Is Umarekawattemo Mata, Watashi to Kekkon Shitekuremasu ka Worth Reading? Review

Quick facts
Format	Manga, 25 chapters, 4 volumes
Run	2017–2019 · completed
Community score	AniList 8.4 · MangaUpdates 8.3

Overview

Umarekawattemo Mata, Watashi to Kekkon Shitekuremasu ka (roughly, 'Even If I'm Reborn, Will You Marry Me Again?') is a completed Japanese manga by Miku Morinaga, running 4 volumes and 25 chapters between 2017 and 2019. It grew out of a pixiv one-shot that won the Grand Prize at the Gene Pixiv Legend Manga Award III before being expanded into a full series. Toranosuke Ibuki lies bedridden in a hospital decades into his marriage to Kaoru, and together the two look back over the whole arc of their relationship: how they met, his proposal, the ordinary and difficult stretches of married life. By the end, they've affirmed they'd choose each other again, even in the next one.

What it does well

Most romance manga build toward a wedding or a confession; this one starts near the end of a marriage and works backward, which gives it a shape the genre rarely attempts. Knowing from the first chapter that Toranosuke and Kaoru's bond lasted decades changes how every flashback reads -- there's no suspense about whether they end up together, so the story can focus entirely on how they got there and what it cost and gave them along the way.

Because the manga covers the couple's entire relationship rather than just the courtship, small domestic details -- an argument over something minor, a quiet evening, the specific ways they irritated and comforted each other over the years -- get as much space as the big romantic milestones. That balance gives the relationship a lived-in, specific quality that's hard to fake.

It's also fully complete at a compact 4 volumes, which means the reflective pace never has room to overstay its welcome the way a similar concept might if stretched across a much longer run.

Where it falls short

The reminiscence structure that makes the series distinctive also means it has very little forward momentum or plot tension. Readers looking for stakes, obstacles, or conflict beyond the couple's own personalities and circumstances will find the pacing deliberately quiet, and that quietness won't be for everyone.

There's also no official English license as of this review, so readers outside Japan are relying on fan translation and aggregator sites rather than an official platform.

Verdict

Umarekawattemo Mata, Watashi to Kekkon Shitekuremasu ka takes the least common structural choice in romance manga -- starting near the end and working backward -- and uses it to build a quieter, more mature story about the full span of a marriage. It won't suit readers chasing plot tension, but as a compact, complete portrait of long-term love, it's a strong, easy-to-overlook pick.