Satougashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai: A Lollypop or A Bullet

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This is a pretty unknown light novel, but I truly enjoyed it. I enjoyed it for its empathetic and relatable characters and the seemingly mundane story that turns out more dark as the story progresses. And also the early 2000s style soft colored illustrations of the characters.

It starts out as a quite simple story of a anti-social middle school girl living a pretty realistic life like you and me that is not effected by many clique anime tropes like love triangels, superpowers and stuff like that.
Which I really appreciated as it made me relate to the main girl and see her more as a real ... person an not just a trope.
Her life is simple, she goes to school, talks with her brother who still lives at home while doing chores as her mother works late. The light novel expresses her small concerns and thoughts that a middle schooler would have, not putting her on a pedestal or idealizing her life.

This is in contrast to the other girl Mokuzu who seems to idealize her life like she lives in a fantasy world. These two girls have great chemistry and bond despite of the mental and environmental difficulties they both endure. Their relationship explores normal teen girls having fun, but also in unraveling Mokuzus mysterious life and mental state.

I recommend this story for the sweet characters struggling to grow up and the realistic drama and sometimes scary scenes that made this a story that still sticks with me.