Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria

Death Note addpermalink

For those of you who wander aimlessly seeking for something similar to the thrilling story of the Death Note series, well, you're in luck because Hakomari not only fills that void, it expands it.

While there are countless dissimilarities between the two, I'll focus on the similarities which I'm sure would cause Death Note fans to try this series.
Hakomari captures Death Note's thriller and mystery aspect not through the battle of impeccable prodigies, but through an extremely intricate plot built layer after layer in each volume. Actually, we get a battle of wits in all of the volumes, but this is not what makes Hakomari stand out of the rest of novels/manga, it is the plot (or the premise) through which the characters move, in other words, it is the premises (the universe/world) of the novel.

While I have completely no idea how Eiji Mikage composes his plot, reading through the volumes with give you an idea to how the architecture of this novel is constructed. The author lays the framework and a rough conclusion of a volume before filling out the details of the story, that is to give him some sort of guide (a premise if you will) for his plot. 

He rarely contradicts the premises he set unless you are hairsplitting/nitpicking enthusiast. Every turn or event in a volume is connected to a premise set forth or declared in a previous volume (in other words, everything that would happen, happened for a reason, and isn't of plot convenience) and the conclusions at each volume surprise you as it unravels Mikage's masterful play of plot lines.

While the main difference between Death Note and Hakomari is the romance aspect, I'd say that If you liked DN, there's a very high chance of liking Hakomari since every twist leaves you surprised and impressed. read more 

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Geniuses, psychopaths, mental and psychological warfare, strategic thinking, powers granted through a supernatural entity that potentially shape the world according to the user's wishes/desires/ideologies, both these series have these elements in common.

They both maintain a heavy grim mood throughout the story with little comedy. They both have a lot of mystery and twists. Both main characters are willing to go to certain extreme extents to live in what they see as the ideal world, even though their views are fundamentally opposite. They present accounts of people who acquire supernatural abilities that can change the world - either more directly (Utsuro) or indirectly (DN) - but end up being psychologically consumed by the power or their lack own lack of control. In a way they both touch upon the "be careful with what you wish for" trope (DN in a much more subtle way since Utsuro deals directly with those wishes and their corruption).    read more 

reportRecommended by kurosaki_kabuto

First of all be careful that while Death Note is a manga, Hakomari (the short name) is a light novel. If you can't sit down and read a light novel, then please ignore this recommendation.

In both stories, prodigies with incredible skills of deduction play a deadly game of cat and mouse with each other, in a mysteriously supernatural setting. These are stories with complex story line and go in deep to explore each main character's motives. 

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After reading Death Note, I thought to myself that a series that matches up to its fantastic thrilling murder-mystery does not exist (that is not to say that Death Note is free of plot-holes because it is full of partial ones, but it manages to achieve its premise), that is, until I discovered Hakomari. The unpopular Light Novel surpasses Death Note in its best aspect -- complexity.

While the two are fundamentally different -- 'a story of a genius who accidentally comes upon a murder notebook', against 'the story of a rather normal folk who is dragged into a bizarre reality by mere circumstance', there are a lot of similarities between the two that are simply too eminent.

The most obvious similarity is of course the mystery aspect. Both series to progress the plot through events that can be described as carefully plotted. In Hakomari, this is achieved through a scattering of accurate and truthful red herrings throughout the plot that gets even more impressive as the author reveals the reasoning behind each one. The difference in this is, in Death Note, the viewer/reader is a spectator to the plot who only follows the direction of the plot, while in Hakomari, the reader is dragged to the pace of the story as you try to figure out the happenings of the story.

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Do take caution when reading Volume 1 though as the beginning is intentionally confusing due to its atypical progression. But it'd be a shame if you'd drop it because of that because Volume 1 has to be the single best story I've every read. The immense entertainment value it brings will only be available to those who are patient enough go through it. In the end your efforts will be rewarded.

Generally, if you liked Death Note's thrilling mystery aspect, you'll definitely like Hakomari, especially volume 3 & 4 since it probably bears the most semblance among all of the arcs since it features a direct battle of wits with rules accurately written down.

The only downside that might cause some to misevaluate Hakomari's greatness is that it is too complex that some readers have trouble understanding the entire plot. Again, that is not to say that Hakomari is perfect. Like any show, I could make a list of endless plot-holes and unrealistic instances, but given that Hakomari is too complex but very well delivered, it is indeed a masterpiece and Death Note fans would probably enjoy this a lot read more

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Manga: Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu addpermalink

You enjoy time-travel with endless repetition of a certain event that the protagonist tries to change? If you enjoy the struggle followed by twists, strong protagonists, very well written pieces, good artwork then you just found two novels that share that.  And both have "zero" in the title, which means you'll see them re-start a lot until you can feel sympathy for the protagonists while the story induces you into a "want to read more" to see what comes next.  

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Gekkou addpermalink

I happened to stumble upon this because it had the same translator, little did I know I was looking at something quite similar to Hakomari, yet complete different.

The obvious similarity is of course the mystery aspect, which I'll elaborate on. 
What we have are uber-normal males who are forcibly dragged inexplicably by a certain beauty into a mystery by mere circumstance.
Unlike Death Note where we are most of the time spectators, both Hakomari and Gekkou involve the reader in trying to figure out the plot. Hakomari tries to wrap everything up, leaving no instance unexplained while Gekkou prefers to leave a lot of aspects for the reader to decide (Gekkou is somewhat disappointing due to sudden shifts that sometimes connect poorly). 

With regards to the theme, Hakomari retains a constant dark ambiance while Gekkou retains it comedic aura throughout the series. At the end of the day, Gekkou remains as quite an odd and interesting read. read more 

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Manga: Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch

Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch addpermalink

The protagonists of both works find themselves facing off against a supernatural opponent, ones that seem to have endless power that don't reveal themselves to the characters.  

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Steins;Gate addpermalink

In both light novels, the protagonist has to suffer through repeated situations where their close ones are endangered or even die in attempt to fix it and save them. While Zeroth Maria has time loops, Steins;Gate has time travel. 

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Kamisu Reina Series addpermalink

Mikage Eiji writes particularly unique novels that delve deep into the psychology of its characters, with both HakoMaria and Kamisu Reina making liberal use of his trademark narrative trickery. Both series are gripping right from the first page, to the point where you'll have difficulty putting it down before reaching the end of any given chapter. They are extremely similar in tone, writing and their target audience. If you liked one, you'll like the other. There's no reason not to check the other one out; they both have fantastic English fan translations. 

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Jinsei Reset Button addpermalink

Jinsei Reset Button and HakoMari share an eerily similar premise with themes that go hand-in-hand. In addition to both being novels of a rare breed (i.e. they revolve around time loops), 'wishes' are a heavily important theme to both of these novels. 

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All You Need Is Kill addpermalink

+ A time period of just over a day repeats inifinity and ends each time with someone dying before everything is reset with most people not realizing the repetition is happening
+ The character who remembers every repetition uses that to gain knowledge and skills as they try to find a way out of the repetition

- Hakomari is a novel series and has more than just the repeated schoolday while Kill is a manga that involves humans fighting against alien-like creatures for survival 

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Manga: Classmate, Kamimura Yuuka wa Kou Itta.

Classmate, Kamimura Yuuka wa Kou Itta. addpermalink

While HakoMari and Classmate, Kamiura Yuuka play out verrrrrry differently and deal with distinct themes, they are set up in incredibly similar ways. If you read the synopsis for Yuuka and then the one for HakoMari, you might very well confuse the two if you tried to pull one of these series out of your memory hours later. HakoMari is a lot better than Kamiura Yuuka and is given a lot more space to tell its story too, but Kamiura Yuuka shouldn't be discounted because of this. They are both unique, standout works, though Kamiura Yuuka has a tendency to give in to popular cliches and tropes while HakoMari does its own thing. read more 

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Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica addpermalink

Right off the bat, generally speaking they both have a grim, heavy atmosphere with hints of despair and hopelessness at times. Besides that, they both deal with wishes and dealing with the results/consequences of those wishes. A happy normal everyday
life is broken by said results/consequences.
There are further similar points but I'll refrain from mentioning them to avoid spoiling anything. 

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Liar Game addpermalink

"A cornered rat will bite the cat" But what if you corner a lion?

Human nature is such that when pushed to a tight corner, they terminate all perceptions of fear and focus on eliminating the source of it. That is to say, they would do anything to protect their existence in the least if it were threatened. 

Liar Game has a genius whose talent is constantly pushed to the limits, while Hakomari puts common folk on the spotlight, except for a single person who displays his full intellectual prowess on Volumes 3&4.

I will mostly be focusing on the similarities between Liar game and the 3rd and 4th volumes of Hakomari since they are similar on so many levels, but I'll have you know that these similarities can be extended to whatever volume.

The overarching theme for both pieces is of course the mystery, and what's good is readers can participate in it. Red herrings are intrinsic in all mystery stories, but both have different ways of using red herrings. Hakomari is betterin its use of it, meaning all red herrings are true while in Liar Game, I would often encounter red herrings which would have been illogical backtracking from the outcome.

The plots are presented as puzzles - the characters are presented with do or die situations that they must overcome in order to return to a semblance of their normal lives. Liar game deals with it directly, its reasoning resembles pure logic while Hakomari deals with it in a more subtle yet intricate way. If it couldn't get more similar, you'll come to a point where you'll come across a game about conquest (alluding to kingdoms) and domination.

Both pieces would often feature a cunning play of deception, strategy and counter-strategy.
Liar game has a rather naive conception for its premise while Hakomari has a more down-to-earth one. Both have their shares of cliche but you can't help but disregard them because the plot offers way more. 

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Kokoro Connect addpermalink

Hakomari and Kokoro Connect are two similar novels. Both novels revolve around a group of friends whose life dramatically changes upon the encounter of an unknown being--- someone who has no particular form/shape. Their goals are rather similar as well, to observe and understand the human nature. While they are similar, their differences lie on the depth and content of the story. Hakomari has a rather dark and mature tone particularly aim for teens-adult while Kokoro connect is a little bit light hearted. With its obvious romance oreinted genre, it particularly aims for the younger readers.  

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Onanie Master Kurosawa addpermalink

Both works are primarily driven by well-paced character development and use dramatic tension relentlessly and to great effect. They both build-up to their final arcs very well. While Onanie is set in the real world, Hakomari also succeeds in remaining "true to life", that is: gritty, ugly, and no reservations. Sex, violence, abuse, and redemption are neither glossed over or glorified in these works.

Onanie is; however, a story that dedicates a lot of time to dealing with the main character's guilt and his search for redemption. Is this the case in HakoMari? Not quite. 

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Manga: Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Dai-1 Shou - Outo no Ichinichi-hen

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Dai-1 Shou - Outo no Ichinichi-hen addpermalink

Protagonist is trapped in a time loop and has to experience death of themselves and those around him again and again until they find a way how to fix it. 

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Manga: Fata Morgana no Yakata: Anata no Genten ni Itaru Monogatari

Fata Morgana no Yakata: Anata no Genten ni Itaru Monogatari addpermalink

Both works feature a couple, a (heterosexual) romance between two characters who feel absolutely strongly about each other, whose love spans the ages, surviving the centuries no matter what hardships they go through.  

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Boku dake ga Inai Machi addpermalink

Both are mystery based stories with a romantic undertone but Hakomari is faaaar better written and executed. 

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Murasakiiro no Qualia addpermalink

Most obviously, both feature a protagonist who experience phenomena that superficially resembles a recursion of time, or time-loop, from the perspective of that character. In both, the protagonist face and utilize supernatural phenomena that is ultimately the result of the deuteragonist's ability. Both depict the protagonist losing their humanity (either literally or figuratively) and sanity for the sake of said deuteragonist. 

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Steins;Gate addpermalink

The first volume of HakoMari, is nearly identical to Steins;Gate. They both are highly psychological and focus on a protagonist stuck in a time loop, ending with an unfortunate event.

HakoMari differs with focus on supernatural elements, while Steins;Gate focuses on scientific elements.

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Murasakiiro no Qualia addpermalink

Time loop to save a life, among other things.  A common theme, but it does it really well, and it is clear that the author did their research on theoretical physics. 

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Manga: Yondome wa Iya na Shizokusei Majutsushi

Yondome wa Iya na Shizokusei Majutsushi addpermalink

The main similarity is that the main characters are getting darker and darker
Also both have a supernatural setting 

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Berserk addpermalink

Both are similiar in a sense that they explore the deep depths of darkness of humans and the MC's of both these series go through alot of despair to obtain their goal. 

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Manga: Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 3: Banquet of the Golden Witch

Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 3: Banquet of the Golden Witch addpermalink

The protagonist is locked in a continuous loop and has to force themselves out if they want to confront the forces that are behind causing the loop. 

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All You Need Is Kill addpermalink

They both have a character that relive a day over and over again. 

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Oukoku Game addpermalink

Similarities:
+ Involve high schoolers in a survival game using medieval ranks like King, etc.
+ Both have yanderes, people who don't want to kill others, and similar protagonists caught in the middle of everything

Differences:
- Hakomari is a light novel series and has other stories than just the survival game one (though the others do still have a similar feeling to Oukoku Game)
- There's no girl in Oukoku Game quite like Maria, the female lead in Hakomari 

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Manga: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Onikakushi-hen

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Onikakushi-hen addpermalink

Both are mystery (as well as many other genres) stories involving characters that travel across multiple timelines of similar situations. They involve seemingly normal groups of students, and the main female protagonists are "interesting" to say the least. Both use some comic relief, but are more centered on drama for the most part. They also have some supernatural aspects to the stories (though Higurashi's is to a much lesser extent especially early on). They are very psychological and delve deep into the minds of the main protagonists (Keiichi in Higurashi and Hoshino in HakoMari). 

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No Game No Life addpermalink

Two young people, a boy and a girl, find themselves being tested by a supernatural being because they find them interesting. In No Game No Life, the siblings help protect the human race in an alien world by playing games with other races. In HakoMari, the supernatural being is interested in the behaviour of a single boy.

 

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Paradox Blue addpermalink

Both stories involve a boy and a girl resolving a series of paranormal paradoxes. 

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Manga: Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei

Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei addpermalink

Both feature High School students that are forced into play-or-die circumstances by a strange/supernatural element that is unknown at the beginning of the story/arc. They both portray the despair of those teenagers before the situation their unable to understand, both have mysteries and psychological warfare or mind games through the "game". Both stories also have a weird "bear" explaining the rules and announcing the developments of the "game".

In Utsuro this is more applicable to one particular arc of the story but the feeling of despair is felt throughout the whole story. Danganronpa is a little sketchier, has more comedy to it, Utsuro has a constant heavy mood. read more 

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Manga: "Fushigi" Toriatsukaimasu: Tsukumodou Kottouten

"Fushigi" Toriatsukaimasu: Tsukumodou Kottouten addpermalink

Similar theme: about a boy and a beautiful yet mysterious girl who fight people who misuse double-edged magical devices; boxes in Hakomari and relics in Tsukumodo. Both have dark atmosphere, plot twists, interesting character developments, etc. 

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Suzumiya Haruhi Series addpermalink

While the general feel of the two series of novels is considerably different - Haruhi is comparatively more light-hearted and has a considerable comedic element to it whereas Hakomari is more of a dark mystery thriller kind of story - there are a few similarities that are worth noting.

Starting with the 2 main characters. Both main male characters value their normal lives, and wish to proceed through High School maintaining said normality. The appearance of the main female character signals the end of their normal lives. Both female mcs are assertive, weirdly charismatic, beautiful but unapproachable, intelligent, forceful and able to do a considerable amount of different things without much effort, also similar is the apathy they show towards most people as of the beginning of the story.
Now concerning the setting and the story itself. Fundamentally speaking both series are set in a High School, in a supernatural world. They both contain at least one arc focused on time paradoxes or time loops. Both feature an entity/power that changes and shapes the world according to unconscious will. In hindsight, the entity possessing, controlling or manipulating this "power" is equated to God in both novels. There are also a few other smaller similarities, for example, it is only after interaction with the main male character that the female mc starts forming or expanding a group of acquaintances, acquaintances that willingly or unwilling end up involved with the supernatural elements of the story. There is more I could mention but I think this is enough to warrant submitting valid recommendation. read more 

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Ame no Hi no Iris addpermalink

HakoMari and Ame no Hi no Iris are both dark, dramatic and gripping tales with well-crafted and engaging atmospheres. In spite of this, they are both ultimately forward-looking, though HakoMari is far sweeter (and perhaps even naive) in some sections than Ame no Hi no Iris. Similarly, they both toy with themes relating to repetition at some point, but use it to make different points.
 
As well, if you liked HakoMari's drama, you'll like most of Ame no Hi no Iris's drama, because it's very similar (and written in first person). If you thought that HakoMari's drama was cheesy, however, Ame no Hi no Iris offers different blends of drama throughout. Because of this, Ame no Hi no Iris doesn't feel nearly as cheesy (though it does start to go down that road in the last quarter).

Both are worth a read if you care for dark but ultimately optimistic narratives, though HakoMari will grip you from the first page while Ame no Hi no Iris takes a while longer to draw you in. read more 

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Monogatari Series: First Season addpermalink

Both deal with a boy dealing with supernatural phenomenon caused by or dealing with. well, "unique" people from their surroundings. The interaction between the male and female MCs of both series is also a bit similar. Both male MCs have a some principles that they never sacrifice while trying to help their friends through the strange phenomenon.  

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Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria
The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
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Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria
The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
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