25-ji no Ghost Writer
Ghost Writer at Twenty-Five O'clock

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Damn, that was something else.
This is a very charming, wholesome and bitter sweet story about a young author and his first love ghost maid.
To be honest I wish there was more to this, 26 chapters seems short. I would have liked at least another volumes worth as the ending felt a little rushed but I do still whole-heartedly recommend this.
It's kind of a romance as there are elements of that but for the most part it's more of a story about moving on, be that from grief, past regrets, certain emotions etc. That's where the bittersweet elements come in as by the end most of ... these things have been achieved which is a tad depressing lol.
Anyway if that hasn't sold you, I'd say its at least worth reading for the charming characters. I found myself liking all the characters in different ways, while not too ground-breaking, they where at least worth caring about.
Gotta say though, out of everything, the art is amazing. A style I found really liking as it was aesthetically pleasing idk

Anyway overall I'd definitely recommend this one

This manga emphasises on the story of a young writer meeting the ghost of her maid who was supposedly his first love who now live together due to some circumstances. A sweet and wholesome read exploring upon the difficulties of being a writer and his childhood love also dealing with the concept of loneliness.

The art is beautiful. Its style introduced the much needed cheerfulness and went hand in hand with the story.

Characters are hard to hate, all have something different to offer to make the readers connect to them. The ghost or the female lead brings the cheerfulness to lighten up the manga and the ... main character brings a sense of realism in this otherwise otherworldly premise this manga presents. Side characters has their fair share of panels and involvement.

With a rather bittersweet ending to wrap up the story, I very much enjoyed it. A very good short read to feel happy but empty.

Letting go is pretty hard, isn't it?

This is one of the many manga I added to the backlog, which featured a strange couple dynamic, seemingly creating a slice of life story. After that little phase ended, I was left with all these stories that I wasn't too excited to read. However, something about the last chapter being such a low number intrigued me far more than I thought. Short stories that get to the point when they have to are the best in my opinion, and “25-ji no Ghost Writer” succeeds at what I wanted it to.

The small story about a 15-year-old book author going ... back to the house he lost his family in, in an attempt to get out of writer's block, although he finds the ghost of his first love, the dead maid.

Letting go. Truly a hard topic to tackle in a small story, about the daily existence of a ghost in one's life. Most ghost stories focus entirely on the tragedy that befell the dead ones, or the sad horror that comes with it. This one takes the opposite route, the ghost is a nice being, that does what they did when they lived, and explores death as the moment that pauses people's lives. Everything becomes the tragedy of the past. A writer does everything to capture the dead ones in their work, a brother abandons his happiness, a man loses his purpose in life, since it was tied to the dead. This ghost is the small allegory to the things we can't let go off. We tie ourselves with the past, just as much as the past ties itself to us. A never-ending cycle, that's perpetuated by our desire to not understand it. As the main protagonist slowly gathers his memories, we watch as he heals.

It's just a really pleasant story. It doesn't have any unnecessary conflicts, it uses the characters well, and everybody appears organically through a well-paced script. Felt like a movie plot, and any part that was a little slow, simply reminds us of a healing process that's not as intense as other stories portray. I enjoy those portrayals, but I can't deny how beautiful it is to watch a plot of people that can talk things out, without there being stupid fights. Every character has something to tell, a past they aren't letting go of, and we slowly experience as not only our main character, but our cast does it. Except one, which is (bonus points) a great, and fun trans character.

Cute, pleasant art style, with an interesting focus on people's mouths. A visual identity that stands out among slice of life, and an ending that I respect to death. Not many stories end as appropriately as this one, without a bang, without a conflict, or an intense moment, but as a reminiscence of what happened. They moved on, and so will we. Now, my problems are just from the dialogue and engagement. The gags weren't funny half the time, and the main character broke his own way of acting, just for the tsundere trope. Annoying at times, but pretty great at others. That doesn't detract from my enjoyment at all, and the tragedy, and the slow reveal, works wonders for the kind of story it wants to be.

7.4/10. I loved that ending.