Kokou No Hito
Even though I wasn't that much on the overly detailed art, the story and narrative were so engaging, even from the first chapter I was already hooked and eager to read the next. If it had been physically possible for me, I would have read this in just one day, sadly half of my day didn't allow me to, so it happened in two. Ignore the 170 chapter count, the chapters are slightly shorter than most (16-20 pages each) and even with that, the story just grabs hold of you so much that you just go through chapters like lightning. There about 3/4 in I made the mistake of forgetting this was based on a real life story and dared consider "even though this thing has been killing off characters left and right, there's no way they're gonna kill off the main character, so it's all good!"... on the last 15 chapters I knew that there was no other way for this to end other than some miraculous fantastical ending that you only see in fluffy stories. The moment that he started seeing Rokka in her wedding dress.... it was just as good as if he had died right then, that's what happened to that other attacker dude that died early on the story (seeing his "future"). But even knowing all that, it still is pretty heart-wrenching as you're reading it happen (and if it's like me where the feeling stays, even after you finish it). I don't know how faithful was the mangaka's storytelling compared to the novel's author but they were DEFINITELY good at making you feel Buntarou's emotions, even as "non-expressive" as he was portrayed to be.
Sakura Ryou March