Reviews

I've seen people get holy-handed angry about this series, claiming it's nothing more than dialled-back netorare (i.e. a subgenre of hentai revolving around a female lead cuckolding the male lead) or that it's comparable to School Days, of all things. The lack of imagination and empathy towards these characters when it comes to understanding that this is not simply "School Days 2017" but actually much more mature, intelligent, and hard-hitting than School Days could ever hope to be. Other people say that it's an uncomfortable anime to watch, and there again I don't get why they seem to think so. If this had been rooted deeply in the Seinen genre with despicable, lousy characters who possessed extremely cynical and cruel personalities and set against a painfully realistic storyline, I would understand. But no, this story doesn't. It's more interested in presenting the world through the eyes of Hanabi and Mugi, two teenagers who, despite their aching hearts, are still pretty well-adjusted teenagers that haven't completely and totally given themselves up to angst like Catcher in the Rye or the insanely annoying "moral nihilism" that pop up in series featuring Light Yagami expys.

Some people also claim this is basically soft-core porn, also like School Days. I for one do not feel like a voyeur when the implied sex scenes occur. Rather, I feel like they are handled elegantly and tastefully while still being realistic in the context that they're placed. Closeness and intimacy are what these characters desire, and sex is a vehicle for those desires to be found. Characters react realistically to each other, libidos are naturally strong in teenagers like Mugi and Hana and they've found reciprocating outlets to express those sexual desires of theirs.

A compelling theme that also underlies the story is the question as to whether unrequited love can be compartmentalized in order to make room for other relationships, or if it truly "doesn't matter" if the love isn't reciprocated as long as the two are still in close proximity and on good terms. Is being in their presence "enough" for a person, or does it only serve as a constant reminder of what they don't, or can't, have? And at what point does unrequited love step graduate from private suffering to underhanded imposition on the uninterested object of affection? Are people obligated to recognize and return the feelings of those who feel so strongly for them, even if it's acknowledgement? More than that, does love breed love -- that is, can a person be swayed to develop similar feelings in turn after bearing witness to another's devotion to them?

The balking at a story such as this is simply proof that people believe love to be a static and definable thing when in fact it is as ebbing and amorphous as water. It manifests itself in different shapes and types, filling and emptying, freezing and thawing endlessly in reaction to, in synergy with, and in anticipation of the actions of others. If exploring the entirely gray world of love is something that makes you feel uneasy, then watch something else that saves you the pain of prompting you to re-evaluate your own personal relationships and what those relationships mean to you by just telling you "These relationships = Good; Everything else = Bad".