The strength in Colette Decides to Die can be found whenever the titular character and Hades are together. (Okay, the skeletons make for a good part of Alto Yukimura’s manga too!) So when Colette finds herself away from Hades and the underworld, I can’t help but find the narrative slow in parts. This is very apparent in the sixth volume of Colette Decides to Die, where the Apothecary takes a fair amount of time away from Hades and company.

However, before that happens, there’s the matter of Menthe the Nymph. Her health declines fast, to the point where even the gods have no way to truly save her. Menthe’s parting is a bit sad, as her plant withers and her human-like body vanishes from Hades’s arms. But just when it may seem like a tragic end to the nymph, a beacon of hope appears, growing in a pot and making life greener for the better.

That’s when the story shifts a bit to the skeletons, who take the time to imagine what Hades would be like as a child. Their imaginations run wild, to the point where their reactions to an adorable-looking Hades would make any reader laugh. With that being said, why do the skeletons have plushies of Hades? To be frank, that’s kind of weird, but that’s the skeletons for you.

One of the best chapters in Volume Six of Colette Decides to Die focuses on two spirits. They claim to recognize Colette, but can’t figure out why. That’s when they start seeing memory fragments, with visions of a smiling young girl popping up. It’s clear who these two spirits are, and while it would’ve been nice to have a reunion moment, one can understand why they distance themselves from Colette and instead pray for her well-being.

Hades then takes Colette to the frozen wastes, where the feeling of love swoons within the apothecary. Every aspect of the wastes pushes Colette to want to confess her feelings to Hades, but a certain somebody had to come in to ruin the mood. Be that as it may, it gets close to the point where that lovely magic should happen at any time soon, which, erm, we’ll get to that shortly.

This does lead into what is sadly the weakest part of this volume of Colette Decides to Die: a return to the surface world. The time for Colette to return to her own workplace arrives, as she, Lord Dionysus, and (maybe) Lord Hermes head off. There are some interesting moments, ranging from Dionysus checking on an old friend to Colette showing that even women can do an apothecary’s job. But most of my time reading these parts, my brain kept on asking, “When’s Colette going to return to Hades?” The answer: 170 pages later!

Thankfully, when Colette does return to the underworld, we are gifted with some fantastic chapters. A nice evening chat between our heroine and Hades, some gossip with the skeletons, and — most shocking of all — a love confession! The fact that romance happens in the midway point of the series took me by surprise! Nevertheless, bravo!

So where does Colette Decides to Die go from here? Considering there are still four more books left of this dual-volumed manga, one can only wonder what Alto Yukimura has in store for her characters for the rest of the story. One can only hope that there will still be plenty of things to learn about the gods and the underworld, and maybe we’ll see how Colette and Hades will grow as a couple. At the very least, the skeletons will be giddy about it all!

Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media. Click here to read past reviews of Colette Decides to Die!