佐藤くんが死んでから

SATOU-KUN GA SHINDE KARA

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
1
RELEASE
December 17, 2021
CHAPTERS
7

DESCRIPTION

That boy is… a walking corpse! Sato-kun, who met an early demise in a traffic accident, came back to school as a zombie. That popular guy who'd light up the room, is now silent and expressionless and barely manages to trace the habits of his old life. Hozumi, a girl in his class, is worried for him. Experience this mysterious and youthful romance between a reticent zombie and a shy girl!

CAST

Ryosuke Satou

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

RoseFaerie
90/100
A beautiful metaphor for depression from an outsider's perspective.
I saw something today that made me cry, just because it made me feel so many emotions and because it related to my own life. It also reminded me of this manga, which is why I'm writing a review right now. I felt a need to do something with this emotion and to let it out. Unfortunately, that strong desire and feelings have subsided since I was at work and couldn't do anything with it while I was feeling emotional.

Anyways, Satou-kun ga Shinde Kara is about this girl who moves to a new town where there are sometimes incidents of people turning into zombies. Her popular classmate Satou died and reappeared as a zombie. She takes it upon herself to look after him and find out what kind of person he was when he was alive.

I feel like a literature teacher the way I analyzed this manga when I read it, but I can't help but feel like this has some sort of deeper meaning and that it's some sort of metaphor. I feel like it represents mental illness in general, but it shows more things in common with depression.

I have had a lot of mental health struggles in my life. My biggest one was during my sophomore year of high school, when my dormant social anxiety began to grow and manifest itself in physical symptoms. My teeth wouldn't stop chattering to the point where my jaw ached. I'd get really bad headaches, get too dizzy to walk, and I'd be extremely fidgety. I went to the hospital three times, and one of the meds I took did more harm than good.

It was definitely hard on me, but it was hard on the people around me as well. One of my friendships ended because I was already the person putting in the most effort and I just couldn't do it anymore. One girl hates me now because I (justifiably) had a breakdown after one of my male classmates made a sexual joke at my expense, and now she won't associate with me. My family was very, very concerned because I just wasn't normal. My sister recently told me that they were worried I had brain cancer at one point. During certain points I've heard the term, "You were just a shell of who you used to be."

The reason I'm telling this story is because that is what the core of this manga is. Satou spent so much time pretending to be fine when there were so many underlying problems in his life. When he became a zombie it was similar to how normal people are when they just give up or are consumed by mental illness. He's essentially a shell of who he once was and the few people in his life who care must come to terms with that.

And by the time the girl truly begins to care for Satou, he disappears. I feel like the way zombies disappear is a metaphor for suicide. Our protagonist is left wondering "What if I had befriended him while he was alive?" People are often left with so many regrets after a loved one dies, and I feel like the ending of the manga reflects that.

I also feel like the manga reflects the way society treats mentally ill people. My sister and I have both had people making fun of our mental health issues. I feel like people don't want to associate with others who have problems or who are sad and lonely, just because they don't want to have to deal with it. Perhaps they aren't as violently prejudiced as the characters in the manga, but I don't feel like they are particularly empathetic, particularly towards those with crippling disorders.

I don't know. I just really felt like this review was something that I needed to write after I cried. I started thinking about it, and now I'm realizing just how poignant this is and how much it rings true to my own life. I actually raised the score by a full point. I think I had to just sit and reflect on this manga in order to really understand it and connect with it.
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Krynn
90/100
A short on love and the hidden agony of those around us.
There is a type of manga / one-shot that focuses on making a point; has an 'aesthetic' black-and-white art style; and is really short; and hundreds of these exist. But out of any of them that I've read, this one is my favorite.

Intro

It's about a boy, Satou-kun, and a girl, Shida Hozumi. The once-popular boy had just died in a traffic accident, but by chance he comes back as a zombie, and it's day one of him coming to school like that.

I'm not into pretty much anything with zombies (I only like pretty things okay) but the way it's done here is unique. Zombies here are simply lifeless versions of their living selves, that go about whatever they did in their life. Satou was not a killer in life, and his daily routine is simply attending school, sitting outside, and then going home. Also, zombies are a known thing in this world.. kind of. There are previous cases of zombies that some of the adults know about.. yet they just act as if it's normal, and the students just accept it. It gives a slight feeling to Shida that something is wrong (although the manga doesn't go dystopian).

Story

Most of the manga is set through Shida's perspective. Just like any of us would probably do, she takes a sudden interest in this zombie, when everyone else barely acknowledges his existence.

The story goes on her journey of interacting with him and learning about him. He, of course, doesn't respond to her, and his expressions are lifeless imitations.. but his actions are puzzling and raise questions: Why did he 'smile' at her? Why did he 'return her favor'? If he's completely void of life, what makes him keep acting like this?

She doesn't experience this completely alone, though, as another boy, Ichihashi, eventually takes a kind of interest in Satou, and they all try to take this in together. Going to his house to find out; sitting with him at the bench; learning more about him. And in addition to fascination, she also develops something like romantic feelings for Satou.

(Don't read the spoiler tags if you haven't read it.)

In the end (and the reason this manga hits hard),

Satou had died in the traffic accident because he was too sleepy function well. He had been going through unbelievable pain during the last few years of his life: everything seemed to go wrong and never get better. He'd already been an orphan for awhile; he suffered from sickness and fever; and then he had some.. worse symptoms

He had actually met Shida 2 years ago, and she tended to him as anyone would. Those few minutes of kindness made him fall deeply in love with her, yet he hated himself too much to approach her. And she was too shy to approach him.

In the very end,

He goes away, as was stated to be the natural process of zombies before they completely break down. It's not known where, but he is now forever gone, and Shida's reaction?

Which was beautiful. In spite of not understanding before, in spite of not being able to help him, in spite of the deep pain it causes her: she loves him.

I feel that Satou and Shida are both relatable to us readers: Shida because she wants to help, and her perspective is our perspective; and Satou to anyone going through pain like me (although for most people, it's not as bad as his).

I feel the only flaws is that it's too short- it could've been one of the best longer mangas of it's kind! all the revelations seemed abit too fast for 7 chapters.. not that the pacing was bad, it was perfect but everything could've hit even harder if it were drawn out more.

I was going to list another flaw: that it could've focused less on Shida's embarrassment, romance, blushing, etc. She is an amazing character and a truly sweet person, and at first I couldn't really see a purpose for her constant blushing and going into her own fantasy.. but looking back on it, it's not only a natural reaction to such a mysterious turn in life, but it also makes the fact that she only very slowly realizes what's going to happen hit harder.

And then there's the extra 8th "'What if' route" chapter.. I do not recommend reading it, as it's an attempt at making a happy ending, but it completely negates everything done in the manga and isn't even happier or sweeter. The emotions from the first ending were more fitting.

Conclusion

There are multiple ways to explain things in the manga, and many lessons you could get from it. Whether it's about what love is, or what we could be doing for those around us, or just about pain.. I highly suggest it if you like manga shorts. It's a quick read and hits harder than most.

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