Here's my personal rating of each of the stories:
#1 Shiki no Zenjitsu: 8/10 Intimate, unexpected, serene in a very particular way. An emotional opener that fulfills its role perfectly.
#2 Azusa 2-Gou: 10/10. This one tugged on my heartstrings hard, so much brevity and emotion in so few panels. Easily one of the best short stories I've read in a while - both in manga, and in literature.
#3 Monochrome no Kyoudai: 9/10. Masterful approach towards reminiscence and a very, very pleasant flow of the dialogue. Touching in a bittersweet way.
#4-5 Yumemiru Kakashi: 8/10 This is the only story that takes up two 'chapters'. Interesting characters and a rather rare (for a manga) setting. However, I feel the story lacked something.
#5 10-gatsu no Hakoniwa: 6.5/10 The least interesting out of the bunch. A bit of a cliched story, and lacked the emotional punch or depth, to be honest. Still a pleasant read.
#6 Sorekara: 7/10 Were it not for giving us a glimpse into how #1 goes on, it would've been a 6/10. However, I feel that using the cat soliloquy paired up with the atmosphere is a very nice closure to this collection.
As far as the art goes, throughout it's rather nice. There ARE some characters that look slightly similar (especially men). However, many mangaka do this anyways. This particular art style is very fitting for the nostalgic mood present in all the stories.
In short: read this. It doesn't take much time, and the intensity of the emotions/stories is easily on par with a lot of long-running series. Great work. 8/10
