Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata
The Summer You Were There

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Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata is a tale that doesn’t shy away from its mission to tug at your heartstrings, delivering many an emotional gut-punch by the time it wraps up. Spanning just 32 chapters, it skillfully burrows into your affections, making you genuinely root for its deeply relatable protagonists, each grappling with their own inner turmoil in a way that feels authentic and human.

Beneath the layers of melancholy lies a touching lesson about forgiving oneself, the value of meaningful relationships, and pushing forward through life’s challenges with resilience and hope.

The artwork is stunning, capturing every flicker of feeling—whether understated or intense—with precision and ... beauty. Give it a read; it’s a promise it won’t let you down.

Plot: 8
Characters: 9
Art: 9
Enjoyment: 8

If what this manga talks about hits close to home, it's an instant top 5.

The story doesn't bother to hide its intentions. If you've read a certain quantity of manga, the ending is very predictable, but this plays out in favor of the story and is very intentional. Since the conclusion is clear, you gradually develop a growing sense of anxiety and dread, which increases proportionally to how attached you grow to the cast. This, in fact, is how what happens throughout the narration is lived.

Another intentional aspect is the duration. It's very short, which, if you've had the misfortune of living ... through what the story talks about, you know is just how it happens. This enhances everything that it talks about to the maximum.

The duration also affects how characters experience growth. As mentioned at the start, if the story's themes are familiar, The Summer You Were There will hit very close to home. However, if they are not, this might be the only hindrance you'll encounter. Since it's only 32 chapters, the character development is quite limited, and much of it relies on the reader having personally (or very closely) lived through what the characters are living through. Not to say that they're flat, far from it. But I imagine it would be hard to understand each of their motivations with such little time with them without having lived it first-hand.


This story is very special and has one of the best endings I've had the pleasure to read. Do not be dissuaded by the "yuri" tag: it feels so natural that you never think about it.

Give it a try; you won't regret it.

I saw the writting on the wall before I even clicked the first chapter: Psycological, Medical & Tragedy tags. I steeled my resolve again when the translator's name was an Oyasumi Punpun reference. This would be a rough one.

This fragile romance between Shizuku and Kaori is slowly build and expanded upon, with supporting characters from the girls sisters to old aquitances helping to move the pieces into place. This is a nicely crafted narrative, well drawn and with great character. It does hold some emotional impact which is always great.

I rated this in the high end of 7/10, as it is simply too short. I ... actually got to bond with the character, despite it being this short, but it felt a little too "crafted for impact." A wholesome tragedy is certainly lovely, but the predictability does take the edge of the emotional response. I do recommend it, but I would also suggest checking out some nonwholesome tragedies, like Oyasumi Punpun or I Love Your Cruddy...