A review by rinku
HAL by Aoi Makino, 牧野 あおい

3.0

HAL features four short stories by Aoi Makino. I liked the collection because of her artstyle, but it was nothing amazing, so I would recommend it for fans of the mangaka. 

All the stories give insight into the Japanese school life. The first short story, HAL, is basically a Shojo version of Death Note which I really enjoyed. It also mentions pressure to perform and how the protagonist deals with it; the ending of the story was interesting as well. The Rainbow of Seven Years After thematizes bullying, just like Makino’s other work, Sekai no Hate. I liked the story as well, same goes for the remaining two other short stories, whereby the last one isn’t a love story which was refreshing.