Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit

Ikigami is a manga about an alternate present in Japan where an act has been passed resulting in random deaths to occur to individuals in the age 18-24 bracket. The general gist is that this law would raise economic growth with civilians living their lives to the fullest as they do not know when they may die. The story revolves around Kengo who is a government agent that hands down "ikigamis" which are basically death notices 24 hours prior to it actually happening.

The National Prosperity Preservation Act

Art is fairly realistic compared to modern anime designs (well this manga is actually 5 years old) and it's obviously directed at an older audience with some serious concepts/analogy trying to squeeze in. The theme is rather dark with glimpses of human generosity and moral lessons on life being thrown around but most characters that are shown usually have an unhappy ending.

I liked the concept and all but they didn't play it out too well with the deaths occurring through a mandatory injection during elementary school...? Sounds very shaky and just not very controllable. There really isn't much character development involved in this manga as it jumps from Kengo the ikigami deliverer, to the ones who received the ikigami with nothing connecting the two so you only get to see Kengo again after the guys are dead.

Rating: 3/10