once I got used to this reading mechanic it went smoothly. The story was super cute. I really enjoyed the the characters and their different personalities. Seo Mimori is a cute little cinnamon roll. He just exudes goodness. Iku reacted like anyone else would when confronted with seeing ghosts and that made his character personable. I liked that he didn't immediately accept he could see ghosts and tried his best to ignore it.

The art was lovely though some scenes I had to reread before I figured out what was happening. Ohana told Iku and Seo's story very well with their illustrations. They made the story a visual experience. Iku and Seo has more to tell and I am invested in their story. I am looking forward to more of them and can't wait to see where Ohana takes them. This is definitely a manga I would like to add to my shelf.

I actually really liked this story. For me it was really sweet and a cute romance. I liked how the ending was different than i originally anticipated and it made it cuter in my opinion. The two main characters were brought together by chance and it was sweet to see how their fates are intertwined even after the fact. I’d definitely read the next one after to see how their story ends.

Iku is living his best life as an otaku after moving alone to Tokyo. But things are a bit… interesting. For some reason, every night at 23:45, Iku is drawn to a pedestrian bridge and watches the ghost of a man fall off the bridge.

Part of Iku doesn’t believe it’s real, so he ignores the friendly spirit. But after he drops his doujin on the bridge, his life is about to change forever. The ghost of the bridge rescues his manga, knocks on his door and introduces himself as Seo Mimori.

Overall thoughts:

Loneliness attracts the lonely.

Man, what a line. These introspective reads always catch me off guard. If you’re expecting a wholesome romance between a ghost and an otaku, there’s much more than meets the eye here.

This is a story to read more than once to pick up on whatever you missed and then clicked in the ending. It’s an introspective story some things are left open and others you kind of piece together later and have that little “ohhhh” moment. Hence, your mileage may vary!

Who is this for?

This story is for fans of introspective and implicit relationships. It has a couple of details that are left to the imagination—or the sequel—so you might want to read this more than once and then back-to-back with the sequel. Certainly one for fans who enjoy reading a little more into stories!

This volume comes out on March 11! Let me know if you’ll be getting this one, or if you’ve already read it!

See you in the next one!

I love fluffy ghosty stories, and 23:45 was a super cute one.
A simple art style and a predictable storyline, but still very sweet and heart-warming.
Would’ve loved to see more of the romance or more of why Iku sees ghosts, but it was still a fun read.