Reviews for Living with My Brother's Wife
Back to MangaA bittersweet story about an orphaned girl who has lost her only brother, and her brothers wife, who is now a widow. Throughout the story the manga explores themes such as dealing with the loss of someone, as well as opening up to other people. We see that the both Shino and Nozomi rely on each other somewhat following the death of her brother. Shino can see Nozomi as a sisterly figure, whilst Nozomi clings onto a connection to her deceased husband. At the same time they worry about what each other truly thinks of them, and worry about burdening each other. As the storyprogresses we see how their relationship changes, how they know each other better; but we also see that they are constantly haunted by the feeling of loss.
The story is generally sweet, following their daily lives, but occasionally there are darker tones, such as when they are reminded of their loss or when they worry about each other.
This story does not contain Yuri; however there are occasionally parts which can be interpreted as hints of Yuribait.
I'm really not sure whether to be happy or sad reading this manga... Living with My Brother's Wife is a story about two women who live together after the death of their brother/husband. It's a slice of life manga where the two just go about their normal lives at school/work, and come together at night at their home. The manga has a sort of stilted mood to it, acting happy on the outside but having an air of sadness behind it. The mood mirrors the characters and how they feel, and it makes for an uncomfortable, yet refreshing feel. The two main characters and their struggles arethe driving point of the story. As we get further along in the manga, we see bits and pieces of their lives with the brother/husband before, and feel the impact of his death in their lives now. Both of them desperately want to move on, yet cannot help but cling to the happy past they once had. In the beginning, they both feel drawn to each other because they can see bits and pieces of their loved one in one another, but this brings out the very real feeling of trying to use someone else to cope with one's own feelings. The manga feels very realistic in the way it portrays people getting over loss of a loved one: it's not something that you get over quickly, but rather the sadness comes in like waves. Sometimes you feel like everything is fine and you can make it through, and other times you're reminded of the overwhelming weight of it all.
That all being said, it is not only a sad manga. You start to see the two girls relying on each other and becoming closer, despite the loss that they face. They support each other, learn to help one another, and try to understand what it means to be a family. They learn to put away their embarrassment and ask for help to become stronger. So this manga is able to show the good and the bad of dealing with familial death.
Overall this manga was a real treat to read, though it usually made me really sad by the end of each chapter. It's interesting to see what it's like to deal with death and the trials that come after it, and it's encouraging to see how death isn't the end of everything. It's a subtle manga that I would definitely recommend if you're looking for a light yet deep read.
*Review in english and spanish Pues miren, te lo venden como un manga YURI de amor entre una niña de prepa que se supone va a tener un romance con su cuñada,su hermano se murió así que no es infidelidad jaja, se desarrolla muy lento pero es pasable. Si te gusta el yuri y quieres leer algo sin tanto misterio te lo recomiendo 7/10 OK look, they sell it to you like a YURI love manga between a high school girl who is supposed to have an affair with her sister-in-law, her brother died so it's not infidelity haha, it develops very slowly but it is passable.If you like yuri and want to read something without so much mystery, I recommend it 7/10
tl;dr: must read IF you like slice of life, character studies, and the theme of grief. A couple weeks ago, I stumbled upon this while looking for some standard slice of life junkfood. I expected the usual for this genre: 1) wholesome home life of the 2 protags for the first five chapters 2) new characters introduced after that point 3) my interest being lost by chapter 10 as it's stretched too thin The beginning of the story went exactly how I expected- stereotypical sickeningly sweet and wholesome homelife (not an issue- that's what I came for). But, as I expected my interest to wane, it just grew moreand more with each chapter. Instead of a story stretched too thin, it dug deeper and deeper into an amazing, introspective work revolving around its central ideas. It grabbed my emotions and took me through the peace, desolation, yearnings, and tenseness of its characters for a whopping 142 chapters.
I'm going to be straightforward- this story does a fantastic job at slowly but consistently building its characters, their growth, and their relationships in a genuine, lovely way. No side characters or their stories ever felt like they took away my experience- they all felt like a necessary addition to further reflect the greater ideas and growth of our dual protagonists.
The artwork in the first chapter is honestly kind of shoddy in an Attack-on-Titan-chapter-1 way, so that wasn't great. But then it quickly improved and stayed good, so it kind of became a plus to watch that unfold.
There's also yuribait... which is cool I guess.
It took me three different sites to read all the chapters, but it was 100% worth it. It's clear we're reaching the conclusion, and I am definitely going to enjoy it as it releases. This story is an extremely rich and poignant display of grief from two interwoven perspectives; moreso, this builds into a greater narrative regarding relationships built on exterior forces like grief. It's not for everyone, but it's amazing if you like what you've heard from me.
The death of a loved one is something that most of us can relate to. It's harsh, sudden and unfair. Albeit family, friends or pets, they always turns our world upside down. And then you wake up the next day. The world keeps going forward, and something inside you fights against the current of time, it wants the clock to stop ticking so the pain stops too. We repress it, we live our life as if nothing happened but at some point it hit us. They are gone, and we almost completely forgot about them. Living with your brother's wife explores what happens after you loseit all, the grief and making peace with the memories of those that you lost.
Nozomi and Shino end up living together after Nozomi's husband, Shino's brother, dies. Slowly piecing together their life, they support eachother in their grief. Shino is alone, having lost both of her parents and now her brother, so Nozomi cannot leave her alone even if she herself is in deep pain for this matter.
This slice of life slowly built a narrative that I was enthralled with, one of recovery and hope.
It doesn't come without faults, sadly there was a high implementation of yuri bait in some chapters, that ended up nowhere. These chapters are few and far between, but are terribly distracting if you consider that you're reading a story about two women bonding in what can be considered a sisterly relationship. Completely unnecesary.
It ruins the mood here and there if you're somewhat sobbing, and then suddenly 5 chapters later one of the girls is grabbing the boobs of the other. .
Aside from that, it's not intrusive enough to ruin the story.
8/10. Great manga.