This was an interesting story that, by the time it is finished, has turned on its ear. I like the artwork, the narrative, the suspense and the thoughts of the characters as they try to hide, manipulate one another and think they each will win out. An interesting glimpse of the human psyche.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing and e-arc of this title for review.
I was recommended this thriller manga by a fellow book tuber and it certainly did not disappoint! I enjoyed the setting and although the plot was pretty straight forward it was well done, and quite suspenseful. It was an entertaining read and I also enjoyed the art style. The style complemented the plot line and setting effectively and helped with the suspense building. I will absolutely be watching out for more from this author and artist.
The only thing that stopped this being a 5 star was that I predicted what the outcome would be and where that isn't always a star dropper, in this case I feel like anyone who reads thriller's will predict it quite easily.

{ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟}
by Kaiji Kawaguchi | Nobuyuki Fukumoto
|| ARC REVIEW ||
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Length: 312p
Source: ARC - NetGalley, Kodansha Comics, Vertical Comics
Release Date: December 17, 2024
•
•
•
Stranded in a blizzard and badly injured, Ishikura decides to speak his deepest secrets to his companion, Asai, before he dies. But when Asai finds shelter, he realizes Ishikura’s confession changes…everything.

This one was a complete mind warp of suspicion, betrayal, and secrets. A game of cat and mouse with a thrilling twist and ending! I kind of saw it coming but the execution was perfect!

The artistry is reminiscent of older manga drawings. A bit drab but still impressive to look at.

Overall, this was a gripping read from start to finish. A true psychological thriller.

𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁…
❄️ Psychological Thriller
❄️ Survival
❄️ Altitude Sickness

{I received a complimentary copy of this book. All reviews are my own.}
•
•
•

Kokuhaku - Confession is one of the biggest surprises I could ever expect among the hidden gems Japan reserves if we search through the unpublished stories. In fact, this one-shot is part of a forgotten production of both Nobuyuki Fukumoto, a storyteller which builds up twisted psychological characters, and Kaiji Kawaguchi, specialized into warfare comics like Eagle or Zipang. In this sense, the union of a rough realistic depiction and a creepy, thrilling plot.
Confession is the story of a couple of climbers who finds themselves in the middle of a snow storm. As soon as the older of the pair obtain a bad injury on his leg, he decides to tell his colleague a terrible secret, in order to die there without regrets. However, the weather gets immediately better, and with this new cognition the two protagonists starts a mouse and cat game in which paranoia plays a fundamental role. They both thinks about that precise moment, and both are ready to do everything for surviving or making the secret survive. Confession uses its single location in the best possible way. The cabin in which the two main characters are blocked is a labyrinth of rooms and hidden passages, of lights and shadows, while the snow lashes the external zones. The ability of the two authors in making us in doubt since the start towards the destiny of our leads is awesome, and the amount of details, the emotional expressions of the faces, dirtied and cooked by the low temperature. This whole artistic achievement is possible thanks to a cinematographic vision of the whole storytelling, making me think why there isn't an adaptation of this story, with all its surprises and sudden turnings!

Confession is one of the most underestimated mangas I can think about, full of perspectives on the cinematographic potential of this media. A plot moved by remorse, with the necessity of finding peace and at the same time escaping from every form of judgement. In this way, a simple cabin becomes an arena in which surviving becomes more and more difficult. A twisted narrative makes the pair with a squared, rough and gritty amount of character designs and artistic features, with an ending more actual than ever.

FINAL VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Solid concept and fun twists. The pacing seemed irregular, sometimes dragging and other too quick, which didn’t hold the tension necessary for this story. I think this was more a matter of cultural trends in comics, and the fact I don’t tend to read a lot of thriller manga.

First off, I just have to mention- this book is GORGEOUS. I noticed every stroke of the pen in the classic retro style, and the facial expressions and body language of the characters were immediately readable. Their visceral looks of shock and fear had me shaking in my boots! The story is great too- a classic thriller concept done well. The ending caught me a bit off guard and it took me out of the story for a moment, but it just makes me want to go in for a reread more than anything. The suspense had me afraid to turn the page, but I couldn't stop reading. I absolutely blasted through this book.

I read it in one sitting because I just can't put it down and I'm curious about what will happen to Asai and Ishikura. It was suspenseful and thrilling, yes, but it was also a little predictable. If you are an avid reader of thriller/mystery books, then you can see the twist from a mile away. Still, it is a pretty solid manga and I enjoyed it.

Thank you Netgalley and to the publisher for providing me a free copy of this manga.

#confession #netgalley

Thankyou for the opportunity to read an ARC of this fantastic book.

Read in one sitting, I couldn't put it down from page one and I absolutely love the twists in this, so excellently written and illustrated.
The art on the cover gives a really chilling feeling of the tundra you walk into when you start the book and the art inside is equally great.

I will definitely be checking out more by this author.
A very easy 5*

I don't think this will stick with me for any particular reason, but it was thoroughly engaging and worth the read. I'm still desperately on the hunt for a new favorite thriller manga though!

Sometimes I just want a standalone one-and-done tale that leaves me thinking after I put it down. Kodansha recently unveiled Confession, a classic thriller manga that highlights the frailty of the human mind in times of immense stress and danger. A minimal cast of characters and the frightening cold make this a perfect single-night read for those wanting some suspenseful thrills.

Longtime mountaineering friends Asai and Ishikura are stranded on a mountain, with no hope in sight. Fearing that he will die where he lays, Ishikura admits a heavy burden: He killed fellow mountaineering club member Sayuri.

Fortunately for Asai, the two find shelter in an abandoned cabin. Unfortunately, Ishikura seems shifty and Asai gets paranoid about the situation. Throughout the story, Asai tries to grapple with the fact that he’s in living quarters with a killer. What will happen with the two, and will Asai survive the night?

Confession was a gripping tale that had me hooked on the first page. I always saw the “deathbed-confession-but-not-really” trope to be a more comical trope, but here this takes that to a frightening conclusion. After all, finding out your friend is a murderer while he has a way to kill you isn’t the most peaceful scenario out there. The manga does a masterful job with creating a claustrophobic and tense atmosphere with its two main characters, and nothing is quite as it seems.

While the buildup after the initial confession does take some time to fully realize itself, once it does, the story hits its stride. At a little over 300
pages, this single volume work is the perfect size to eat it up in one sitting. If you want a grim thriller with a great suspenseful narrative, Confession should be up your alley this winter.

Confession was a very interesting manga in that I really hadn't read anything like it before, at least in terms of manga. The actual confession in the beginning felt a bit forced since we had never met these characters before, but what can you do when you only have a little bit of time to set the story up? Overall, I enjoyed it.

what a thrill! Confession kept me on the edge! asai and ishikura are trapped besides their convictions within a cabin as the shadow of secrecy and paranoia grows. the atmosphere was suffocating and the art was brilliant. predicted it a bit but overall, i loved the concept, specifically the twist. kudos to Fukumoto!

x

Summary:

Asai and Ishikura are good friends, which is how they ended up in this situation together. It was meant to be a big group of them hiking up into the mountains, but it ended up just being two of them due to a series of events.

Then the storm hit, leading Ishikura to get dangerously wounded. It’s only natural that he believed these were his final moments…leading to a deathbed confession. Both fortunately and unfortunately for him, the tides turned, and now it looks like he will survive.

Review:

Ohhhh. Confession is perfect for all the readers who love a good psychological thriller or a story with good murder/mystery vibes. It also has strong survival elements, as our main character desperately fights for a way to survive this situation.

This was a fun twist on the whole “stranged in the mountains due to a storm” trope. Instead of having the horrible event start and end on this mountain, it turns out that at least half had previously occurred…and it’s the confession that kicks everything off (again).

I liked that twist. It made for a dark setting, even if I thought the whole thing was quickly blown out of proportion. (Would they both really jump to those conclusions that quickly? Not having been in that situation, I’m far from a subject expert).

Be sure to check out Confession if you’re looking for a tense survival story.

Highlights:
Paranoia & Danger
Dark Secrets
Survival

Trigger Warnings:
Fatal Situations
Death & Murder

I'd like to thank Kaiji Kawaguchi, Nobuyuki Fukumoto, Net Galley and Kodansha Comics for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Confession follows two men, Asai and Ishikura as they climb through the mountains during a snowstorm. Ishikura injures himself and aware he may not last much longer, confesses a long held secret to Asai. Shortly after Asai finds a cabin, and both men are thrown into an endless cycle of paranoia and fear.

This manga takes place in the mountains but also in the thoughts of both paranoid men, so you see a lot of stressed "will he wont he" and its very drawn out. I enjoyed the style of the storytelling for the most part, though manga is usually more expressive than I found this story to be with a lot of staring into space thinking. It builds suspense but it also makes it so there's not much to look at, and unlike other graphic novels you may come across this is not in color. I do love the cover and I really enjoyed the plot underneath it all and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to review this!

confession reads like an abridged version of a much larger story. the idea is there, but the execution is lacking. the storytelling is too fast-paced and doesn't allow for tension buildup, which is something i expect from a thriller. the ending is also predictable.

Confession has an intriguing premise - a deathbed confession, except salvation was just round the corner. Unfortunately, I found this did very little with the concept and all that transpired was predictable. It felt silly, with comical exaggerations. I also found it quite hard to physically read the text on the grey illustrations. Maybe my expectations were too high, but this didn't deliver. As is, it's a decent-ish short story but I found it lacked tension. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

In a mountainous snowstorm, an injured friend makes a deathbed confession..... but just as he's given up, there is a cabin and a promise of rescue... so what does that mean to the two friends whose lives are now hindered by not only this confession, but the slowly expanding details around the incident from five years prior?

Nobuyuki Fukumoto's psychological thriller Confession is the spiraling of the circumstances of such a confession, played out over the hours until morning. It was originally published in Japan in 1998, but this year there was a live action film and this new English (and French) adaptation.

For my part as a reviewer, I enjoyed the older style art and the drip of details that there was more to these guys' story than just the opening chapter confession. A quick read with no real dull moments.

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for review!

It reminded the mind battles between the characters from Death Note. Actually, I encountered lots of manga recently that have these kind of stuff and, although interesting, I find it sometimes a little too heavy-handed. But don't get me wrong, I liked this book very much! I recommend it.

This manga is a story of two friends that are huge hiking enthusiasts and are stuck in by a snowstorm. Feeling like they are about to die, one makes a confession. It’s a great page turner and the plot was a good one for me. Lots of suspense and it keeps you on the edge. The outcome and twist were perfect for this. I would recommend it however the only complaint for me is outdated artwork maybe but, thank you Kodansha and NetGalley for this arc.

I was looking forward to this as soon as I read the summary but it just didn’t hit for me. I unfortunately had to put this one down, I do appreciate NetGalley and to the publishers for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review.