Stigmata: AikonStigmata: Love Bites Edit What would you like to edit? SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links   l2w2i

Stigmata is pretty well paced, cohesive, and entertaining for lovers of unexpectedly blooming feelings, lite supernatural crime mystery, and a bit of guro with tasteful sex to cap it off.

The art is a mix of comic-esque and beautiful. It's a bit strange in places (particularly with big smiles, which look more strained than happy), but usually pleasant otherwise. Though the ling is extremely simple — more like a scrolling webcomic on paper.

The story is relatively simple as well and doesn't dive too deep into the potential angsts/hangups the characters are presented to have — though it comes off more as mature personal regulation than ... naivety. The main characters are smart and not overly impulsive or ridiculous with their worries. Their feelings and choices feel logical.

The included sex scenes aren't censored, but they do have either little detail or utilize convenient censoring with character positioning. They are relatively realistic in practice, and also include prep and accessories (condoms, lube, etc.). Also, they have body hair.

Overall, it's a fun and mature (both in story and explicit imagery) short read.

Read it quite quickly. The art style, a bit comic like, is distinctive and fits the grim but sweet story being told. The gimmick, a person (Asako) capable of absorbing the last moment of a murder victim to the point of suffering their wounds, could have span multiple volumes but the story being told wasn't full enough for that. I expected a bit more from the murder case&the complex feelings of second handed love, but neither the plot nor the relationship got very complicated or twisted.
Obviously the center piece was the difficulty for both characters to know who they were caring for : the memory ... of the ex wife flowing through them, or each other ? I think it could have spawned more angst, especially with the gorish condition of Asako, spilling actual blood everytime he connects with her memory, but they were also two kind characters who tried their best to keep things separated and not take (too much) advantage of the situation. I liked the contrast between Asako and his childish, dreamy self, against a more manly, clear-headed Kuroiwa, though I would have loved to see the latter be more skeptical, and have the two of them struggle much more to understand the truth behind their sentiments, but ultimately they're both quick to accept the supernatural and work with it.
The more I write, the more I wish the story could have been given a third tome, but with the space allowed it managed to tell a good story, have nice moments and just enough blood and enigmas for a murder case. I recommend checking it out.

definitely worth reading the prequel if you can! it delivers pretty well on the crime aspect, and you get to see plenty of the titular stigmata in action - the way the blood is drawn and scenes showing asako experiencing the memories are beautiful. the art in general is really good, the characters are a little funky looky lol but in a way that's kind of refreshing - they're still twinks but at least they don't look the same as every other bl. only issue i had was just when i thought the mystery was getting interesting it was like immediately resolved in the next ... chapter lmao. but it's not supposed to be the main focus of the story i guess, it's more about the relationship between the two mains and i do love their relationship a lot. i feel if the manga was made longer you would have gotten more of it, but i since it was made to be pretty short there's only so much you can fit in one story.