I don't know why, but Yamada's stories are always just too awesome for words. They resonate with me in a way that almost no other story (be it a book, a comic, a movie, a TV show, a song, anything) has before. I can't put my finger on it, but I love that woman's stories.
This story was too cute for words, seriously. I loved it! Noda had quirks that could legitimately belong to a real person. And I loved Koreeda's POV when he was thinking about Noda, and how well he knows Noda's quirks (like the hat thing). It was seriously adorable.
I really liked how Noda thought. He was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Koreeda to say "I'm tired of this" and leave. Normally that sort of thing can annoy me, but not with Noda. He was great! Not many authors can pull that sort of self-deprecating character off and still have him be a strong, likable character. This author did it!
The question Noda was thinking to himself near the end was really amazing. He thought, "Can I just tell him? That I want to stay with him forever..."
I think if more people could just tell each other that, we'd have less problems. I thought this story was wonderful.
The side stories were good, but I liked the main story the best. 😀