Jumyou wo Kaitotte Moratta. Ichinen ni Tsuki, Ichimanen de. Ou I sold my life for ten thousand yen per year ( free translation “I sold my life for ten thousand yen per year” ) is a manga adaptation inspired by the novel Three Days of Happyness ( Mikkakan no kōfuku ) by author Sugaru Miaki , published in 2013 by ASCII Media Works .
Romance and Drama without clichés
Warning! Spoilers in this text!
The relatively short story with only 18 chapters is a painful and delicate journey about how much someone's happiness is worth.
The world can be an inhospitable place for some people, this is unfortunately a reality that we cannot get rid of, Jumyou wo Kaitotte Moratta will tell the story of Kusunoki , a young man in his twenties who is saying goodbye to his last valuables because he doesn't even have money to eat.
Meanwhile, an elderly man notices Kusunoki's poverty and tells him about a store that supposedly buys lifespan, time, and health. He doesn't quite believe the old man's words, but in his state of desperation and a touch of curiosity, Kusunoki decides to go to the address.
At the store he is greeted by a girl, who will evaluate how much his life is worth. Kusunoki is anxious for the answer but is soon crushed by the cruel truth: the value of his life is 300,000 yen ( about R$15,000 ), but even so, he decides to sell his 30 years of life for 10,000 yen per year, leaving Kusunoki with only 3 more months to live.
After returning home with the money, he is greeted by an unexpected visitor, the same person who assessed the value of his life in the mysterious shop. She introduces herself as Miyagi , and is tasked with observing him until the last three days of his life .
How does the life selling system work?
This part is not explored much, as it is possible to sell lifespan, time and health, even to maintain the mystery of the plot in this aspect, but the process is not as difficult as it seems.
In the manga, the value of someone's lifespan is how much happiness you will have or how many people you will make happy, how many things you will accomplish in your life and how much you will contribute to society, in short, these are the determining factors.
Simply put, how much would your life be worth to yourself and others, a lot or a little?
Bittersweet story
Jumyou wo Kaitotte Moratta is a heavy experience, despite everything Kusunoki is going through he seems so anesthetized by his way of life that he cannot show what he feels, even though he is in his twenties he often shows his emotions like a child, being unresponsive in some situations, asking things to Miyagi and other characters.
Miyagi is a very suspicious figure, full of mysteries about how things work. But her personality doesn't differ much from Kusunoki's. The only difference is that Kusunoki is eager to live out his final days, while Miyagi is working.
Kusunoki's days are literally numbered, and like anyone, he'd like to settle his unfinished business. The first panel of the manga tells of his childhood friend and his promise to her to meet after 10 years to be together, something innocent and sweet.
The meeting between him and his friend is an uncomfortable situation for the reader, as Kusunoki is going to die he started to let go of social ties a little and no longer cares about some things, thus being true to himself, but making the meeting with his friend extremely strange.
The vision he has of her is very distorted and again brings out his childish side of seeing things, but in the end he has a revelation that puts his feet on the ground a little, realizing that they are both no longer children.
After that, his relationship with Miyagi begins to deepen little by little, with him talking more about his wishes before dying and she sympathizes with him and decides to help him pass the time.
The dear invisible girl Miyagi
Miyagi has a very complex past that made her work for the mysterious shop, which left her as numb to reality as Kusunoki.
Her relationship with Kusunoki eventually blossoms into love, demonstrating that even in such a situation, good things can blossom. But for Miyagi, this love is much more painful than for Kusunoki; after all, she's loving someone who's on the verge of death.
Miyagi often says that Kusunoki is cruel and she herself knows that these feelings will destroy her after he is gone.
This dramatic development is interspersed with lighter themes throughout the chapters, creating the feeling that, despite everything, the present is what matters most. However, the ending is certainly surprising, recalling the rules the manga established at the beginning of the story to develop a bittersweet ending.
“Before my feelings reach a point of no return… Before I find it impossible for me to separate from him, please… I pray that Kusunoki-san can die even a second sooner.”
Final considerations
Jumyou wo Kaitotte Moratta is not for amateurs, touching on heavy subjects and often leaving the reader uncomfortable, showing how life can be distressing and empty, but also presenting many kind moments or as Miyagi says, cruel moments.
Despite having a high rating on most aggregators, the manga divides readers' opinions a lot, with some hating the story and some loving it.
The novel was adapted into a manga by manga artist Suzuka with art by illustrator Shouichi Taguchi , which isn't a work of art per se, but conveys the scene's needs very well, with light lines and simple expressions. The manga was published by Shueisha on the Shonen Jump+ app between 2016 and 2017, with three printed volumes published.
The manga images used in this review were translated by Kuro to Shiro Scans .
