I really didn't expect this to be my favorite anime that I've watched this year as of writing this, but it is, and for good reason too. There's several different reasons for this, so I'll break them up into separate sections.

This anime's main theme is Accepting Reality, but I'd divide this theme into two different parts: those being accepting who you are and accepting life as it is. Now, from here on, there will be mild stories, nothing directly spoiling, but enough to reveal the main arcs for the two main characters.

Reiko is a copy of a Reiko that lived once before; however, they're completely different. At first she wants to be just like the Reiko before so that she can receive Kudo's love. But she realizes that she's not truly living and enjoying her life, trying to act like someone else nor is Kudo receptive to her acting that way. Over time, she comes to realize who she truly is and embraces her own life rather than someone else's. She goes from this timid character wanting to be someone else to a strong person with confidence in herself.

As for Kudo's arc, he lost Reiko and ever since then has been devastated. He isn't able to accept the reality of her being gone. Now there's much more to his arc, I'm trying my best not to spoil, but he truly struggles to accept she's gone--to the point he's no longer grounded in reality and refuses to accept reality. While Reiko is given more screentime and, admittedly, I like her better, I like Kudo's arc more. He's almost like a side character throughout the anime, but his grief is such a main factor to the story and how he copes with that, that it really makes an impact on, of course,e the story, but also the watcher.

As for the story, it's really, really good. It's definitely more of a mystery than a romance, and my goodness, does it do a good job at a mystery. I was always guessing what was going on in the story, but I was never able to guess the truth of it. The story delivers little hints as to what's going on, but it never makes complete sense until the end. And when everything comes to fruition at the end, it was pretty wowing.

I'd also like to add on, I really like the representation of queer characters. I rarely see queer representation in anime, especially in a positive light, so it was really nice to see that being done. There was a queer relationship along with two gender nonconforming characters which were both really important to the story. I like how the story didn't make this seem abnormal, but just as normal as any other relationship or gender. I think it was done well, so I was really glad to see positive queer representation.

The animation was really good. It didn't wow me or anything but I'd still consider it to be pretty great. I like the character design a lot since it reminded me of 90s anime. The animation flowed well, and the movement and backgrounds all looked good! As for the music, I'm a big fan. I love the opening, I even added it to my playlist. The OSTs were also really good.

I'd highly recommend this anime. Especially if you're someone like me who likes psychological mysteries, but it feels like you've completed everything good, this anime is for you.