PIECE
STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
10
RELEASE
April 13, 2013
CHAPTERS
21
DESCRIPTION
One day, Mizuho, a university student, receives news that her classmate in high school, Origuchi Haruka, passed away. Mizuho doesn’t remember being best friends with Origuchi, but apparently, Origuchi told her mother that Mizuho was her best friend. And now, her mother wants Mizuho to help her find the boy Origuchi dated during high school. Mizuho told Origuchi’s mother that Origuchi was a very plain girl, and she was never seen with a guy, but her mother told Mizuho that Origuchi got pregnant and had an abortion when she was in high school. Mizuho was shocked, so she starts asking her other classmates in high school and following the traces Origuchi left behind.
CAST
Mizuho Suga
CHAPTERS
REVIEWS
RoseFaerie
Piece doesn't tell the story of some grand murder mystery, but the story of a simple girl and the people she knew.Continue on AniListEvery class has that one quiet kid who no one notices. It's easy to forget they're there because of how little they stand out and how little they speak. They might be shy, or they might not be, but either way, they aren't particularly noticeable. But that doesn't mean they weren't interesting or good people. That doesn't mean that they didn't have secrets or have something dubious that they did behind closed doors. Everyone has something to hide, even people who stand out or have seemingly happy lives. No one's life is idyllic. No one is perfect. It takes collecting all the pieces and putting them together to find the truth about anyone, regardless of how well you think you knew them.
Mizuho Suga, a college student, learns that her high school classmate Haruka Origuchi has passed away. Even though she doesn't even remember Origuchi, she attends her funeral, only to find out that Origuchi's mother thought that Mizuho and Origuchi were best friends. Her mother asks her to find Origuchi's high school boyfriend, who got her pregnant, leading her to have an abortion. To give her mother peace of mind, Mizuho agrees, and soon she finds herself involved with her former classmates, including her own first love from high school...
The central mystery of Piece isn't a grand or dramatic one. It's just all about a girl's love life and the people connected to her, as well as the lives and connections of other people in their class. It's about how everyone has secrets and the main character's growth and journey towards self-awareness. I'd say that this isn't about Haruka Origuchi alone. It's about everyone whose life she touched and about everyone who surrounded her. Her death and her boyfriend are just a few pieces of the complicated puzzle, which Mizuho herself is connected to in some way.
You see, pretty much every character in this manga is lying to each other about something or has something dark going on. Some people knew exactly what was going on with Haruka but refused to speak up. Some people would have found out what was going on if all they did was ask or show interest. And there's also the complicated situation of Mizuho's crush, Narumi, the playboy who makes her feel all sorts of emotions. He was born and raised as an experiment by his psychologist mother, treated more as a test subject than a child. Narumi is also rumored to have killed someone in the past. He is connected to this web of lies and mystery in some way. Regardless of whether or not anyone remembers, they are all a piece of the puzzle that is Haruka Origuchi's life.
Mizuho herself is aloof to a fault. She never really cared about people or took an interest in them, and she has a tumultuous relationship with her parents. In general, she doesn't understand her own feelings, and she never felt bothered to open up to anyone or have anyone open up to her. She's just very closed off. It's not out of malice, since she does show kindness to other people, but it's never conscious enough to touch their hearts. However, she grows as a person and realizes how she has hurt and wronged others in the past and how her lack of attentiveness towards those close to her can affect others.
The people she has hurt include her friend Remi. Remi's insecure about her weight and just wants to find someone who cares about her, loves her, and won't reject her for how she looks. She's determined to do her best in life, even after being disheartened after countless rejections. She carries around heavy burdens that no one recognizes. Remi becomes upset with Mizuho for closing herself off from her so she can't support her, and she's angry that Mizuho has never offered her support.
Hikaru Narumi is an enigma. He's a flirtatious playboy, and Mizuho never understood the true nature of their relationship and whether they truly had feelings for each other. Narumi is also flippant and aloof, never really caring about anyone. He does what he wants, and he was known for being aggressive as a child. I'd say he reminds me of a more psychopathic, organized Rei Kashino from the manga Mars. He's very cool and collected, and he's unemotional. Yet he and Mizuho bring out emotions, empathy, and sparks of life in each other. I would assume he's a bit off from how his mother turned his life into an observational experiment. Her lack of empathy and basic human kindness towards her son made me upset.
As for Haruka Origuchi, she was a beautiful person who brought so much joy to everyone she came across. She was strong and always strove to do the right thing. When she was at school, she was timid. When she was at home, she was headstrong and confident. Her kindness touched so many people's lives, and while she could be self-righteous, she was a loving person whose life was cut short too soon.
The art is unique with more pronounced noses and lips, paired with bold lines and shading. It's not my favorite art style, but it was not bad by any means. It's quite distinctive, and I'd recognize it anywhere. I also loved the little puzzle piece illustrations everywhere which really emphasize the "piece of a puzzle" and having a "piece of someone in your heart" ideas.
It was a fun psychological read with lots of room for character analysis. I didn't do as much as I would like to, though, since I read the first half a few months ago and am not too fresh on the details, and I wanted to avoid spoilers. This manga actually won the Shogakukan Award for shoujo a while back, and I have to say that it deserves it. It's a unique mystery about simply unraveling the lives of others, offering intimate looks into their psyches. Anyone who's interested in that sort of thing should absolutely check this out!
lennix
Your ripped up pride can be reconstructed slowly day by day, you just need to gather up the pieces.Continue on AniListI want to start off by saying that Piece absolutely blew my socks off. While some of the events may fall into the realm of melodrama, it is the reactions these characters have in response to these events that makes this manga so special. It doesn't feel forced at all, each action taken is one I fully believe a real person would make, both the good and the bad. I appreciate how Piece doesn't cut any corners, instead it lays all bare and leaves it's characters to pick up the pieces. Alright lets get into to why I love it so much.
Everything you need to understand about this manga can be found in the title. It's quite an elegant straightforward yet effective visual metaphor; pieces of the overarching mystery, but also of the broken people within it, pieces of the human heart and soul. It finds a balances right on the sweet spot between thematic depth and accessibility, and I just love that.
Piece, quite literally, is a story about uncovering the past, about understanding where, why, and how things came to be as they are. While the majority of the narrative is about delving into the past, Piece is sharply focused on the here and now, on who these characters are at this moment in time. To quote one of the great philosophers of our time, Master Oogway, "Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, but Today is a gift." It's not about who you were in the past or who you may be in the future, it's about coming to terms with yourself in the present in spite of all the baggage and anxiety that you may carry. The problem is, this is much easier said than done. If self-introspection was easy this world would be a much different place.
So what's the answer? Of course the answer lies in others, the people around us who influence us, those we rely on. As they say 'no man is an island.' Even still, putting things into practice is a bit difficult. This is where Piece really left an impact on me. I relate hard to those "I want to know", "I'm scared to know", "I want to look away", "I'm afraid to take step and step on a landmine" feelings that Mizuho has throughout the manga. It masterfully captures how another person can worm their way into your mind, causing you to "look away" by putting a label on them to avoid facing the invasive presence they've become in your mind, and yet no matter how much you try to deny it you still "want to know."
Looking, truly looking at others and yourself might be the most painful thing you do. To get on your hands and knees dig for something, anything to help you genuinely reach those you care about, it's going to hurt. Sure you may "step on a landmine" or make yourself and others uncomfortable for a time, you may even feel as if you've been left by the wayside. But that's okay, you can't be perfect all of a sudden. Your ripped up pride can be reconstructed slowly day by day, you just need to gather up the pieces.
bazazilio
we are scared of resonance, yet we crave it anywayContinue on AniListI doubt you'd be surprised if someone told you something like "all people have their own stories" or "everyone is a unique individual". Duh. We've all heard it so many times before. However, Piece executes this idea so perfectly that it feels weirdly novel. Not only does the manga show us how complex humans actually are, but it also explores why we sometimes refuse to see that complexity and instead choose to reduce people around us to cliches we can understand. Because the resonance that comes from understanding the complexity of another human being can make us feel all sorts of unpleasant things.
Piece follows Suga Mizuho, a "cold, heartless person", who doesn't get too close to people and doesn't let anyone in. She doesn't let herself be affected by people or life events; she keeps her distance and does her own thing. Yet when the mother of her dead former classmate, Origuchi Haruka, asks her to find her daughter's high school boyfriend who got her pregnant, Mizuho somehow decides to get involved. Because everyone vaguely remembers Origuchi as a quiet girl with no friends, Mizuho finds it hard to believe that she had a boyfriend at all. So maybe that's why she feels almost compelled to follow the trail of small pieces of memory that Origuchi left behind.
The story would have been good enough if it was just about Origuchi, a dead girl people barely remember. But it's a lot more than that. It begins with morbid curiosity about the private life of a dead girl, but that only serves as bait to lure us along with Mizuho into a complex web of characters that were connected to Origuchi. Led by her desire to know what her classmate was "really like", Mizuho is forced to collide with other people and get close to them to the point of being uncomfortable.
I think that Piece is ultimately a story about resonance. The shock of resonance that is created when we choose to really get to know another human being instead of looking away and keeping our distance. People are empathic beings, which is why when we satisfy our craving to get closer to another person, it always hits us back. When we learn something deep and personal about someone, we don't gain impartial "objective" knowledge; instead, we find a point of connection, of resonance that can't leave us unaffected. And yet before, Mizuho was trying to go through life strong, calm, and unaffected, without "feeling anything unpleasant or making others feel that way." But she eventually gives in to the temptation to peek at things that are too close and personal because she also craves that connection, that resonance. Even though it will definitely make everyone involved feel something unpleasant because it just feels too close for comfort.
Because Mizuho knows that true familiarity is bound to shake her up, she keeps her distance by reducing people to cliches she can understand. She thinks things like "that girl is always smiling" or "he doesn't feel any sort of emotion" or "she is ordinary, there is nothing special about her". Of course, it is much easier for Mizuho to maintain composure when people around her are neatly sorted into categories. At least that way, they definitely won't get into her head. And because we see the other characters through the eyes of Mizuho, who is looking away from them, we are masterfully manipulated into giving all of them a couple of labels of our own, all based on our reading expectations.
It's not like Mizuho's fears are unwarranted, though. True resonance is actually unpleasant. No, I mean it. I feel like we have this idealistic idea about opening up and getting close to people, like "it's difficult, but you'll feel better about it" sort of thing. Like we're supposed to just open up to each other, then hold hands and become friends or lovers for life. But Piece reflects how, in reality, that doesn't always happen. Opening up brings some people closer and drives others apart. It makes sense because seeing other people's ugliness and vulnerability and showing them your own fair share of ugliness and vulnerability is very embarrassing in the first place, and afterwards being in the company of those who know your darkest secrets can be very awkward and uncomfortable. And of course, there are some dark secrets and ugliness that you can't accept, no matter how hard you try.
But it is still worth the risk.
It's better than knowing that something is wrong but deciding not to ask unnecessary questions, better than seeing that someone is in trouble but looking away because it's none of your business. All because you don't want to feel uncomfortable or make anyone feel that way. Too afraid to take the wrong step and step on a landmine, to make other people hate you for asking questions, for trying to help, for doing unnecessary things. Thinking that at least if no one is uncomfortable, you can keep your fake relationship and fake calm, at least you won't drive anyone away. It's always better to be a cringy idiot ready to die of embarrassment than to let other people suffer only to protect your perfect facade of calm.
But the sad thing is, you can ask all the uncomfortable questions, be brave and embarrassed, get close, uncomfortably close, get wrecked by the resonance, and still not know what that person is "really" like. Because in the end, all you have is your own perception of them, and "no one will get hurt", even if you mould your image of them into one that feels comfortable enough. So the story is cruel in a way, encouraging us all to go looking for something we can never really attain — the soul of another human being.
Anyways, I feel like this review is becoming more and more abstract the longer I write it because I'm trying to keep it spoiler-free. I didn't even mention the characters that made the most impact on me, all because I want you to just go into Piece blind, without any pre-conceived notions about which characters are important and which are not. Just go read it and be surprised.
But imagine one manga making you think all these unnecessary thoughts, haha.
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SCORE
- (3.55/5)
MORE INFO
Ended inApril 13, 2013
Favorited by 35 Users