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Sometimes, people will just fail to see the nuance in a story even if it's presented to them in the most obvious way. I think this can be said for Adabana.

The manga is pretty good, both art and plot-wise, but it can be a bit confusing at times. You can piece it together though if you thoroughly read the dialogue, so no big deal.

Throughout the story, Mako goes through unimaginable horrors, and her close friend, Mizuki, pieces it all together- but sadly, only after it's too late. The story of these two girls are sad, but Mako's life is the obvious tear-jerker. She's just 18, ... legally an adult but still so immature and childish. Very naive, but that was her charm.

She's taken advantage of so brutally, and betrayed by every single person around her except for Mizuki (...discounting the dismemberment because there was a valid reason to that), and I couldn't wait to unravel her story. Her relationship with Akatsuki was not very smart of her, but she's constantly seen as nothing more than a 'stupid' girl and she even repeats that to herself, so she can't find the will power to look beyond and see the error in her ways because she put herself in this self loathing box.

Mako believes Akatsuki when he says that he's handled her abuse, and falls for him. Mako is dumb in that sense, but she's also a young girl in love who hasn't had enough romantic experience with men to know that they can utter false promises despite appearing like their knight in shining armor. Like, can't a girl just hope that the ray of light in her life is just that and nothing more? We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the characters we're reading about, after all.

Anyways, Mako's role in the whole switcharoo thing near the end was honestly great, and I was so invested in the narrative of the first few chapters that it came as a great shock when I realized that it wasn't Mizuki who actually killed her. That whole bit was a great subversion, and anyone who didn't see it for what it was- the mangaka portraying how Mizuki is a great actor who would do anything to prove her side of the story, by believing her own lies and making others feel the same way- well, they're just plain boring. After learning of her father's role in her abuse, it makes sense that Mako would just lose sanity for a moment. Though, the whole blurb about Mizuki actually killing the uncle near the end confused me and I still have no conclusions about it.

Additionally, my other gripe with the story is that the antagonists are very one dimensional. They are the bad guys, and they have no other character traits besides that. I've read many manga like it, and it doesn't bother me, personally, but it lessens the impact of the overall story. The ending was very abrupt too, and a little unsatisfying, but Mizuki's daydream and day at 'Magic Country' more than made up for it. I'm a sucker for endings like that anyways, and well, it affected me enough to write this review about it anyways.

The art is beautiful. Solid 8/10.
Story is good. 7/10.

Worth a read if you're in the mood for something a little more mellow.