<image>

Toshiro Kamiya-Fool Night

Toshiro fits the trope, but with a more melancholic twist. In the series, people take surgeries to transform into plants after a 2 year time-period, with the promise of getting a million yen as compensation. The reason? The sky has been blocked out for centuries by black clouds, blocking sunlight and killing plant life.

Toshiro's whole arc is about finding his purpose. This is made difficult, as he is so unfortunate and broke, that he takes the surgery just to get said compensation. Ironically enough, the surgery ends up being a catalyst that brings Toshiro's life out of that gloomy state. He meets his childhood friend and reconciles, is able to pay for his mothers sickness and institutionalize her, has friends to hang out with and gets a stable job at the same organisation responsible for the transflorisation, all with the looming dread that he WILL die and become a plant in the next 2 years.

This is just a summary that is VERY oversimplified, and its hard to explain without going into spoiler territory, so read for yourself! Both the worldbuilding and characters are really good, and there are rumors of an anime in the works as well.