This will contain spoilers for the entire manga. You've been warned. Please go read it for yourself.

The review will also be based on my first reread on the series. It was difficult to truly find words to express how I feel. I always brush it off and go with what my heart thinks. It’s how I’ve always rolled for most anime, and even the reviews I have posted currently were made on whims with not much true substance to them(Hell, my Nokotan review was even labeled as a “rambling” rather than an actual review.)

But for KimiTsuzu, I couldn’t. Everything in the story became so transparent and obvious, it was almost funny how many details I never noticed on my first read. It’s the first piece of media where, from the bottom of my heart, I want to speak my heart out, I want to gush about it, and I want to talk about it with others who share the same sentiment that I do.

The story portrayed gives me the ability to speak my mind out, to describe how I feel about every minute detail. Even though I don’t think words inserted inside an Anilist review will ever describe how I feel to a T, I’ll be able to voice everything more clearly than ever. And it’s because I decided to give this random manga a chance.

When starting KimiTsuzu, it’s obvious to most people how the story would end. However, it’s the path the story takes with such an obvious ending that makes it this impactful. It’s able to hook you with the concept and sticks with it until the end. You’re prepared for what’ll happen next, and it still grips your heart and doesn’t let go throughout its 32 chapter run.

Shizuku is a girl that’s simply shy and avoids any human interaction, and initially avoids Kaori entirely. However, the more we learn about Shizuku, the more her past is revealed and why she’s so adamant on not talking to others. It’s not just that it’s stressful, but that she’s inherently protecting others and putting herself inside a shell.

She has this belief that everyone will live better lives without her. She’s imagined herself as this person who could never, and should never, talk to others. With this belief engraved inside of her, she can no longer normally interact with others, and actively avoids them on the off-chance she harms them like she did 5 years ago.

But before that, she found her comfort in novels. The novels she read online, and got embraced in. They told stories of all genres , but Shizuku exclusively read the stories detailing tragedy and heartbreak. She believed that this is exactly what she deserved, and she, even then, punished and limited herself.

But when she posted her novels online, the only thing that she found solace in, she closed herself off again, because the story was similar to another news story a couple years back. If any other person saw this coincidence, they’d most likely brush it off. They simply wrote a story that happened to be similar to another real life story. It’d suck, but as a whole, it doesn’t matter. However, to Shizuku, this matters a lot.

She has already seen herself as a monster. Her mentality was already fucked. She couldn’t stand herself by this point, and she fell victim to the comments comparing the two and criticizing the similarities. Even when she found the one place she’d call home, it turned against her, making the spiral she was already in run deeper.

She was publishing the last chapter of her book when this scandal happened, so she decided to not publish anything at all. Her manuscript of the last chapter of Girls’ Love Suicide was nothing but garbage to her. It was going to be thrown away, the last of her writing.

But Kaori stops her.

Kaori is the X factor that turns Shizuku’s world of darkness into a bright utopia, but she initially comes across as suspicious. She randomly shows up in Shizuku’s life, takes her manuscript, and says they should start dating. Shizuku has every right to doubt what she’s doing. No matter what though, Kaori keeps pushing.

Eventually, on the first visit Kaori has to Shizuku’s house, she’s extremely distant. Kaori couldn’t get anywhere with Shizuku in her current state. However, on their first date, Kaori drops that she knew everything about Shizuku.

She knew about her back in Elementary. She’s aware of what she’s grieving over, and she wants to help any way she can. But Shizuku couldn’t get rid of the facade in her head saying she’s a monster. And Kaori’s kindness was incompatible with the monster Shizuku had forged inside her head.

She almost deluded herself into believing everything Kaori did was simply for revenge. If she had heard about it, why doesn’t she despise her like everyone else did? She was excluded, became enclosed, and eventually, started developing suicidal thoughts. And Kaori catched onto this when she had the manuscript. She even points out how Shizuku’s story’s ending read off as a suicide note, which Shizuku even agrees with.

And at the end of it all, Kaori breaks down, wishing for Shizuku to not kill herself.

It’s the first time we ever see Kaori vulnerable, showing who she truly is. At this point, any suspicion anyone might’ve had of her is gone. She’s shown who’s been hidden inside the core. She deeply cares for Shizuku, and that’s all it needs to be.

When Shizuku gets the opportunity to apologize to Ruri, the way they handle both sides is incredible. Ruri gets the opportunity to process how she can feel about Shizuku coming back into her life. Her feelings aren’t discarded, and she’s given a choice on whether to truly forgive Shizuku’s actions. At the very end, when she says that her wish is to give Shizuku another chance, her judgement is no longer clouded by the past, as she’s able to move on from the trouble that she had before and realize that Shizuku isn’t the same person that she was before.

Everyone around Shizuku realized that she’s changed, except herself.

However, Kaori makes Shizuku learn how to grieve, how to properly give time to others, how to deal with loss, and how to truly realize who you are. Shizuku, throughout the course of the story, has been more kind and understanding to others than how she imagines herself. She’s someone that, without realizing, has shown kindness and consideration throughout the story.

When she’s distancing herself from others, she’s worrying about how she’d harm others. When deciding to not publish the final chapter of her novel, it’s out of consideration for anyone who might’ve remembered the incident. When she doesn’t want to meet Ruri, it's out of fear that they’d be better off without her. She has always prioritized others over herself, and Kaori teaches her the importance of the balance necessary between caring about others and yourself.

When Kaori is finally hospitalized in the second half, everything flips on its head. When they first visit in the hospital, Shizuku says that Kaori can rely on her as well. Kaori has given her the confidence to say those words, that someone can be close to her. It’s the first time in years she’s opened her heart to anyone, and she wanted Kaori to do the same. It was, at first, uneven with Shizuku opening to Kaori only, but now it’s reciprocated in full.

Some of Kaori’s earlier lines are recontextualized because of her hospitalization. When she tells Shizuku that she shouldn’t die, she’s already close to death herself. She knows better than anyone else in the manga how it feels to think about death, to be scared of death. And when she breaks down in Shizuku's arms, whispering that she doesn’t want to die, it’s the most vulnerable we’ve ever seen her.

We learn from Kaori’s sister, Shiori, that Kaori has always tried to keep a smile on her face despite her issues. No matter who it is, she’d always greet them with a smile, and treat them with compassion despite her condition. And yet, she’s willing to open up to Shizuku. They both have an insane amount of trust in each other.

And when Kaori dies and Shizuku gets the opportunity to read her diary, everything Kaori has done makes sense.

When Kaori knew Shizuku back in Elementary, Shizuku was still as frank and honest as she was in the past. Shizuku told her that she looked cute without her glasses, and that she’d look better with contacts. Shizuku, to her, was someone she wanted to be.

Kaori was inspired to be like Shizuku then, and so she did. The Shizuku 5 years ago ended up being the person that Kaori became. And with Kaori carrying who Shizuku once was, she’s able to show the best traits Shizuku had 5 years ago, which allows Shizuku to improve and realize herself.

And in the epilogue chapter, Shizuku’s healed from her wounds of Kaori’s death: Her web novel is finally becoming an actual book. She brought back rings that Kaori mentioned that she wanted earlier on. Kaori still lingers inside her heart, but not as sorrow, and not as a bad memory.

Shizuku was able to move on fully because of her. She’s eternally grateful to Kaori for everything she’s taught her. The memories she had with her over a single summer is something she’ll never forget.

The story forever teaches you the ability to embrace, to accept others, to move on from guilt, and to become a person that you can be proud of. It’s not afraid to do this with a supposedly cliche concept at its core, and manages to deliver a heartwarming and inspiring story from start to finish.

The paneling and art is something I didn’t pay attention to on a first read, but on a reread, I’ve come to appreciate it. Every expression is perfectly defined, and once you’re rereading it, with everything contextualized by the end, pieces from the puzzle that you may have missed on a first read come back and make random scenes all the more impactful.

I’ve screenshotted specific pages and looking and how they’re created makes me uncontrollably smile. Some of these character expressions are truly wonderful and all of their feelings get communicated to you clearly.

If you’ve read this far into the review, do me a favor.

It doesn’t matter who it is; your significant other, your family members, a close friend of yours, someone you care about. Show them that you care. When they’re gone from your lives, no matter how sudden, don’t leave without regrets. Leave knowing that you were able to stay by their side and that the lessons they may have taught you should and will forever stay with you.

This story means so much more to me than just the lessons taught. It’s inspired me to even write some of my own stories, embracing what I can create. Just like my stories, I’ll be able to create something that I can be proud of, if I’m willing to change, and if I’m willing to spice things up, just like the characters in this story I admire deeply.

When you find the right community, kindness becomes more than just a luxury.

Thanks for reading.