Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata
The Summer You Were There

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I saw the writting on the wall before I even clicked the first chapter: Psycological, Medical & Tragedy tags. I steeled my resolve again when the translator's name was an Oyasumi Punpun reference. This would be a rough one.

This fragile romance between Shizuku and Kaori is slowly build and expanded upon, with supporting characters from the girls sisters to old aquitances helping to move the pieces into place. This is a nicely crafted narrative, well drawn and with great character. It does hold some emotional impact which is always great.

I rated this in the high end of 7/10, as it is simply too short. I ... actually got to bond with the character, despite it being this short, but it felt a little too "crafted for impact." A wholesome tragedy is certainly lovely, but the predictability does take the edge of the emotional response. I do recommend it, but I would also suggest checking out some nonwholesome tragedies, like Oyasumi Punpun or I Love Your Cruddy...

Nearly cried reading the English title and the first pages alone. Cried for like 30 minutes after reading the whole thing. 10/10.
Really well-written with like, a lot of memorable lines and moments, and just a really deep and like beautiful story all and all. Plus, the art style is just gorgeous. It's kind of like a typical friends-to-lovers "they kiss/confess and it ends," kind of plot, but if you replace the ending you know is going to happen with "yeah we're basically told one of the mains is going to die tragically." Go in expecting them to get together, it'll still be cute. Go ... in expecting tragedy, it'll still hurt like hell (if the mangaka does it right, which this one definitely did).

Oh my, this series is almost too sweet for its own good. I won’t spoil anything, but by the time I finished, I was absolutely devastated. The sheer sadness of it all really hit me—the story is incredibly captivating and emotionally gripping.

The main characters complement each other beautifully, making their connection feel genuine and heartfelt. The romance isn’t really there, but it’s not needed in this story—it still manages to be incredibly touching without it.
The art is stunning and the cover of volume 1 is one of my favourites.

Big recommend, but consider yourself warned: you might shed a few tears...