It is not easy to label Hirayasumi as this or that, defining it as a single genre is difficult due to the complexity of the work, It can balance a lot of different kinds of atmospheres and make the reading experience feel refreshing. Therefore, while ones might call it a slice of life/iyashikei and others might call it a character drama (which would be the one I'd choose between the two) I think it's of the most benefit to call Hirayasumi just Hirayasumi: A heartwarming and sincere study on the entanglements of life using different points of view to make a beautiful scenario.

Hirayasumi's strategy is to, via it's diverse cast of characters, show life and it's many stages in different lights: You get to see a freeter who doesn't have big ambitions just dealing with minor occurrences, an elderly woman faced with her loneliness and regrets, a student that just got into college with a big yet risky dream, etc. Although their situations are very different to each other, you can see how not only their struggles and anxieties are similar, but their desire to earnestly overcome them are the same as well! And even if the manga does not hold back on showing that sometimes problems that are just out of our control can haunt us and how ruthless everything can be to those that try to take an optimistic attitude, it still has a surprisingly uplifting energy to it that makes you feel better about yourself. It is honest to a fault that reality is grounded and things aren't always like how we dreamed they'd be, yet it manages to perfectly bring out this feeling of self-improvement and motivation. It does not try to embellish life itself, it embellishes, truthfully, those who are trying to live.

What is exactly that brings out this intense uplifting feeling that Hirayasumi evokes is something that I think is up to each on their own to decide upon reading it. Some might say that it's how relatable the characters are (which is a strong point to be made, as I write this I encounter myself in a moment similar to Natsumi's and seeing her go through what she does reached out to me in a very genuine way. If you are in a place in your life similar to any of the characters certainly Hirayasumi will reach out to your heart even more), others might agree with me that it is the embellishment of living, perhaps some might even say that it is just the soothing art style or the masterful paneling and I am just a self-important nerd that happens to be very sentimental, which is fine too! Ultimately, it's up to you to detach what you want from the many stories that Hirayasumi tells, be it negative be it positive, I just hope that it is as strong of a feeling as the one that it harbored on me, the one that made me so deeply moved that I decided to write a review on it.