The premise is very simple, it's about two boys (Tanaka and Nakata, Nakata being the main narrator) who are often said to be very similar to one another. Their names are written similarly, their physical stature is similar, their music taste is similar, even their reasons for spacing out are similar and at some point even their crush is seemingly the same. And that's where all the fun part is at. They find out all their weird and unexpected similarities and a friendship grow out of it. After a while it's not much of an annoyance as it is just something fun to be laughed about.
**SPOILERS START**
But all that changes when Tanaka starts dating Tanigaki, the girl who was supposedly the crush they had in common. At first Nakata is confused about why looking at them is so painful but slowly he realizes that not only his actual crush was Tanaka but also that he can't do anything about it. The similarities they used as foundation of their friendship, that they so desperately clung to as proof of their friendhip, were no longer as noticeable as before. Little by little they started decreasing (as it was masterfully shown by the second contrail) and that's where the painful part is. Throughout this part, we can see Nakata being miserable every time he sees Tanaka and Tanigaki interacting.
The painful part reach its peak when Nakata realizes he was unconsciously mimicking Tanaka and finding reasons to think of him as someone special. Their physical stature might be similar (but not the same as Futaba points out to Nakata), but they're both average, that's not uncommon. They might listen to the same songs but is it that uncommon to go back to listening to an artist after a friend mentions them? Maybe they were both looking at the contrail in the sky but if you saw a friend randomly looking out the window you'd surely get curious and look at it too, right?
At the end, all their funny similarities were either pure coincidence or the unconscious act of looking for connections with someone. Now the reason for their friendship, their foundation seemed empty and pointless. And when they both realize that is when the painful part ends and the confusing part starts.
As Tanaka also realizes that he's also been clinging to their similarities we get the first, and only, glimpse of what he thinks about it as he realizes he also feels something for Nakata despite being with Tanigaki. We have a very passionate kiss and as Tanaka desperately asks Nakata to love him, Nakata confesses his feelings for him.
For a second we think "well, all's well that ends well, right?", but no. Right after, when they're kissing (yes again), they get caught by Tanigaki, which leads to both instantly apologizing. But as Nakata points out, "I'm pretty sure... even though we said the same words, we don't mean the same things", and their blurry friendship or relationship reaches a stalemate that is never really resolved.
By the end, all we get is Tanaka asking Nakata "how can you say that you love me?" and upon hearing the explanation asks that Nakata does not leave him so that someday he might come to feel the same.
It's bittersweet and it's confusing. We don't know what's going to happen, nor what's happening. We're not sure about their feelings, but they are not sure about it either, as it's shown by the last contrail, now with the positions swapped in contrast to the first one.
**SPOILERS END**
My score is not as much for the story and the characters as it is for the awesome storytelling. You can feel the author carefully thought about how to tell this story.
During the funny moments (first contrail) we laugh with the characters, we think it's cute and lovely. During the painful moments (second contrail) we feel heartbroken, we can feel the pain the characters are in. During the confusing moments (third contrail) we have the bittersweet feeling they also have, we are as confused and somewhat unsatisfied as they are.
Of course something can, and should, be said about the plot and the characters that are somewhat weak and not as deeply explored as they could have been, but also oddly interesting. It shows well how sometimes we have no choice but cling to the little things in hope they mean something greater awaiting in the future, but to talk more I would have to extend the spoilers section and that's not the point of this review.
The author managed to capture and convey exactly what their characters were feeling throughout the story (but most noticeably at the contrail pages, I apologize for mentioning them so often but I just think they were very impressive), it honestly felt like a rollercoaster and it was a delight to read.
If I were to describe and compliment it in a short sentence, I would say "it moved me".
