Reviews

Excellent. Heartbroken, melancholy warmth. Deftly navigates the situation it depicts. Fiction is metaphor made real, in here, the metaphor is more than real. I can feel mass. Ironic how it relates to disappearing from the senses. The emotions it tries to weave through don't always feel real, human communication breaks down so much easier than that, but it does not need to feel real. I cannot help but feel that my desire for it to go otherwise is a want to be cynical in the face of something that posits a reality where understanding could exist —concurrently with cruelty— fluid and yet blunt. My cynicism is no match for the heart this text has. The text tells a moving story beautifully.

On the art. It has been my unfortunate experience that manga with a strong bent towards exploring emotions and complex topics deliver despite the art. Here, the manga is made perfect by its phenomenal art. Whitespace. It isn't surprising that a text that deals so intimately with "wanting to disappear" relies on emptiness as its primary visual metaphor. But the way it deploys it is incredibly beautiful. Especially incredible given how much of it there is, framing the characters, highlighting panels, and maintaining the pace and mood. High-contrast illustrations. The art has incredibly high contrast; greys are relegated to the construction of backgrounds, with the characters being monochrome. It pulls you towards the characters, whose faces and bodies are beautifully —and confidently— drawn. The manga wants to make a statement by showcasing the characters' emotions, and it refuses to stand in its own way while it makes it.