Unfortunately, I can’t sing the praises of the remaining chapters. “Gold, Sky, and Tears” is painfully generic, giving a brief glimpse at the “forbidden love” between two half brothers. Obviously, incest isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think even those who find it appealing won’t be very engaged by this. There just isn’t much to it.
The following story, “Those Who’ve Sunk to Rock Bottom,” was more interesting, but kind of for the wrong reasons. These chapters include some pretty graphic scenes of sexual assault and suicide, so I really wouldn’t recommend them to those who can’t tolerate those themes. Despite this, I thought that the main pairing in this one was fascinating; the narrative explores how these two damaged people have built a relationship out of self-loathing and spite. However, their dynamic became somewhat “wholesome” in the end, and it felt extremely unearned, leaving me with a very sour taste overall.
I’ll give credit where it’s due, though: throughout all these chapters, Kaya Azuma’s art is really, really well done. The variety and intensity of the facial expressions they draw, especially, are a huge highlight. It’s just a shame that that’s the only throughline; the tone throughout this collection is so wildly inconsistent that it gave me whiplash. The two “Eiji & Shirou” stories are the only ones that felt particularly novel, and they’re the only ones that I would recommend wholeheartedly. The remaining chapters probably aren’t worth your time.
