At the beginning, both of them are dumb and awkward, specially Sato, falling for a playboy, getting hurt and still unable to learn from her mistake, so she continues to make wrong choices by giving herself to a messed up guy like Isobe. He actually never has tried to understand Sato, he is far too much self centered, and Sato is still driving blindly through life but truly hoping to reach a safe place and even happiness. She tries to make things work with Isobe, despite he isn't a good choice obviously, but where they live there isn't much to choose from and Sato is far from perfect herself.

Long story short, Sato chooses to follow the proper path society offers to her. Did Isobe really ever care about about her? "I am only interested in your lower half" I can't imagine something worse than this to say to a lover, he's an asshole on the same level as Misaki. By the other hand, Isobe is contradictory, pretty commom condition among humans. More than once he asks for a kiss as a proof of true love, but a more mature love is yet to bloom in Sato's heart, her feelings are still a mess, however she is slowly getting her act together while Isobe goes in an opposite way.

Isobe was never interested in living an ordinary life, drowning in darkness he fails to notice the way out that is Sato. She may not be a magnificent golden door, but she is a hole (pun not intended) that leads to outside. Isobe doesn't want to leave the darkness, he's already addicted to it. The more Sato opens her heart to Isobe, the more he closes his to her. The timing was always amiss between those two. By chance Isobe finds "The Girl on the Shore" and as immature as Sato was at the beginning, he finally decides to follow the path of rightness that Japan's society offers to their youth but then it's already too late, he erred more than he was allowed to and the darkness refuses to let him go. I don't feel sorry for him.

... Last updated on July 31st, 2021, 12:50pm

I am not disappointed with this manga. As expected of the author of Punpun (not sure which came first, i read Punpun before this). The story depicts a part of reality, that some do go through this kind of growth.

The art is outstanding.
The whole text below is spoiler-ish.
I don't like the stuff that didn't happen because the stuff that did did. The point in that for me is that I did grow to care about it. One of the things I was not entirely in sync with was the certain 18+ scene. I love the significance that I had thought it represents though; Him loving her so much that her everything is perfect.
In another life.. I hope I'll get to have someone to have some perfect moments with, such those few for me perfect moments in the story.
I guess the word for this story is "realistic".
I was reading it without thinking to myself "Yea, sure.". Isobe's back story and the way he handled his response to the bloger were unquestionably realistic for me.
I would like to see Isobe and Sato see each other once again, by accident, with the whole meeting lasting a moment, making it immediately apparent how even still in that moment of the future they'd jump back in to their old selves and act immaturely without coercing themself into doing the "right thing" and prolonging the encounter, their image triggering a relapse of their past feelings for each other.. That's just one way it could happen.. Stories that do this to me, make me ponder like this... What more can I get, I guess.
Will they ever look back thinking how what they'd had was exotic, perfect, rare, and have a smile put on by the thought, knowing it's already been 10 years since and that the past is dead..
Sato did such a huge thing for Isobe in the end and he'll probably never have gotten to know of it.
During the time of them two, it was just time, and as it was coming to an end, the value of it became almost palpable.
In the end, you don't know what you have until you've lost it, and with that experience of the past, Sato is at the end seemingly on the beginning of another story. But is it another story, or will it now just be living life? That stage of her life was already written.
Will it bring her to say the words "I love you.", before she actually feels the feeling, will it make everything hard because she'll be awkward with herself not feeling the feelings she thinks that she should feel and if the situation was over would feel? This is getting too subjective of me, but it's lovely, to experience stories which achieve that.
Sato's childhood friend, Kashima.
Perfect implementation.
Exactly as it goes with some "childhood friends", from my experience.
They're not some big existence, they're just people you've known for a long time.


... Last updated on March 4th, 2021, 6:48pm

The thing with teen love and sex isn't that it's emotionless, it's just that they have all kind of feeling and are afraid to be honest with their feelings, which can lead to all kinds of disappointment and missed opportunities.We tend to also see life as something harder than it actually is. When we are young, we miss the mark, a lot, and umibe show that well.

As previously mentioned, it does not only have a potential but it actually is a japanese avant-garde literature in drawings; realistically presented scenes and lives of the modern people who have fallen in a deep abyss of depression and realization of the world in motion that surrounds them, especially the way the teenagers' minds work and see that world through their perception, prematurely stained with the dirt of the collective mistakes that humanity breeds even today. Premature loss of the innocence...

... Last updated on February 8th, 2014, 8:37am

If you are looking for something light-hearted, look elsewhere. Otherwise, prepare yourself for a real treat.
This is a serious, real-life, coming-of-age kind of story.
The drawings are great, very realistic and detailed. The characters are deftly fleshed out.They are teenagers but the story in which they are involved is utterly mature.

I'm truly impressed and looking forward to the next volume.

... Last updated on December 15th, 2011, 10:25pm

If you like realistic mature comics, then this is a decent read so far. It's only scanlated through the 1st volume so far but more should be coming soon. It ended at a severe cliffhanger.