Story : 8/10
Koume, our main protagonist, originally thought that sex was the only way of pleasing her first crush, Misaki. She accepted to do sexual things with him, thinking he would hang out with her but she was actually wrong. He was just using her as his toy. She then realized how heartbreaking having sex could be. In order to move on, she used her childhood friend, Isobe (who had loved her for many years), as a cure.
And here we go : they begin a « no-strings-attached » relation.
The fact is, some people could relate to this story.
We all try to be complete. We all want to escape from loneliness. When nobody seems to misunderstand us, we’re hurt, so, we tend to grab anything which could possibly save us from this nasty feeling.
Characters : 9/10
I will only focus on the main protagonists.
Koume acts egoistic, she only thinks about her own desires. She abused Isobe in order to fill her need for attention ; she NEEDS to feel praised, to be wanted by someone because of her loneliness (she only has one friend). She has a void within herself, a kind of nerosis she tries to fill with sex. She’s afraid of being left behind, we can feel it when Isobe takes his distances from her, but the point is she doesn’t want to be seen by his side at school, because she’s popular, and he’s considered as a kind of loser.
Isobe is quite the loner. His dad is always far away from home because of work and his brother committed suicide a while ago. All he wants is for his lonely home to be filled with warmth again. The only way of escaping his demons is to ask Koume to date him. After a while, he gets tired of having sex with Koume knowing she doesn't want to get involved : therefore, he gives up on her and tries to find his own happiness by falling in love with a girl he saw in a picture.
Content : 9/10
I saw some reviews saying that this manga only shows sex scenes, but there is definitely something deeper behind the scenes.
I think there is a tie between how Misaki used Koume and how Koume used Isobe (at the beginning of their relationship). They both were the toys of puppetmasters.
She was hoping that someday Misaki would love her, and Isobe hoped for the same. Sex was, in fact, a way to gain love.
They are both bored by what life offers. The more the story progresses, the more the characters pick up weird kinks (scatophily for example): it can be explained by their despair. They don't fit in with the society or with people in general and don't have any shame in sharing their sins with eachother, because in the end, they're both outcasts.
They have nothing to lose, not even their pride.
Art : 10/10
Everything Asano draws can be considered as a masterpiece.
