I avoided reading this manga because from some comments, it seemed disturbing and disgusting.
I take all those words back.
What we have here is a manga version of something not far from reality todayy.
This manga may have lots of mature themes and some people thought this was so fake and disgusting but it isnt.

Although i'm long into high school now, i know some of my old classmates from primary school who aren't virgins anymore and let me tell u, they still have a 2 years until graduation. And yes like Ayu they havent dropped skwl but thats what got me more scared. I kno 50% of my old classmates both girls and boys are doing *** related things for money or for playing around with rough guys and its just so shocking for me because i grew up with them.
When i read Ayu's story, i really hoped that they could change, but very soon as so Ayu's accident won't happen to them.

I wish wish wissshhhh Ayu was there to see grown up Yoshiyuki!! He's soo good looking!!!

This series was amazing and Ayu was such a good hearted girl, she just didn't know this enough in her life to save herself.

... Last updated on April 27th, 2010, 9:39pm

God this author surely can write depressing mangas. Her storytelling ability is pretty damn awesome. There is something so profound in her works and it really is quite emotional. The only problem i find is that in her works at the end she offers hope but only in words but not in actions. The characters live a tragic life, they try to break out of it but ultimately at the end they are doomed to fail. Her words speak of hope at the end, hope for something better but these words come across as being empty because the characters involved are unable to break out of the cycle so how is there hope when they have failed to do so and when they die such sad deaths. a few words doesn't really offer hope.

Wow, words cannot come to describe how great this manga is. It portrays so much and gives so much to the reader to think about. It's tragic and sometimes too much for me to handle, but man it's just incredible.

Ayu exhibits a person who has lost all hope where everyday is a dreary reality of her existence. But our humaneness is something we innately have, something that makes all of us human, what makes Ayu human, as well.
The manga will wrench your heartstrings as each page would narrate her life. The moment of love and sacrifice is so pure that it just makes the story so amazing and wonderful. This manga is an astounding work of art!

This manga was terribly, terribly sad. Not to mention depressing. What killed me the most was that when there were happy parts, something sad was unfortunately bound to happen.

This manga made me cry more than I would like to mention, so if tragedy isn't your thing, then you probably shouldn't read this.

This was a WOWING manga.. i CRIED for this xP thoo there were sum parts that i HATED, but all is good ;] -sigh- this opened my eyess.. ;P LOL. Although it was a sad ending...i still like it<33

It was alright. I liked the message it sent to girls out there somewhat like Ayu (there probably are girls like that) and the art was definitely very pretty. It was way depressing towards the end and some characters (cough Yoshiyuki's dad cough) made me so mad I wanted to throw a knife at the computer screen. But other moments were so sweet, like with Granny and when they went to the beach. An up-and-down kind of manga with a fast-paced story. It's not long and that's what I like about it.

this manga is really awesome!.,it's different from any other manga i've ever read...i totally cry whenever i see Ayu suffer..and their's are a lot of scene that you will never expect to happen..

Two volumes only but it is better than 300-chapter manga out there. Good reading for me cos I'm so used to getting everything I want, that missing out on trivial things makes me upset and cry. But Ayu's life (and a lot of other people's) was obviously a lot harder than mine so I should be grateful :-)