Sep 11, 2017
This piece is a beautiful, non-fiction, autobiographical manga by a woman who must learn how to respect and care for herself, and leave her rut of self-loathing, poor eating habits, crippling anxiety and depression, self harm and suicidal thoughts. The crux of all these problems and how she must overcome them is an interaction with a lesbian prostitute.
Story - 9
This woman has lived one goddamned interesting life. While not for everyone - it's possibly the most subjective story I've ever read - it can be truly life-changing if you find yourself able to connect and relate to the writer and her struggles. It captures mental
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health in a way rarely seen, and terrifically accurate from a victim's standpoint, and can be either a horrific view into the mind of a victim, or for a victim reader can be a life-changing explanation for the mess going on in one's mind. Viewing the author's growth as a person able to live a happy, healthy life is just as wonderful, being both deeply inspiring and a literary payoff for the suffering the reader sees her go through earlier. Overall, a fantastic insight to mental health and just a plain interesting biography.
Art - 8
While remarkably simple, the art is a joy to look at. The - albeit small - palette is very pleasing, and the chibi aesthetic the artist uses can really help the reader through some of the more emotionally taxing portions of this - admittedly short - series. My only real gripe is the overbearing use of text within drawings to convey meaning, though this is honestly little more than a nitpick. While a more realistic style may have fit this more, the chibi look is both visually pleasing and makes it a much less difficult read.
Characters - 10
While there aren't many characters, and none are really focused on outside of the author, this author is so beyond interesting that it more than makes up for the vagueness of her family's personalities, or the friends that are only mentioned and never shown. A completely verbatim telling of one person's mindset over a ten year period makes for something far greater than it might have been were side characters focused on more turning the protagonist into little more than "a depressed person."
Enjoyment - 7
Most of this is just plain depressing, if not more interesting than fun. There's some good humour, and endearing dialogue be it narration or actual conversation, but overall you will be much more enthralled by the psychological aspects than the humour.
Overall - 9
If this story or person sound at all relatable or interesting to you, I couldn't recommend this enough. I may have the bias of basically being an emotional clone of this author, but even when casting that bias aside this was a damned beautiful ride, and certainly short enough to not regret reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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