This manga is unequivocally a masterpiece. I was scrolling through the manga pages, thinking I'll find something light in yuri, but dear God, did I choose the worst yet best yuri I've ever read; I cannot believe how deep it hit.
I binged the entire manga in one sitting, and late at night too — the worst decision I could make, 'cause I could not sleep at all. It felt like there was a lump in my throat.
Man, I don't even know where to begin. At first, it seems like a cliche, you know, the normal 'depressing' yuri you'd get. It starts off a bit vague and sets the tone, and then it slowly just descends into absolute vehemence.
This is one of the few times I've genuinely had to stand up from my chair, and take a damn walk around the park, 'cause goodness is it dense. It fits so much together in so little, yet it doesn't feel forced. It feels almost... real. Like that's how things feel in real life. One moment everything's fine, another, it's all gone.
This manga doesn't need extreme tropes. It doesn't need sexual violence. It doesn't need any fancy theme to convey the emotion. No, it's just... something that's inevitable. It expresses hopelessness and hope with such seamlessness that I don't have the words to describe what I'm feeling. It's a bell curve of hope and despair: it starts with a promising start, then everything goes downhill, and the ending feels... expected. It's like you know something's going to happen, but you still can't do a thing about it. I'm not sure if I'm clearly articulating my thoughts, but this is what it feels like. The ending isn't forced, for me. It's necessary. I don't see how it would end any other way with the same level of excellence. This is entirely subjective, naturally.
I would absolutely recommend this to all those who feel lost (along with, you know, yuri-enjoyers), because this feels like the embodiment of overcoming yourself.
But, as life has it, you'll never overcome something without a sacrifice. You can't simply change things; you need to give something up. Be it your comfort zone, be it a habit, be it anything. You lose something to change something, and sometimes, we learn this the hard way. This manga feels like the materialisation of making that mistake of believing that 'it won't happen to me'.
This goes to show just how cruel time is. So cruel. You don't have time; you have the present. It seems extremely cliché, but it's true. Really.
And, be ready. Be prepared to cry, to sob, to catch a breath while reading. Pause, stop scrolling. Just let it sit in.
This is but a crude summary, so please, take it with a grain of salt.
(I can't write further. It would be ignorant of me to ruin the reader's experience by writing any further. Thus I fill these gaps with '...':)
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