Arisa

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I really enjoyed the story and the psychological aspects of this manga. It's overall pretty dark for a shoujo manga, but I think that it makes it a better story. The characters are very well thought out, and in the end you can really see how their psychological trauma is affecting their actions.

The boyfriend of the main character being a manipulator because of his traumatic past, with many of the characters narratives focusing on child neglect such as one of the main characters, Arisa. Her mother would often neglect her and instead she turned to an emotionally unstable person, Midori, who also barely even had ... a parental figure in his life because of abandonment. Supporting character Kudo was abandoned after his heart surgery, which had devastating effects on his mental health and his living situation. Even some of the minor classmates would talk about their parents finally noticing them when they were going to be at a big event.

I think the story really wants us to understand the negative emotional effects of child neglect and child abandonment, and to put us into the minds of someone who is neglected/abandoned, and what they feel. As well as write a narrative about how manipulation can hurt many people, and create a cult mentality. There's a lot going on behind the scenes.

It doesn't have to be as deep as that, but that's what I feel the story is trying to tell us, at least. Enjoy it how you want!

8/10, would read again!

Ando Natsumi did her best, slowly unraveling the mystery behind this story, although some parts were laughable in comparison with other mangas who share the same genre. Her cutesy art style does not fit with the atmosphere she is trying so hard to deliver. Also, the stakes and conflicts in the first and middle parts were neglected which weakened the impact of the "many" pay-off scenes. While the mood build-up and the ambiance were a bit of a disappointment, the characters were decent enough for me to finish the manga.

Now, this is a // warning! // the ending is quite problematic. It left such a ... bad taste in my mouth.

Oh boy at first this was an interesting idea and series but once it gets to around 10 chapters in they just keep trying to pull the rug out from under you again and again in a loop while the plot twist is actually just right in front of you. The answers and conclusion are all extremely dragged out to where it becomes comical that they're still going and trying to trip you up. If this series was only 1 or 2 volumes it would be pretty good actually but the length of constantly going in circles over red herrings is exhausting and the ending ... itself is what you'd expect.