I can’t say I’ve ever read a beginning of a story quite like this one. The artistic style is unique too, normally when you read manga you can see similarities or reused plot lines but this manga didn’t have that. I’ve read a good portion of manga in my life and this storyline was one of a kind, I enjoyed the pace it was set at and it didn’t flow like a normal story would. It had its own rhythm and I enjoyed that, the ending was pleasant and it wrapped the story up nicely.

First, let me complain about VIZ. It is nice of them to let us review their books and I understand the purpose of the water mark, but please, PLEASE do not give us inferior digital products that are fuzzy and hard to read. And is there any way of making the water mark less apparent and annoying? Goodbye, Eri was not a high quality digital scan. I do not know if that was a mistake or on purpose, but it is insulting to your reviewers. It is akin to having a high-pitched whining noise in audio books to be reviewed or having random words faded on a digital book. It shows a lack of respect for the reviewer.

Unlike Chainsaw man, which is depressing in its own right, and has bright spots of humor here and there, Goodbye Eri is self-contained depression with little humor.

"Goodbye, Eri" is supposed to be a heart-wrenching manga that delves deep into the themes of love, loss, and grief. Written and illustrated by Yoshiko Uchida, the story follows the life of Yuta, a young would-be director, and a high school girl named Eri who is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Despite knowing that she has limited time left, Eri tries to live her life to the fullest and make every moment count. She convinces Yuta to film her last months of life, as he did with his dying mother, so she will be remembered. It is great to that point, then Eri dies and then the story goes COMPLETELY off the rails. The ending is absurd and screws with the reader to the extreme. Perhaps Uchida is trying to show how much life is absurd, but I just found it problematic, improbable, and unsatisfying. I will give no spoilers, but let me say this one shot is is 85% a wonderful, but sad story. The other 15% left me cold, annoyed, and confused.

Fujimoto definitely has a unique style and way of storytelling that makes his stories feel very different to most anything currently out there. This manga focuses on Yuta, a young filmmaker who recorded the last his mother's last moments at her request. While he doesn't capture her death, he does create a film, which is panned for insensitivity. Yuta contemplates suicide until he meets Eri, the one person who like his film and pushes him to create again. The story and characters were pretty standard for Fujimoto, Eri was a mystery and the end, to me, doesn't really clarify things one way or the other, but having the end be ambiguous works well for this type of story. Ultimately, this is another good one-shot from Fujimoto, but I wasn't really a fan of how the humor panned out. That's a personal preference however, and I think that any fans of his work will love this one as well.

Thank you NetGalley and VIZ media for on eARC of Goodbye, Eri

To quote Harry Styles "You know, my favorite thing about the movie is, like, it feels like a movie." Am I slightly confused? Yes. Am I intrigued? Also yes.

Fujimoto really loves to toe the line of being edgy for the sake of being edgy. The beginning feels odd with the suicide revenge plot line. ( I can write a whole thesis on why I hate this being used in media ) It left me slightly uncomfy, but that's usually the case with some of Fujimoto's work. My issue is sometimes I can't tell if he's using it as social commentary or inserting his genuine opinions. This isn't a hate letter, I really like Chainsaw Man. But I totally get why some people don't.

I did like the story overall. The artwork and paneling is also great. It's awesome that it is drawn like a documentary. The Michael Bay ending caught me off guard and totally made me laugh.

Do I recommend it? Sort of. Obviously check trigger warnings first cause this one is tough.

This manga made me tear up a little with the fact that our mc had to watch everyone he love die but it was a pretty fast and easy read. Kind of all over the place but it had very similar artwork from chainsawman. I finished this in under an hour so I recommend it to those people who like fast reads and emotional stories. Also if you like the movie making process as well. Thanks Netgalley for letting me read this one early.