It's easily one of the best mangas I've ever read.
From the very start, elderly people are one of the most invisible age group that ever existed. That goes triple for elderly women. Most stories I've read tend to settle in portraying them as either a pleasant side character to give a dash of wholesomeness, or a "shut up boomer' figure, a borderline immovable character so stuck in the past.
Not here. This story treats all these elderly with more than just compassion, showing them as ...individuals, really. A person with a life, with dreams, with fears, with sufferings both spoken and unspoken. The story takes its time carefully fleshing out its cast, giving even the most annoying character a surprising yet much-welcomed nuance.
On top of that, Sanju Mariko has its fingers right on the pulse of Japanese elderlies' struggle. In a time where Japan's ageing population is a very real problem, this story kindly takes a grounded and heartfelt look at their lives.
Reading this, I am struck by just how well the story portrays the elderly life. Their joy, their struggle, the way they try to fit in the constantly changing times.
The way the story mirrors the struggles with the woes of the publishing industry is also very smart. Both of them can be said as relics of the past, almost swept by the tides of time...and yet as they struggle to survive, making one sacrifices after another to get by, these elderly writers still burn with passion and dedication to their life and craft.
And it's not just the elderlies. The story also looks at the people around them with a touching compassion. From their families, all struggling with life on top of taking care of their aging parents, to the young people encountered by our characters, the story portrays the cast with as much understanding and love as they do with the elderly cast.
Everything is also very well-written. Pacing is on the slower side but it doesn't feel that way at all, with the story expertly exploring numerous topics and plot threads in the span of a single chapter. From one arc to another, the story jumps left and right with the youthful vigor of a teenager, and yet it still manages to look at everything with the wise and weary eyes of an elder.
And if you, by any chance, either lives with or worse, takes care of an elder...then HOOO BOOY the emotional damage. I feel it so deeply.