Back to siriiriri's Profile siriiriri's Profile

This is NOT the cute story you think it is.

This manga follows the life of a 28 year old Kabi Nagata. While reading this, I was simply blown away by the art style. While seeming quite simple, there is quite a lot of detail in each panel. Something unique about this manga was the use of the color, creating more shades and making the panels pop, while maintaining that simplicity.

Going into the actual story, it was quite the ride. I had expected it to be your typical shy girl can't handle seeing boobs, and I had also expected it to talk solely about queerness in ... Japan. This book delves more into the author's mental health, and her struggles with eating disorders, depression, and just everyday life.

This book hit way too close to home, especially the parts where the author desperately seeks attention from her parents. I also did realte to the parts where the author lacked basic hygiene and desperately longed for a hug. When I started reading this book, I had internally found the author's behaviors gross and odd, but the more I read, the more I began to see myself in Nagata. Nagata is brutally honest about her life, and that's what makes this book so good.

This manga didn't see queerness as the problem - it was more focused on the author's lack of confidence and debilitating mental health. While queerness is important, it wasn't the author's entire personality and it wasn't the focus of the enire book. One thing I appreciate about this manga is the way they treat sex workers. Usually frowned upon, this manga treats sex workers like the humans they are, even complimenting them at some points.

I had ended the story feeling fine, but 8 hours later, the sadness hit me. I don't cry to many mangas/animes, but this one especially broke me and left me feeling horridly empty. After that, I had a crisis and wrote this MAL review.