this story is not a matter of drama. which is quite breath of fresh air, as it is so easy to overdramatize these issues in ways which can actually detract from their impactfulness and rooting in the real world (because there is, obviously, a very real-world subject matter being dealt with here). the main character's memory issues are not obviously trauma-related from the beginning, but the sense of wrongness that begins to encroach further in makes the flippancy of the other characters' (who are outsiders to the situation) disparaging comments all the more painful.

contrary to pierzing's comment, i actually think the author did a wonderful job resolving the story in the end--namely because there wasn't much of a resolution to speak of at all. it's easy to misinterpret the understatement of the ending as a minimization of the issue, but i hardly think that's the case. yes, however this is by no means a sign that "all of the trauma" went away. quite the contrary, as fukano states that it is something so awful that he will never be able to forget. but granted, there is a note of hopefulness at the end; it is very well-deserved--the ability remember the trauma opens up the possibility of processing it and thus recovering (to a degree).

asahi doesn't go into what happens after his memory is recovered--only hints slightly at the implications--but it's clear that just as mightymaeve said, the story was only meant to be small glimpse at a much bigger and more longitudinal picture. and for that small piece that it painted, it indeed did so masterfully--with all of the respect and gravitas that the issue deserves.

This oneshot delves briefly into a certain mentally injured boy's psyche, showing us a glimpse of the brittle nature of the human consciousness.

However, the first part of the story keeps on harping on the disability of the character, making him very unlikable. It was tiring to continue reading, having to endure the continual insults and unsympathetic comments hurled at the main character done by the mangaka in order to let the audience know how serious of a problem it was. As the saying goes, "Show, don't tell."

Another flaw was that the simple resolution in the end reduced the actual gravity of the main conflict and made it seem pointless. It unnecessarily simplified the whole story and made the story very unbelievable. This was the one thing that did it in for me.



The concept was interesting but the unsatisfying end coupled with its badgering premise made this one shot not very inspiring and memorable.

... Last updated on October 22nd, 2012, 4:51am

The main character must've been told "you're stupid" or "you really are stupid" 3 times on each page! That's just too negative for me. Even his 'friends' were saying he's 'really stupid' to his face. That's just too negative. Whose friends call them stupid multiple times a day everywhere they go? If that's a friend, who has enemies? It's unnecessary to have even his friends CALL him stupid to depict his inability to remember things. Plus, I don't like planting the idea in kids heads that calling anyone 'stupid' is OK, especially saying that to your friends. That's how you hurt your friends and turn them into enemies or damage your friendship so that it might not recover.

This psychological piece managed, in 25 pages, to captivate me, put a lump in my throat and make me marvel at the human brain's ability to save itself from going 'crazy' until one is ready to deal with the 'awful stuff.'

It was very brave story, touching on issues not often addressed, because of gender roles. The art work was beautifully matched with the simple yet profound story. The shots and angles work to perfection for drama. And the illustrations of the boy's fear and confusion verses the odd 'smiling' reactions of the teacher were chilling at times, without 'monsterifying' the person that is the teacher.

It left me truly pondering what kind of teenager/adult would this boy grow into? I also liked how there was no involvement of annoying know-it-all official, negative enforcers/punitive public figures; rather, it was ended on more of a self-resolved, realistic approach.

Although I desired more depth of background and future for the two characters, I'm satisfied with where it ended, because it was only meant to show an important piece of a bigger pie.

... Last updated on May 30th, 2009, 5:08am

this short story is about a boy who continually forgets with out knowing why,
and of course there is a female teacher who has a thing children
now i wonder what he wants to forget
read it and find out