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I just finished 'Umibe no Onnanoko' and I feel a tumult of things right now.

It is known that Inio Asano's writing and narrative regarding melancholy is raw and strong regardless of the topic of the work, he pierces you in the coldest way with his magnificent way of telling stories in his works and accompanied by that beautiful art of such a characteristic aesthetic. This work is not exactly the exception to the rule.

'Umibe no Onnanoko' is not only about the frustrated sexual life of two adolescents who use each other to satisfy each other's sexual desires, it speaks rather of a deep ... loneliness and helplessness of both in a very stark life position in which mixing the seeking to feel something and a series of traumatic family and love experiences leading to tragic decision making both for themselves and for the other.
Isobe seeks to feel loved by Koume due to a sequel of traumatic events in her life, including her brother's suicide and her parents' constant absence. Isobe seeks companionship in Koume even if it means being her sex slave. While Koume uses Isobe out of a crying need to feel loved even if it means sexualizing herself with every man that comes into her life.
Really at the beginning I thought that Koume is the victimizer between the two protagonists and that Isobe was the victim of Koume's actions, to later see in each panel and throughout the work a couple of small adolescents, on the one hand, a slave to autosexualize herself to seek approval in some man for experiencing the abuse of subjects (mainly from Misaki) and conceiving that idea as what love is and, on the other hand, a prisoner prisoner of a deep and very dark loneliness due to the absence of a complete family in a stage such as adolescence. Both wanted to search through even morbid experiences to feel something. As my perception of Isobe and Koume changed over the course of the work (which, let's remember, generates a brutal change in the viewer's vision towards the characters in a matter of only 20 chapters), it even feels gratifying to understand the concept of the work or at least find my point of view of it.

Regarding the graphic sex scenes, it seems to me a very accurate detail that they are somewhat long and direct with what is shown, since, it seeks more than the sexual turn on of the readers, it seeks their discomfort regarding those sexual encounters of the protagonists, reflecting that these are not pleasant moments for them beyond mere sexual pleasure.

And, ending, speaking of the ending, it leaves me with certain mixed feelings. After finishing reading it, it left me somewhat cold, since it came from a couple or 3 chapters with some heartbreaking, exciting and high moments, to then show a time jump of about a year showing the current context of each character and ending with a seaside conversation between Koume and Kashima in which she talks about finding the sea on that beach that he was looking to find something he never sought to find. Without further ado, this is the culmination of a short work, but so great, leaving a somewhat... cold feeling. Although perhaps as they say out there, it is not the destination but the journey.