For the first 16 chapters, this manga is peak. It has really good art, like really good artwork, on par with psychological anime known for their eldritch elements such as "The summer Hikaru died", or "August 9th, I Will Be Eaten by You". The narrative is really well done and we get a really believable depicton of a family man's fall from grace. Lots of other tragic manga depict characters who are suffering from EXTREME amounts of abuse, to the point that it's a little ridiculous and hard to take seriously. This manga does not do that. His living situation is extremely mild, and in spite of that, it's extremely believable that he fell so far. The depiction of his attraction to Shiina is very realistic. His reluctance to sleep with Shiina is well done and doesn't come across as gimicky. The pacing is good, there's the right amount of art. The characters have great chemistry. Every single thing about this manga is done perfectly, and then we get to the last chapter.
The only problem is that mangaka have this overarching problem where they are willing to compromise on the narrative direction of the story just for the sake of the "message". It would've made perfect sense if the MMC and FMC stayed together, given their relatoinship, and the fact that they were living together, and all that. We get no indication whatsoever that the wife wants anything to do with him. In fact, it seems like she doesn't really like him, and trying to squeeze a little character arc for her into the last chapter ultimately ruined the manga's ending. I guess the message was supposed to be that bad people have bad things happen to them? Even though we get every indication that there is a perfect storm for the MMC to pull his life together and raise his daughter. And then, it's implied that FMC will abort the baby because she sees how she is only wanting the baby for herself, just like her mother. But then we cut to her having the baby anyways? It's super anticlimatic and spits in the face of the entire plot before that point.
There's also nothing meaningful in the last chapter. We don't learn more about any of the characters except the mother. But she wasn't treated as important whatsoever so it's just forced. Our protagonist could've been literally anyone, beacuse we don't get to see the unique facets of his personality which are showcased throughout the story up to that point. We don't see any unique aspects from Shiina except that she's a not necessarily a bad mom, I guess?
If your tragic ending makes no sense up until the ending, then it's just a bad tragic ending. For that I'll rate this a 9/10, because aside from the abysmal ending which unironically would've been better if they axed it at chapter 16, it was a really good manga.
