Life

ライフ

Manga8.06593 votes20 volumes · 80 chaptersFinished

Award WinningDramaSlice of LifePsychologicalSchoolShoujo

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About this title

Synopsis

Ayumu Shiiba has always struggled when it comes to her grades but decides to study even harder so that she can go to Nishidate High School with her best friend, Yuuko Shinozuka. When the results of the entrance exams came out, it turns out that Ayumu herself passed, but unfortunately, Shinozuka did not. Consequently, Shinozuka reveals everything she had felt about Ayumu—nothing but resentment. Depressed that her closest friend has now deserted her, Ayumu finds a way to make her temporarily forget the loneliness: self-injury. As a result, she chooses to be alone and quickly becomes an outcast at her new school, refusing to socialize with anyone. Yet when her classmate Manami Anzai suddenly befriends her, Ayumu's world seems to brighten—but little does she know that something more horrible would start coming her way. Life is the story of a certain girl's isolation, a tale filled with despair and persecution enough to bring any person to the brink of insanity. However, only the strongest will find the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how impossible the odds may seem. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Publication notes

Life won the 30th Kodansha Manga Award in the Shoujo category in 2006. The first nine volumes of the series were published in English by Tokyopop from April 11, 2006, to June 10, 2008, before the license was dropped. The manga was republished digitally in English by Kodansha USA from March 7, 2023 to November 5, 2024. The manga was adapted into a live-action TV drama that aired from June 30, 2007, to September 15, 2007.

Published

Apr 13, 2002 to Feb 13, 2009

Authors

Suenobu, Keiko

External links

MyAnimeList page KodanshaKodansha USA Wikipedia Wikipedia

MAL rank: #845
Members (MAL): 20,527
Favorites (MAL): 611

Related titles

Sequel

Life 2: Giver Taker

Main characters

Miki Hatori68 fan favorites
External profile
A girl in Ayumu's class. Strikingly beautiful, she is usually the top student of her school, and has a quiet willpower and strength. She can relate to what Ayumu is going through. She, like Ayumu, is the victim of teasing by Manami and her gang; but, unlike Ayumu, she does not let it bother her, at least outwardly. She is very independent and mature, and has been known to work multiple shady jobs to make her own way, such as working behind the counter at the risqué Rainbow Café and being a bunny girl at clubs (in the drama, she only works at Rainbow Café, and her being a bunny girl is only hinted at). Like most of her classmates, Miki is about fifteen or sixteen, but she stretches the truth when trying to find work, saying instead that she is nineteen. Not much is known about her life, but it appears that she lives alone. Her parents are divorced because of financial troubles (Miki's father is seriously ill). Her mother is literally never around, and her father's job keeps him from seeing his family. She has a "sweetheart" in her home town. She and Ayumu are best friends, although their feelings could also be interpreted as more than platonic. (Source: Wikipedia) No voice actors have been added to this character. Help improve our database by searching for a voice actor, and adding this character to their roles .
Ayumu Shiiba44 fan favorites
External profile
A high school student who always struggles with her tests but is still very intelligent. She is a student at Nishidate High School, or Nishikō. (The word for high school is kōtōgakkō, or kōkō for short, so the school name is often shortened to Nishikō, or "Nishi high.") After the dissolution of her friendship with Shii-chan at the very end of middle school, she has difficulties fitting into high school life and starts to become a cutter. She lives with her single middle-class mom and younger sister, Akane, in a company housing. (Source: Wikipedia) No voice actors have been added to this character. Help improve our database by searching for a voice actor, and adding this character to their roles .
Manami Anzai6 fan favorites
External profile
Ayumu's first friend at Nishidate High School, she soon became an ex-friend due to her boyfriend Sako Katsumi spreading his lies, as well as being somewhat of a predator to Miki Hatori. She is obsessed with her boyfriend and became suicidal when they broke up, even though the breakup turned out to be short-term. Manami was once bullied when she was in Middle school because she caught Katsumi eye. (Those he rejected became jealous and took out their frustration on her) Manami comes from a line of stern authority figures who do what is right while achieving their goals through corrupt means. She's picked up on the fact that as long as you project a good image for the populace and you have the right connections; you can get away with terrible things. Her social status gives her both, and she is aware of how special she is. If the way she plans things is any indication, Manami isn't stupid. She is a very sexual girl and uses that to her advantage, getting people to do her dirty work. She is extremely manipulative and spoiled; as the daughter of a rich CEO, she uses her powers and conceit to force others to do her will, usually by blackmail or threats. Her manipulations allow her to use emotions as a weapon; she appears by turns of an innocent "good girl". People tend to take her side, even through her lies, in large parts because of how she conducts herself in confrontational situations. She turns all of Nishidate High (except Miki and Sonoda) against Ayumu for a rather extreme reason. Manami speaks in the third person, calling herself by her nickname, "Mana" (e.g. "Mana doesn't like that..."). No voice actors have been added to this character. Help improve our database by searching for a voice actor, and adding this character to their roles .