Purgatory Funeral Cakes

by | Jun 10, 2026

In a world very like our own, despite fox-headed doctors and three eyed people being utterly ordinary, people know what happens after death. Crow gods meet the souls approaching purgatory, advising them how to cross harsh plains to reach the Gate of Rebirth. As a parting gift, they create a delicious dough that will last the 49 days the journey takes. Once the living learned of this practice they began to make funeral desserts for their loved ones.
This manhwa follows two clients seeking special cakes for the recently dead from Margot’s bakery. Her interviews pull out essential characteristics of the deceased, then she and her assistant Miro—who appears as skeletal arms emerging from a sheet with eyeholes as she kneads dough—procure specialty ingredients, infuse words and emotions into the cake, and create a perfect, lovely dessert that lets their clients find a bit of peace as they continue on their own difficult grief journeys.

The first client is an author who helped a chronically ill blind woman love life again by reading her work in progress to her, whereas the second is a young woman who is unsure how well she knew her mother because the schedules of a truck driving vampire and high school student were nearly opposite.

This is an excellent title to entice fans of Japanese and Korean healing fiction novels such as Marigold Mind Laundry by Jungeun Yeun or The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi. Even if they aren’t graphic novel fans already, they’ll be familiar with episodic tales tucked within frame stories beautifully exploring the bittersweetness of love and loss, the exploration of perspective power to temper regret, and the importance of finding people who understand.

It’s illustrated gorgeously, primarily in black and white but often incorporating shades of red to stunning effect, whether it’s a lovely pink sunset highlighting melancholy or a deep red fruit filling dripping from a cupcake. Many panels are intricately detailed, whether in the sense of emotion drenched portraits or full of tiny elements that expand the world building subtly.
The dialogue is occasionally a little clunky or repetitive, presumably to match the original speech bubbles, but the prose on expository pages is uniformly lovely, creating a craving to know even more of this world. The perfectly plotted story is tender and sweet, despite the sadness that coats both women’s journey and readers will be eager to arrive at the reveals about why Margot engages in this work.

I’d certainly recommend this for any library collection, but especially for libraries engaging in book clubs or programming such as death cafes of grief support groups. As previously mentioned, this should be a good crossover title between prose and graphic literature. The story is likely best suited for adults, though loss is certainly something people can experience at any age. While people don’t need the grief experience to appreciate these stories, I believe that the experience adds an extra layer to the narrative. It’s an exploration of why and how everything matters, without pushing definitive answers or advice on readers.

With volume two releasing June 23rd, now is the perfect time to start the series. 

Purgatory Funeral Cakes
By Sanho
Dark Horse, 2025
ISBN: 9781506751351

NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+)
Creator Representation:  South Korean,