I didn't fully realize how much of manga is fantasy until I discovered this relentlessly realistic manga. Even most of the usual slice of life manga stories are fantasies, in that the people are much prettier and much nicer to each other than are most people in real life, and their surroundings are richer and more exciting.

This manga, on the other hands, tells it like it is. It's not that it presents stories that wallow in trouble or tedium, though God knows much of real life consists of those two states. Rather this manga reflects the QUIETNESS of everyday life, where big things happen but mostly inside us. Through our minds and spirits pass big hopes, dreams, emotions every day and hour, while routine stuff goes on around us. The main story presented in these few chapters is a slice-of-life tragedy, and you don't realize that until a while after you've finished reading it.

... Last updated on December 5th, 2020, 1:27pm

I liked this anthology, and if you can get past the art and listen to it's subtleties, it's a very interesting piece. I think all the stories work together because they offer such a scope on modern Japanese life.