Reading the comments here shows you why we don't really have that many mangas that try to tell different stories or approach the writing process in a different way.
Most manga readers expect formulaic characters and plots. If you need confirmation for that, check the site for some of the most popular mangas, you'll see that most of the difference between them is in the art.
I like what the writer tried to do with this. Death was used in excess, but in many cases it was impactful both for the main character and for me, even the many times it had almost no setup.