The manga revolves around a magical alien with special gadgets that lands on planet Earth, before meeting a young girl who is, well, let's just say she has a pretty rough life. It sounds eerily similar to that of Doraemon's premise, but it takes this concept and explores some really dark and depressing themes of suicide, bullying. inferiority complex and more.
The plot flows really well, considering the fact that it only has 16 chapters. However it doesn't drag the story out and waste time on pointless moments; its snappy, thrilling story makes every chapter feel poignant and emotional. It does feel rushed at the end, but it's not too big of an issue personally.
The characters are also extremely well rounded. No one is presented as truly evil, or truly good. Takopi, the alien, is initially just a happy go lucky, sickeningly naiive creature, however as the chapters roll it's increasingly clear that Takopi isn't good; he just doesn't have a concept of good or evil, at least in the human sense. Shizuka is also a well done character; instead of being framed as an object of pity so that readers will root for her, the author shows her as a very human character. That being a human that has feelings of jealousy, of hatred, and of revenge. Other characters of note that shine very brightly despite the short span of the manga include the boy character, whose name eludes me at the moment, and the bully character, who serves as a believable foil and parallel to Shizuka's character.
The themes are also explored well for a 16 chapter manga. Violence and bullying will only beget more suffering, and the endless cycle will go on and on. The effects it has on people, especially children, is made extremely clear with its main three human characters, and it serves as a cautionary tale for parents to never ever treat their children in such a way, even though it might be understandable for them to do so. The final chapter of the manga presents an answer to the endless cycle of violence, and it's such a simple yet effective answer that it ultimately shows that this manga isn't a manga that is meant to simply shock you and horrify you. It is not mere despair porn. This is a manga meant to say something, and personally I think it worked.
The art is also impressive. The facial expressions are very expressive, which works wonders on the more emotional scenes, and the mangaka's ability to convincingly draw both light hearted and cute scenes and the more dark and harrowing moments is also worth commending. Some of the double page spreads do look wonderful.
Overall, give this a read. Looking at the MAL score, it's clear that not everyone seemed to love it, but I definitely did.
