I feel like that says it all but that's not quite long enough for a review so I guess I'll try my best to write like this is a normal review.
Story (10)
I'm pretty sure I read the first chapter of this about 2 years ago and found it too disgusting to continue, but today I picked it back up and read 31 chapters in one sitting. The reason that I had so much trouble reading this at first is how realistic it is, and that reason also goes for why I read so much. I say realistic because I'm not sure what else to call it, it is somewhat unbelievable but you get the sense that this truly is happening and you can't leave. With most gore manga you can feel a layer of separation, however, I had trouble putting it up with this one. The pacing delivers hit after hit with no moment of rest, it's like you are being strangled. With that being said I feel it's disingenuous to call this torture porn, the events are layered on with expert writing and every character has a meaning.
Characters (9)
In manga like this with a heavy emphasis on psychological torture, the story is in the characters. What happens often in dark manga is they find a way to make you relate to the enemy or make the mc an enemy. This method is forgivable but can easily turn into a cop-out, this is definitely not a cop-out here; it felt completely natural and was vital to move the story along. There are even layers of this method, which makes it so hard to place the blame until you just can't help but blame everyone. In this way, we can see just how much this story forces you to sympathize with and understand Airi (our mc),
We are the viewer with no way to help her. That fact can often separate a character and you, but in this manga, it brings us closer to her.
(Spoilers?? maybe?)
She is also just a viewer of her life, her kidnapper and her both disassociate often. They are watching the story just like we are. As a certified disassociate-er I felt that these scenes were very important but overused. Along with out painful relation to the characters the characters (specifically Airi and Hiro) relate to each other, they truly feel like the only ones that understand each other. They are. The most realistic part of this story to me was Yuu, he could never understand Airi no matter how much he tries. He will try to fix her, which he calls helping, but she’s always been like this, it's just been waiting to come out. He is an honest and good guy but he could never understand.
(End of maybe spoilers)
Art (8)
The art is pretty until it isn't. Some pages are incredibly hard to look at. That is to say that the art is good and suits the story well.
There is a lot in this manga that hit hard and I would like to write down but that would be getting into spoiler territory and I'm not too great with words in the first place so I'll leave it with this: 10/10 I recommend.
