One might glance at the cover of Not Lives and think it was a manga that involved dating sims more than it actually does. Believe me thats what I thought when I first picked the first volume up at a certain bookstore back in 2016. Although the actual content of the manga wasnt exactly what I expected I did enjoy it enough to buy the second volume later on. For some reason however I ended up stopping collecting the volumes there and I never got around to reading the rest of the series....until now. I mean just like how a lot of gamers like to 100 their favorite games Ive got to 100 a manga that I at least thought was decent right? Anyway I bought the last eight volumes and read the entire thing from the beginning. Now that Ive cleared this manga what do I think of it? Lets find out Not Lives primarily follows Shigeru Mikami a high school student with a deep love and appreciation for video games. He doesnt like just playing games however he has developed quite a few games of his own even a mobile game that his childhood friend had been playing without even knowing he made it. One day while gathering research materials for a dating sim he was requested to develop he stumbles onto a disc for a game called Not Alive. One finger press to the middle of the disc later he has taken control of a girl named Kyouka Amamiya an avatar in a mysterious reallife fighting game. From there Shigeru and Kyouka must work together to clear the game....which turns out to be a real fight for survival. At the start Not Lives seems like the kind of manga that would follow a specific formula. Shigeru and Kyouka get challenged to a fight they win and onto the next. However sooner rather than later the story starts getting into longer story arcs that actually introduce playeravatar teams that arent just there to be an enemy to the main duo. Unfortunately the supporting characters arent too memorable either way and although they seem like theyd serve a real purpose to the story they arent utilized to their fullest potential. Its even worse for characters that arent a part of the game such as Shigerus aforementioned childhood friend Itsuki not having her somehow get caught up in Not Alive was a mountain of wasted potential and her obvious crush on Shigeru never got properly explored either. What does get explored quite a bit though is the relationship between Shigeru and Kyouka as well as their own characters. Okay maybe not so much for Shigeru but that doesnt stop him from being a very likable character I really enjoyed his determination and his passion for games. Kyouka is by far the character who gets the most development we get to see what her family life is like her skillset in and out of battle and bits and pieces of her backstory. In the end there is a major reveal about who Kyouka really is and while it definitely took me offguard I can at least say that it was properly foreshadowed. The relationship that forms between Shigeru and Kyouka while not particularly substantial was ultimately very sweet. The battles in Not Lives are very fastpaced and welldrawn although it can be a little hard to follow for those who are not seasoned action manga readers. The way the battles are drawn definitely adds to how fun they are to read through. Something that particularly interests me about these battles well the first two real battles specifically is how the defeated avatars are removed from the game the way those scenes are drawn really utilize the medium of manga that the story is being told from. Another thing about the art that I liked is the character designs Wataru Karasuma really has a talent for drawing cute girls and nottoobadlooking guys. Yeah thats all I really have to say about the art. Overall Not Lives isnt a gamechanger of a manga but its a fun read nonetheless. I recommend it for anyone in the mood for a manga that gives off the same energy of fighting games. At the very least you should read it for the bonus chapters at the end of some volumes which pay homage to beloved titles in a way that a manga with a true love for video games can