Unfortunately, I didn't love this one. Reading the description, I was very excited with the comparisons to Revolutionary Girl Utena, Otherside Picnic, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. While I thought the art style was quite cute and charming, I couldn't bring myself to get connected to the characters or setting- especially with the characters being so young. If the characters were older, I would probably give a second volume a shot, but with how young the characters are and how little I feel like the world was fleshed out, I will not be picking this one back up.

Rating: 2.5/5
Contains spoilers

This Manga had me hooked up until the sexualisation of a ten year old.

Basically, I want to love you till your dying day, follows Sheena Totsuki. Sheena studies sorcery at her Orphanage and School, that purely trains girls, to one day fight on the front lines of the war.

She proceeds to meet Mimi one night by pure chance. They then proceed to share some rice which leads to a small line of events after Mimi joins Sheena’s class.

However, a single point confused me:

Kissing is used as a form of Healing as people can exchange mana.
I understand why this is a thing, mainly cuz the book is a Yuri. Defo fills the attributes to call it a Yuri.
That doesn’t change the fact that when Mini kisses Sheena to regrow her arm came out of nowhere. I’m not here for that… solely cuz the fact Mimi is apparently 10…
This makes Nurse Fran a very inappropriate person.

Characters:

Sheena Totsuki
Sheena is our classic MC who can’t help herself and has no motivation to. Especially after Mimi joins her classes. But it does change near the end of the manga slightly. She struggles with her magic but doesn’t let that affect how she treats Mimi.

She’s not as fleshed out as I wanted her to be but for a first volume, Sheena is what she’s needed to be whilst being a good figure to pair up with Mimi.

However, Sheena at the start of the manga left a few straggling points.

Sheena isn’t given any time to grieve her roommate. Even though I feel as if she didn’t speak to them that much or even have a connection. And for Mimi to instantly be placed in said roommates space it doesn’t work. I understand if that’s how they’re brought up, because Sheena is the only one who seemed to care in the slightest, but no matter what age you are I feel like u can still morn.

Sheena loosing her arm to Mimi by accident, well I’m assuming it was caused by Mimi. It wasn’t entirely clear. And for Mimi to have no reaction but also be the one to heal it? I’m struggling to see why this was a plot point at all.

Sheena’s view on the war was reasonable especially for her age. No one has to go to the front lines of a war especially when you know people will die regardless of what’s going to happen. Even if she was brought up to think otherwise.

Mimi
Mimi is introduced as the orphanages most powerful weapon, one that’s potentially more powerful than the teachers.

She is quick to befriend Sheena and to jump into main character mode, that is when her faulty plot points shine through.

There’s a bizarre aspect of Mimi is how suddenly she appears at the orphanage. Yes, she’s been around to the point that the nurse knows here and students have heard stories about “the legendary Mimi.” But she suddenly joins the school after meeting Sheena and sharing some rice the night? Especially the day fact it’s the day after Sheena’s roommate was declared dead in the war. Something doesn’t make sense here.

Also Ari and Seiran inform Sheena that Mimi isn’t only one person. Instead, they tell Sheena that every privately tutored student is called Mimi. I want to know why rather than drawing up my own conclusions.

Yet despite all this, Mimi is literally a ten year old girl subjected to fighting a war. Yes, she seems inhuman at times with how little she knows in general and her lack of ability to do menial tasks (like brushing her hair). But none of this explains her constant joyful exposure. She shows no other emotion but Joy. And I can’t find it reasonable even if it draws a contrast to Sheena.

I don’t like how Ms Fran treats Mimi. Especially when she comes back from the front line. The first time when Mimi meets Sheena covered in blood, I understand how ms fran treated Mimi in that sense. However, when Mimi is dropped off at Ms Fran’s doorstep practically ripped to shreds… She did not need to treat her like that.

Ari and Seiran
Sieran is straight forward and to the point. Stands up for what is right but seems to not be able to keep her mouth shut. And is a massive contrast to her secret lover, Ari.

Ari seems like Sieran’s voice of reason who always gets her out of trouble or prevents it from happening.

Their relationship seems one sided, not sure if I’m making this up but Ari defo seems more lovey dovey than Seiran which is reasonable as it’s kept a secret.

Conclusion
This Manga had the potential to be something and it could have been if it wasn’t a commissioned Yuri. If it removed the sexualisation of a ten year old and a forced Yuri plot line, I feel as if it could have gone somewhere.

I’m not reading the second volume <3

I was very much intrigued by this story. The premise was interesting however I felt like it under delivered. The healing aspect of this story was questionable and I disliked the sexual undertones used within a story that involves young children. Some parts of the story seemed choppy and I wish certain scenarios had been fleshed out more. Unfortunately, the only redeeming quality was the art.

This first volume lays the foundations of the world, how magic works (mostly healing), that the world is at war and introduces us to the characters and their personalities.

As I was reading the author's note I realized that it will be a yuri manga and I'm really excited because I haven't read much of this genre and as long as it has an excellent dose of magic and romance, I'll be reading the volumes without fail.

Published by Kodansha and available February 18, 2025, I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day is a yuri (girl's love) manga with an interesting premise -- a boarding school that trains magical girls for combat. It made me think of a bit of the controversial Elfin Lied, which was also of the Cute Girls Being Killing Machines genre. This series is just getting its start in English and this is the first volume but I wasn't particularly impressed. The worldbuilding leaves a lot to be desired (what are they fighting and why?) and the bits of the magic system that are explained are dubious at best. The big act of magic shown is transferring mana via kissing, which since this is a yuri manga is of course an excuse for girls to kiss, which wouldn't be an issue if one of the main characters wasn't said to be ten years old. This is on top of a trans or gender non-conforming character being called a "pervert teacher" multiple times, a stereotype that needs to end. Needless to say I'm not impressed, though the character design is cute.

I truly had so much hope for this manga. The plot sounded good, a Yuri about orphans being trained as magical weapons, with a rather cute artstyle and a title that definitely caught my interest with how tragic it sounded.
However my biggest issue with it is how predatory it all looks.
The characters are 10 years old, with one of them who looks and acts like she is even younger than that and the author decided to create a healing magic that works with mana transfer through kissing, with a nurse that acts predatory and is even excited at the prospect of kissing one of her students to heal her.
And while the students kissing shouldn't be a big deal since they are the same age, even that looks weird knowing they are 10 years old(just why??) and that one of them almost read like a 6 years old and while the all the others read like 13-14 years old.
We even have a nude scene of one of the girls and honestly I'm so tired of stories that sexualise children like it's normal.

Neat little yuri manga that takes place in a school for magical girls where the soldiers literally knit themselves back together using magic, and of course, magic energy is passed via kisses. Dark but still sweet.

I really wanted to love this one as I am a sucker for a good sapphic manga. However, I felt the story fell flat and so did the characters. The pacing was okay but seemed a bit off.

Thank you Nachi Aono and NetGalley

On a whim i seen this on netgalley and loved the art style of the book cover and seen it was a read now book so obviously i had to read it now… or yesterday as of writing this review.

The art is so stunning, every page you turn is just so darn cute and is easy on the eyes i love it. I love the storyline with the magic but i feel it needs to be having a bit more information on the magic system however this is only the first book so it could devlop in time. I would love to learn more about the war that is happening and what is all intels and maybe during one of the volumes we actually get to see it. I also like the fact that you have to kiss someone to heal them… it is something different.

There are a few things i did not like in this though, the fact that the nurse who is a trans women is being called a pervert by one of the students, the nurse having to kiss these children is a little odd. There was also a scene where one of the 10 year old children are “naked” i say it like that cause her hair is hiding most the parts.

Lovers of Revolutionary Girl Utena and Madoka Magica will want to pick up this new Kodansha manga release. I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day is a tragic magical girl yuri set in an orphanage… or, at least, what passes for an orphanage. In actuality, this facility trains up magically-inclined girls for combat. Sheena is one of these girls, and she watches as classmate after classmate (including her roommate) dies on the battlefield. Then she meets Mimi: a cheerful student with unbelievable combat skills and surprising powers. And, in the midst of the horrors, she takes a liking to Sheena.

I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day is tonally dissonant, but that works in its favor. Sheena’s gentle heart and Mimi’s cheerful demeanor both shine against the grim reality they’ve found themselves in. Injury and death are very real threats, but love is also a very real possibility in this setting. If you’re looking for a new yuri title with plenty of story and lovely art, give this one a try.

This graphic novel was amazing! It might have been a horror and/or thriller novel, but I thought it had multiple wholesome moments in it as well. I loved the healing magic scenes. I would have liked to see a tiny bit more tension, to explain why the students were being trained for war and/or battle. Otherwise, this graphic novel was great!

I gave this a 4.5/5 stars. I went into this blind I had no idea what it was about. I remember requesting to read it for review so I knew it was something I was interested in I just couldn’t remember the plot. When I dived in I was glad I had no idea what to expect because it blew me away. It took me less than an hour to read this from cover to cover. It truly had me engaged to my fullest extent. I can’t wait to pick up vol 2 because the cliffhanger from this one has me needing more. I definitely recommend this if you’re a fan of fantasy and romance. There was just enough of both to keep me intrigued without being too overwhelming.

I had really high hopes for this manga with it's blurb that promised a critique of the exploitation of children, and especially orphans, to become soldiers in a war.

I was very uncomfortable with many aspects of this book, especially with the implications that come with the magic system and how healing magic works: through mouth to mouth kisses. Considering the characters' ages (both main characters are ten years old and all the students are supposed to be minors), it was already a bit questionable since some of the kisses here were not consensual. The worst part is that it is implied that the school nurse also heals students this way. This nurse is also gender non-confrming but she is insulted by one of the main characters from the get go and I really didn't like that.

This really could've been a good story because I liked the way Sheena puts the school, its purpose and its effects on her classmates into question. Mimi's character and story is also really interesting and the art is great, but everything that I mentioned in the previous paragraph just puts me off of continuing the series.

This could be so interesting and gut-wrenching, but the worldbuilding just doesn't make any sense and continually throws me out. I love the concept of a school training orphans to basically be cannon fodder, but we don't get a sense for who they're fighting or why, why they need magicians specifically, why it's just orphans, etc. And it would be fine if it felt like it would be revealed slowly or they'd been given a false reason, but I didn't get that sense at all, just that it was necessary for the setting.

So that brings me to the other thing that just does not make sense to me about the worldbuilding: the healing. If the method of healing is kissing and that is just....how people are healed, why is it still sexualized. It would be one thing if the mana transfer kissing was only in dire situations or needed some extra bond or compatibility, but we don't see any method of healing magic other than kissing, so it feels weird for Sheena to be all in a twist about it, and even worse for everyone to shame the nurse and call her a pervert (made EVEN WORSE by the fact that she's either trans or crossdressing, so it all just feels unsettling).

That's not even addressing that if Mimi is 10, why is she with (I'm inferring) the class of 14-year-olds, and if she's an immortal monster who doesn't have an age and you're going to have to lie anyway, why even state that she's 10 and not just say she's a young-looking 14.

The art style is cute, and I love the almost sketch-y nature of it that lends to the despair, but there are just too many issues for me to want to continue with this series

˗ˋˏ ♡Thank you Nachi Aono and NetGalley♡ ˎˊ˗

the main plot for this book does not make sense to me, it seems like their are different points however they are not brought together well, as well as I found the whole book just weird. Our main characters look nothing above the age of 14 and yet you are having them kiss......as a healing method. That just seems random and very much not needed for this, especially for such young kids, which they literally are, young teens basically. There is such an opportunity to have the main plot be about the war and how they send basically kids to fight for the war, but no you have most of the story be about kissing.... and if the main or even only way for them to be able to heal each other is kissing, the nurse being and adult must mean you have a grown adult kissing a minimum age of 10 as that is the youngest in the academy thing and the maximum/oldest being 17, so you would have a grown adult kissing underage children, yeah no.

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the description of the story, I got super excited for the manga. Girls getting educated to become weapons in a war? Oh, count me in, especially if they fall in love. Love a good lesbian story. The artstyle is beautiful, the world-building started out great, and then... it's revealed, that the main characters are over-sexualized-10-year-olds. I immediately lost my liking for the story, and the nurse, who is supposedly transgender, gets shamed all the time and is the "sexiest character" in the whole manga somehow made things worse. The students call them a perv, also they might be not trans, just crossdressing? Also shows predatory behavior towards the students, being very happy that she gets to kiss the MC to heal her. THE MC WHO IS 10 YEARS OLD. Consent basically doesn't exist in this universe. I wish they were older! I really do! Sadly not what I expected. The art is still pretty tho.

I love the concept but I will not be reading any farther. I’ve seen other mangas/animes where mana can be transferred via physical touch, kissing being an optimal way to do so. I can be fine with it but in this story, it’s done between children. They’re 10 years old. I liked everything else that was going on so far but it just made me too uncomfortable. Unfortunately this will be the only volume I read.

First off, the art is absolutly lovely!!!!! I loved the main character so much, and the contrast with Mimi (secondary char) was so nice! The designs are lovely and the story is full of potential, it is darker than i thougth it would.

2.5 stars
First, the art is gorgeous. I love the character designs and how cutesy everything looks. I also like the main relationship so far.
There isn't a ton of world building or info about how the magic system works in this volume, which is fine as long as future volumes include those things.

With that being said, I agree with other reviewers on goodreads about this manga's issues. There are several scenes of 10 year olds making out which just feels weird (also that's how the healing system works and while it isn't shown, the adult nurse also has to kiss these 10 year olds, sometimes while they're unconscious). Also, the nurse is a trans woman who is constantly referred to as a pervert, which is a harmful trope that is particularly frustrating to find in a queer story.

It's been a bit since I found a GL I was this intrigued by. A lot of that comes down to the plot structure. Orphans with magic are raised for warfare, and the story starts with the death of an unseen roommate, so the tone is set early, but the girls are aware of their reality and try to make the best with the time they have. Then we are introduced to Mimi. who is a whole other can of worms as to just what she actually is. This series has a lot of interesting worldbuilding that makes up for the more mundane setting. If it was a more typical schoolgirl romance, it wouldn't have grabbed me as hard. I like what I'm seeing here, I hope the momentum keeps going.