This review first appeared on the website The Beat.

On the surface, Satoko has it all—she’s beautiful, the daughter of a nobleman, and at a prime age for marriage. Unfortunately, she is also quite ill and only has a short time left to live. Before she can secure a marriage that will redeem her worth in her family’s eyes, she finds herself the target of the mysterious assassin Shinpei, and her plans are put in jeopardy. In order to save herself, she makes a desperate proposal—of marriage! When it comes to love, however, Shinpei takes “until death do we part” seriously.

Satoko, the beautiful daughter of a nobleman, has an illness that won’t allow her to live for very long…but someone out there is impatient for her to die. She is kidnapped and to be murdered by the mysterious assassin Shinpei, who has a wild, dark look in his eyes.

Satoko begs Shinpei to spare her, but he will only do so if she offers something of high value. In a fit of desperation, Satoko offers herself in marriage…and to her relief and horror, Shinpei accepts. Will love bloom between them, or will it only be danger and lies?

The premise of the manga is what interested me…I’m a sucker for a good romance but the element of danger present in the story, and particularly in Shinpei, drew my attention. I never imagined Shinpei would be as creepy as he’s depicted in the art. He’s also very nonchalant about chopping arms and legs off people. Killing is his profession, after all.

When I first glimpsed him, I wondered how he could ever possibly be into the idea of marriage. True, Satoko is beautiful, but he doesn’t know much about her beyond that…except when Satoko later tells him that she will die sooner than later. Although this isn’t touched upon clearly, I’m pretty sure that detail enticed Shinpei, a man who flirts with death all the time and expects to end up in Hell.

Shinpei is deadly, unnerving, and quickly devoted to Satoko. He wholeheartedly wants the marriage and promises Satoko he will “make her a happy woman” (he tells her while covered in blood). And the strange thing is, you can get little glimpses of this throughout the story! It seems inconceivable that Shinpei would be capable of being romantic, but then he takes Satoko to see the fireflies in a beautiful grove. He promises to her his devotion, and amid all his madness, you can kind of see him being capable of it.

The question is, will Satoko allow Shinpei to love her, or will she just use him to prolong what little life she has left?

Because Satoko has an illness that will kill her doesn’t make her weak. She stands up for herself when it comes to her relationship with her sister Miwako, who is quite passive aggressive and jealous of Satoko’s beauty and long line of potential suitors. Miwako runs off in tears to her mother—Satoko’s stepmother—and the look on that woman’s face in the panel shows there’s some hatred there. Is it enough for her to hire hitmen to kill Satoko? It’s too early to tell, and volume one doesn’t get around to revealing the identity of the person who ordered the hit. That will be an ongoing mystery.

Once Satoko is kidnapped, it’s her quick thinking that stops Shinpei from killing her. Satoko realizes that because she is the daughter of a noble, that means wealth and comfort for her and her husband. This is why she offers herself to Shinpei for marriage—to promise him the good life. Love never figured into the equation, and yet Shinpei surprises Satoko with little bursts of devotion. She never expected him to be so taken with her, and yet he is.

I’m rooting for them. It’s a bizarre pairing and fraught with tension and artifice, but I really think that if Shinpei continues to surprise Satoko with how fervent his feelings are, and Satoko learns not to fear Shinpei, they have a chance for a real relationship to bloom.

If you are looking for a romantic story with a bit of mayhem and mystery to it, look no further than Firefly Wedding. The art is expressive and gorgeous, the lead characters engrossing, and the story draws you in from the very beginning. Who will survive, let alone survive this relationship? Only if you continue reading will you find out, and yes, this is worth reading.

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Firefly Wedding is now up to Volume 6, which was released April 7 of this year. Volume 7 is forthcoming and will release July 14. You can find all series volumes at the Viz Media store or any bookseller online and in store.

As an added bonus, an anime television series for Firefly Wedding was announced. It will come to Crunchyroll this October.