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So, I started this manga today (5/23/18) because I saw it updated and thought “Why not I’ve been meaning to read this for a while,” not realizing that it was the final chapter updating. Now I’m writing this review in tears because I read the manga in one sitting.

A brief summary of what I enjoyed because I’m going to get long and personal after: Shimanami Tasogare is beautifully written with art that is gorgeous. The story is emotional, drawing you in, making you question how Tasuku will come to terms with his sexuality, showing personal issues LGBTQ people face, and leaves you in wonder ... about who Anonymous is. I recommend it to everyone, no matter their sexual or gender orientation, to read this manga.

Now a more personal and longer take on the manga:
What got me interested was that it was a story about a gay teenager who tries to kill himself after almost being outed. As someone who is herself a closeted queer person (bisexual) who has a history of suicidal tendencies, I myself know what it is like to go through these feelings and events. Very rarely am I able to see what myself and other LGBTQ people go through, especially in manga form, so the plot interested me greatly. As I read it, I saw a lot of connections between the LGBTQ experience, especially when it comes to the community made through it. I loved reading and seeing how the different people vented their issues with their own sexualities, whether it be destruction, screaming, or keeping it silent inside.

One of the parts I loved the most about the manga was seeing the community portrayed in such a positive light. The story revolves around the queer community and the choices Tasuku makes after becoming a part of it and learning more about what it means to be LGBTQ. From my own personal experience and research, it was so important and heartwarming to me to see him find this community as it does (both in the real-life community and in the story) become another family. This manga is extremely important as it shows the positive of the community, as well as internal struggles they have (such as not understand each other sometimes), but still shows how the community acts as a family and cares for each other. I want to get more into this by mentioning actual scenes but as to not spoil anymore if it I will leave it there.

Moving on (kind of) from the story, the other major part I loved about this manga was the art. Incredibly beautiful (several times I just stopped reading because Tasuku’s eyes were drawn so beautifully I just had to stare at them), the art was so well done and used to its full effect, helping the story and represent what these characters were going through internally. One of the best examples of this (that is early enough in the story that I’m not spoiling much) was at the end of chapter 3 when Tasuku realizes what he is feeling towards a classmate. The scene shows Tasuku breaking apart like glass, with the glass reflecting in classmate. In that moment he also says “No one look at me,” and I cried for a good long while after this part, because as mentioned before, I’ve been where he has been. I’ve seen multiple depictions of what it feels like to be in the closet and realize who and what you are feeling, and that was the first time I’ve seen someone get it so dead on to what I felt, both the breaking and not wanting people to see.

Shimanami Tasogare is an amazing manga that captures a great look at what it means to be LGBTQ, and it’s a manga I would recommend anyone read no matter their sexual or gender orientation.

If you were like me in 2011-13 and were in the right place and knew the right people, you probably already know a lot about this anime with certain parts being already spoiled for you. You've probably even been exposed to it in some way without realizing even if you weren't around for it's initial popularity. The reason I have this really weird opening is sort of a warning before reading the rest. I'm writing this as someone who has seen some major parts before actually watching it. I am not going to pretend that I watched it not knowing anything more then a brief ... summary. I hope this review can help anyone thinking about it who have never been involved but I really hope it can help people who were in the same boat as me who are thinking of watching it. Sorry for the weird opening, on to the actual review.

As mentioned before, I knew a lot about this show before even pressing play. Most of it was scenes of major events with little context outside of the fact that they came form this show and the major theme of "sad lesbians" that those who introduced me to it talked about. Knowing the majority of what happens and knowing it was going to be sad, I thought I wouldn't enjoy the story. Turns out I did really like it. It had the stuff I knew, and it pulled out some twists at the end that I actually didn't expect (that's why the last three episodes are my favorite). There isn't a single filler episode, and I can see where they tried to trick the viewers into thinking it was another magical girl show. There were likable characters, and there were non-likable ones. They are all usual tropes of females in anime but all end up changing to something different then their tropes, which I really liked. It actually resulted in a character whose trope I usually like being one of my least favorite characters, and in a show with only about 7 to 8 characters that really matter that is saying something.

I found the art to be really interesting, because while the "anime" parts weren't the best (if you pause randomly through the first episode you get a lot of funny screen shots), the witches were amazing. Their designs were different, their looks unique, each being different from the last. They were so detailed down to the movements, it was obvious how much care was put into them and it made them all really special to me. There wasn't to much variety in the music, but what was really great for me was the opening and ending songs. The opening song was upbeat and interesting, and never changed even after you realize the show is more then meets the eye. The ending song was my favorite though, because not only was it intense when played at different points of the anime, the ending animations for it were creepy to me that now the sound of it outside of the anime is enough to unnerve me.

Overall I think it was a good anime. It had it's good parts and it's bad, and where certain parts lacked others were strong. If you were like me, I'd say watch at least the first couple of episode to see if you are interested in seeing the rest (for me the biggest spoilers came within the first 4 episodes). Like I said, overall it was good, not really something I'd watch over and over again, but I'd say watch it at least once to see what everyone was into.

This anime was one of the first I ever watched that wasn't dubed to be a kids show, and it was the one that had one of the biggest impacts on me.
I've never been one for horror, usually I end up crying and turning any horror movie/show off after the first jump scare. This is one of the few things from the horror genre I was able to watch all the way through. Don't get me wrong, this scared the shit out of me when I watched it, so much that for a long time I was afraid to leave my house at night and ... I still can't sleep with my closet open (pro tip: don't watch scary stuff right before you go to bed and after you eat that one food that always gives you weird dreams). What kept me was how interesting the stories were and how you never really guessed what would happen next. But the huge thing for me was the characters. There wasn't a character that I didn't fear at one point and I didn't love at one point. They were all so interesting and kept me sucked into the show.
I would absolutely recommend this anime to anyone who loves horror and gore, and to anyone who thinks they can handle it. Just don't watch it before bed.