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zhaenya's reviews
35 reviews
Pink Heart Jam by Shikke
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
cute!!!!!!!!! i don't have much else to say, i just thought it was very cute, and i loved the characters <3 thank you to one random tweet i saw on my tl for introducing me to this little story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story by Anne Rice
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
a nice little addition to the main story, and i really liked the artstyle, it was gorgeous, with red being the only prominent colour. the page of claudia cutting lestat's throat and the one at the very end with her and madeleine were definitely my favorites. beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
"am i damned? am i from the devil? is my very nature that of a devil? i was asking myself over and over."
wow, it took me a very long time to finish this book. i started in august last year, and then dropped it maybe three times and picked it up from the very beginning again. i even tried the audiobook, and that didn't click for me. but now it's done, i'm so happy it's done.
i think the main struggle i had with this book was the fact that a far superior version of the story already exists, that being the show on amc/amc+. coming back to this louis when jacob anderson exists, it just feels wrong now. jacob's louis is my louis, i can't just erase him out of my head and picture him so differently. and i mostly didn't, except a few times when they would hit me with a description of him. #notmylouis. who is this white man and what is he doing in my story?
the second struggle was louis himself, the character. he's much more likable and charismatic in the show, and here he was just a moping mess, for the most apart. his dislike of lestat for half of this book also didn't help, because i was mostly on lestat's side of things for a lot of this. especially when it came to his own father and how he was treating him, and louis judging him without knowing why lestat was being like that. never even asking. that was probably the most frustrating part, louis not willing to talk to lestat. he would only ask questions that benefit him and when he didn't get the answer, he would just wallow in his own self-hatred and dislike for lestat. and i just loved lestat every second of it. he's such a crazy bastard, but how can you not love him? and, look, i get where louis was coming from, i get it. lestat was no teacher, he's not good at it, but he wasn't exactly there to teach louis anything. he was there to use him. and it's unfortunate for both of them, because they simply got stuck with each other, not even liking each other one bit. just like lestat thought louis was a nuisance (while still loving him), louis was of the same opinion of lestat. and i understand louis' frustration when it came to the way lestat views killing and just the world in general, but i just felt like louis should've been a little more like him in that regard. i'm not talking about not appreciating the world and how rich it is to them as vampires, but the killing part of it. it would make it so much easier for him, for both of them. but that wasn't going to happen, and it's not actually that easy to shut off your humanity, this is no vampire diaries. "you must understand, i did not snub him because he did not appreciate his experience. i simply could not understand how such feelings could be wasted." from what i know of the way lestat was made into a vampire, i can't even blame him for being the way he is, honestly. he didn't have it as easy as louis, all things considered. but now he was a vampire and he fully embraced it, he was living the way he wanted to, and there we had louis, moping with his rats and shit. he chose it himself, he shouldn't be saying anything on lestat's behalf or judging him. well, i mean, he could (he did), because if he got caught, it's both of their assess, and it's louis' home first and foremost and not lestat's, but STILL. leave my boy alone. i too would rather kill humans than animals, sorry. i honestly couldn't see whatever lestat (or even armand, for that matter) saw in louis at some points, he would always complain and be hateful towards lestat, i would've already given up on him, lol. but armand did, armand did give up on him after he realized that he messed up and louis would never be the same (curious about the world around him and in love with armand). and he just left. that would be me. but louis was really relatable at times, and i liked hearing his thoughts on different topics, like what he thought of god or the devil, or the vampire nature, or even the people around him. i'm not only here to complain about him, that would be very louis of me (see? a very relatable man!). i don't dislike him as a character, i would say i'm mostly neutral about him and sometimes like him. yes, that sounds about right.
but some of the biggest issues i had with this book are the ones i think most of us reading it had: the treatment of slaves in the first half of the book, anne rice's weird obsessing with describing her vampires as white and as "beautiful" and "preternatural" as possible (i know a lot of vampire media tends to be this way, but it doesn't mean it's not frustrating), and then the biggest one for me personally was louis and claudia's relationship. i knew it would be weird going into it, but the knowledge didn't make it easier to get through it. she's a five year old child and louis considered her his and lestat's child, but they still kissed on the mouth and he called her his lover. vampire bonds and relationships are different from human once, i accept the family dynamic being a little wonky, but not when there's a five year old involved. that's just weird. and it was basically impossible to look past all these issues because of how present they are in the book. like, almost every one out of three sentences louis would either say the most racist shit in human existence or downright pedophilic. or that he wanted to kill himself, he talks about wanting to die pretty often as well. i think the most positive emotions this book got out of me was when i got to some of the parts and quotes that were used in the tv series, and since i watched it so many times and basically memorised the entire thing, i could imagine my louis saying all those lines, or my lestat, or my claudia, or my armand. or even santiago! the book has some really beautiful writing and they incorporated it in the series so well. but enough about that (i just had to mention it, because it ties in with me feeling something positive for a change)!
i talked about lestat a little bit already, and there's not much else to say other than i really love him and can't wait to read the vampire lestat, so let me say a few things about louis' two immortal companions. and at different points in the book, he called them both his "only" companion, btw. "the only companion that i had." but let me talk about claudia first, since she came first. it was a little harder for me to connect to her in the book, harder than it was to connect to louis or even lestat. i felt bad for her, and i loved her already from watching the show or even the movie, but she didn't make me feel much of anything in the book, at least at first. i warmed up to her by the end of it. but even still, the things that her character made me feel the most were fear, like she was a little demon child, or uneasiness. and i already mentioned how uncomfortable her and louis' relationship made me. but in the end, she was a perfect vampire, the most perfect. a type of vampire only a child this young could be. and i can already feel her absence.
now to louis' second companion, armand. i liked armand, but he also didn't make me feel much of anything in this one. and armand is one of my favorite characters in the show, if not my favorite (him and lestat switch constantly). i think i don't feel much of anything for a lot of these characters, because anne rice didn't give me much to feel about them. but especially armand. his love for louis is the only thing he's got going for him here, and even that didn't work out in the end (their "breakup" was actually jawdroppingly outrageous to read, i'm not gonna lie. armand really expected louis to get over the death of his daughter (that armand killed) and fully emerse himself in armand and teach him all about the world and shit, but aw, louis became even a more of a depressed, resentful, frigid bitch, poor armand (lmao). and so, i was a little disappointed about that, and i didn't like how fast his relationship with louis progressed ("love at first sight" was not done very well here, in my opinion). but i have a lot more books to get though, so maybe when i look back at this one, i will like it more, in comparison. we'll just have to wait and see. i guess i just felt gaslit after i saw a bunch of people talking about how sweet they are in the book, and yet here i was, finally reading it, and they have like fifty pages of nothing before armand mind controls louis into making madeleine a vampire and then murders his daughter. wow, how sweet!
the ending was also a little underwhelming, but i think it suited the style of the book and the way it was written throughout, so i don't think there was a better way to end it and somehow make it more satisfying. overall, this is a pretty well crafted novel about the nature of apocalyptic grief and the futility of life. i liked most of the writing, and some parts of this genuinely took my breath away with the way they were written.
but honestly, just go and watch the show. interview with the vampire (2022-). it got renewed for its third season yesterday, we're getting that vampire lestat. so, just go and catch up, watch the first two seasons, because it's some of the best tv i've ever seen, and let's wait for the third one all together. it's going to be worth it.
wow, it took me a very long time to finish this book. i started in august last year, and then dropped it maybe three times and picked it up from the very beginning again. i even tried the audiobook, and that didn't click for me. but now it's done, i'm so happy it's done.
i think the main struggle i had with this book was the fact that a far superior version of the story already exists, that being the show on amc/amc+. coming back to this louis when jacob anderson exists, it just feels wrong now. jacob's louis is my louis, i can't just erase him out of my head and picture him so differently. and i mostly didn't, except a few times when they would hit me with a description of him. #notmylouis. who is this white man and what is he doing in my story?
the second struggle was louis himself, the character. he's much more likable and charismatic in the show, and here he was just a moping mess, for the most apart. his dislike of lestat for half of this book also didn't help, because i was mostly on lestat's side of things for a lot of this. especially when it came to his own father and how he was treating him, and louis judging him without knowing why lestat was being like that. never even asking. that was probably the most frustrating part, louis not willing to talk to lestat. he would only ask questions that benefit him and when he didn't get the answer, he would just wallow in his own self-hatred and dislike for lestat. and i just loved lestat every second of it. he's such a crazy bastard, but how can you not love him? and, look, i get where louis was coming from, i get it. lestat was no teacher, he's not good at it, but he wasn't exactly there to teach louis anything. he was there to use him. and it's unfortunate for both of them, because they simply got stuck with each other, not even liking each other one bit. just like lestat thought louis was a nuisance (while still loving him), louis was of the same opinion of lestat. and i understand louis' frustration when it came to the way lestat views killing and just the world in general, but i just felt like louis should've been a little more like him in that regard. i'm not talking about not appreciating the world and how rich it is to them as vampires, but the killing part of it. it would make it so much easier for him, for both of them. but that wasn't going to happen, and it's not actually that easy to shut off your humanity, this is no vampire diaries. "you must understand, i did not snub him because he did not appreciate his experience. i simply could not understand how such feelings could be wasted." from what i know of the way lestat was made into a vampire, i can't even blame him for being the way he is, honestly. he didn't have it as easy as louis, all things considered. but now he was a vampire and he fully embraced it, he was living the way he wanted to, and there we had louis, moping with his rats and shit. he chose it himself, he shouldn't be saying anything on lestat's behalf or judging him. well, i mean, he could (he did), because if he got caught, it's both of their assess, and it's louis' home first and foremost and not lestat's, but STILL. leave my boy alone. i too would rather kill humans than animals, sorry. i honestly couldn't see whatever lestat (or even armand, for that matter) saw in louis at some points, he would always complain and be hateful towards lestat, i would've already given up on him, lol. but armand did, armand did give up on him after he realized that he messed up and louis would never be the same (curious about the world around him and in love with armand). and he just left. that would be me. but louis was really relatable at times, and i liked hearing his thoughts on different topics, like what he thought of god or the devil, or the vampire nature, or even the people around him. i'm not only here to complain about him, that would be very louis of me (see? a very relatable man!). i don't dislike him as a character, i would say i'm mostly neutral about him and sometimes like him. yes, that sounds about right.
but some of the biggest issues i had with this book are the ones i think most of us reading it had: the treatment of slaves in the first half of the book, anne rice's weird obsessing with describing her vampires as white and as "beautiful" and "preternatural" as possible (i know a lot of vampire media tends to be this way, but it doesn't mean it's not frustrating), and then the biggest one for me personally was louis and claudia's relationship. i knew it would be weird going into it, but the knowledge didn't make it easier to get through it. she's a five year old child and louis considered her his and lestat's child, but they still kissed on the mouth and he called her his lover. vampire bonds and relationships are different from human once, i accept the family dynamic being a little wonky, but not when there's a five year old involved. that's just weird. and it was basically impossible to look past all these issues because of how present they are in the book. like, almost every one out of three sentences louis would either say the most racist shit in human existence or downright pedophilic. or that he wanted to kill himself, he talks about wanting to die pretty often as well. i think the most positive emotions this book got out of me was when i got to some of the parts and quotes that were used in the tv series, and since i watched it so many times and basically memorised the entire thing, i could imagine my louis saying all those lines, or my lestat, or my claudia, or my armand. or even santiago! the book has some really beautiful writing and they incorporated it in the series so well. but enough about that (i just had to mention it, because it ties in with me feeling something positive for a change)!
i talked about lestat a little bit already, and there's not much else to say other than i really love him and can't wait to read the vampire lestat, so let me say a few things about louis' two immortal companions. and at different points in the book, he called them both his "only" companion, btw. "the only companion that i had." but let me talk about claudia first, since she came first. it was a little harder for me to connect to her in the book, harder than it was to connect to louis or even lestat. i felt bad for her, and i loved her already from watching the show or even the movie, but she didn't make me feel much of anything in the book, at least at first. i warmed up to her by the end of it. but even still, the things that her character made me feel the most were fear, like she was a little demon child, or uneasiness. and i already mentioned how uncomfortable her and louis' relationship made me. but in the end, she was a perfect vampire, the most perfect. a type of vampire only a child this young could be. and i can already feel her absence.
now to louis' second companion, armand. i liked armand, but he also didn't make me feel much of anything in this one. and armand is one of my favorite characters in the show, if not my favorite (him and lestat switch constantly). i think i don't feel much of anything for a lot of these characters, because anne rice didn't give me much to feel about them. but especially armand. his love for louis is the only thing he's got going for him here, and even that didn't work out in the end (their "breakup" was actually jawdroppingly outrageous to read, i'm not gonna lie. armand really expected louis to get over the death of his daughter (that armand killed) and fully emerse himself in armand and teach him all about the world and shit, but aw, louis became even a more of a depressed, resentful, frigid bitch, poor armand (lmao). and so, i was a little disappointed about that, and i didn't like how fast his relationship with louis progressed ("love at first sight" was not done very well here, in my opinion). but i have a lot more books to get though, so maybe when i look back at this one, i will like it more, in comparison. we'll just have to wait and see. i guess i just felt gaslit after i saw a bunch of people talking about how sweet they are in the book, and yet here i was, finally reading it, and they have like fifty pages of nothing before armand mind controls louis into making madeleine a vampire and then murders his daughter. wow, how sweet!
the ending was also a little underwhelming, but i think it suited the style of the book and the way it was written throughout, so i don't think there was a better way to end it and somehow make it more satisfying. overall, this is a pretty well crafted novel about the nature of apocalyptic grief and the futility of life. i liked most of the writing, and some parts of this genuinely took my breath away with the way they were written.
but honestly, just go and watch the show. interview with the vampire (2022-). it got renewed for its third season yesterday, we're getting that vampire lestat. so, just go and catch up, watch the first two seasons, because it's some of the best tv i've ever seen, and let's wait for the third one all together. it's going to be worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Slavery
Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 21 by Gege Akutami
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
well, it was a bit frustrating to get through this volume, but it is funny to look back on my notes just to see myself ranting about a lot of things. i will mention some of those here, but i don't think it's worth it to spend to much time on the things that i didn't vibe with, rather than the things i loved.
first of all, i'm glad that yuta didn't kill ishigori and uro, i feel like there's so much more we can explore with both of them, especially uro. i was afraid that gege just wasted those characters, but i guess i should've expected them to survive, since we haven't heard the announcement of the points being added to yuta's score. and now, here i can mention one thing that frustrated me, and it's the lack of uro and the exploration of her character, her past. this could've been such a cool little side story to get into, even in the last volume, while yuta and her were fighting. but yuta decided not to press the issue and it's really disappointing, because i feel like that's exactly where gege decided to drop it entirely. a lot of these culling game chapters are so weird to me. like, i'm having a lot of fun watching everyone fight and seeing new characters and learning their abilities (gege's creativity really shines there), but. look... gege is great at creating characters and giving them interesting power sets, but honestly... i'm getting kind of tired of them introducing new characters, teasing some interesting or actual plot relevant stuff, and then never go into detail about any of that, whilst fighting one of The Main Boys, losing the fight, and then disappearing from the narrative just as quickly as they were introduced. like, can we please just go back to actual plot progression? we're still nowhere near saving tsumiki, let alone learning more about her or what the actual objective of the game is, or even saving gojo and taking care of kenjaku. not to mention we still don't know how nobara, inumaki, todo, and a whole bunch of other people are doing. it's just... a lot. i know it's a battle manga, but can we please make it so the battles happen for a reason and not just because? i know everyone's trying to kill each other to gain points and that's kind of a reason, but then again, why? why anything? i love slow burn, but not when it's so tedious and almost pointless. it was exciting at first, and i genuinely enjoy most of the fights because gege is really good at drawing them and making them interesting, the fight choreography is always great and i have lots of fun reading through it, but then the manga guy got introduced and i'm just like bro come ON, we really don't need any more characters or more pointless fights right now. and to look back on uro here, she literally came back to life after many centuries only to find out that patriarchy is still working. and got dropped right that second. by a man. that was so fucking foul. and frustrating. i want THIS type of stuff explored, not the man with a canon on his dead or a dude that's struggling to publish his manga. though his technique was kind of cool and i liked getting into it, but that didn't make that part of the volume, with hakari and him, any more interesting.
panda losing every part of his family, from his father to both his brother and his sister, and turning into a mini panda, was really freaking sad. and underwhelming. panda's sister was being left a big mystery for so long while also being the strongest of his cores (i think?) only to be instantly defeated by kashimo. misogyny is so real. and look, it's not like i really care about panda as much as i care about some of my favorite characters, like yuji or megumi, for example, it just sucks to see all the og characters being taken out and replaced by all the 'cooler' new ones. what's the point of having an original cast when almost all of them get replaced with someone else by the end? not all the character arcs need to end in death. "the three different souls keep an eye on each other to help keep panda stable. now that he's lost two of them, what will become of him?" gege, you monster. so what if i cried? i'm only human. but you know, at least hakari was there to save the day! this is his and kashimo's volume through and through. (that volume cover is fucking incredible btw, it's one of my favorites, for sure.)
the fight between hakari and kashimo! that's exactly when gege won me over once again. that was so much fun, i couldn't get enough. hakari especially is a lot of fun to watch, he's such a unique fighter and his technique + domain expansion combo is fucking broken. it was a lot to take in at first, with all the info dump, but it actually turned out a lot less complicated than i first thought it was when i was reading that one damn page with every single thing that could happen in idle death gamble, there was a whole presentation for it. "as you read on, feel free to skip over the explanation of hakari's cursed technique. just imagine something like a hands-on game in his domain, and if he hits the jackpot, he gets super strong." i should've listened to gege right then and there instead of trying to sit there and comprehend what the hell i was reading. god, but how stressful would it be to get stuck in hakari's domain? because first, he's boosted his energy by confusing you with his rules, then you get a giant pair of doors coming at you with different colors and you start to think about what he said earlier about those colors and levels, and realize that you probably should've paid a much better attention to them. i would've been so fucked, because my memory is shit and there's no way i could remember all that and think about what to do on the spot, while actually playing/fighting. and that doesn't even mention the fact that there are manga characters acting out scenarios in front of you, which would also be distracting as hell, especially if you recognize said characters. like, i'm half convinced that about 60% of hakari's domain is just psychological warfare. i'm terrified of him. i don't care about any of the big bads, hakari would be the end of me, personally. but the again, i just can't get over how fucking cool he is. like, with an automatic reverse cursed technique on top of his broken ass domain and him being fucking immortal for like four minutes when he hits a jackpot, and his physical strength/combat skills to match, it's no wonder gojo said that he would be just fine on his own. yuta is amazing, but so is hakari. and why aren't the good guys winning when they have those two on their side?
i'm so curious about kashimo's cursed technique though. he's so strong already and he didn't even use it yet. but he said it can be used only one time, so it has to be insanely powerful. don't know if he can match sukuna, i don't really think he can, but i am really excited to see them fight, if it ever comes down to it. as long as he's not in yuji's body at the time, i don't think i can take the pain of seeing that.
i didn't expect to see maki this volume, but i am so damn happy, because it's been so long. and noritoshi is with her! a team-up i never knew i needed. i'm very excited to finally see a swordswoman/archer duo in an action sequence, because i rarely see that kind of dynamic, surprisingly, plus both of them are physically powerful with their hand to hand combat, so this is by far the most exciting duo in the culling game for me. and the ceremonial 'chopping off your hair after going through a traumatic event' queer representation gege has given us this chapter is very much appreciated as well. good for them for cutting ties with their toxic ass clans, they deserve so much better than that bullshit.
first of all, i'm glad that yuta didn't kill ishigori and uro, i feel like there's so much more we can explore with both of them, especially uro. i was afraid that gege just wasted those characters, but i guess i should've expected them to survive, since we haven't heard the announcement of the points being added to yuta's score. and now, here i can mention one thing that frustrated me, and it's the lack of uro and the exploration of her character, her past. this could've been such a cool little side story to get into, even in the last volume, while yuta and her were fighting. but yuta decided not to press the issue and it's really disappointing, because i feel like that's exactly where gege decided to drop it entirely. a lot of these culling game chapters are so weird to me. like, i'm having a lot of fun watching everyone fight and seeing new characters and learning their abilities (gege's creativity really shines there), but. look... gege is great at creating characters and giving them interesting power sets, but honestly... i'm getting kind of tired of them introducing new characters, teasing some interesting or actual plot relevant stuff, and then never go into detail about any of that, whilst fighting one of The Main Boys, losing the fight, and then disappearing from the narrative just as quickly as they were introduced. like, can we please just go back to actual plot progression? we're still nowhere near saving tsumiki, let alone learning more about her or what the actual objective of the game is, or even saving gojo and taking care of kenjaku. not to mention we still don't know how nobara, inumaki, todo, and a whole bunch of other people are doing. it's just... a lot. i know it's a battle manga, but can we please make it so the battles happen for a reason and not just because? i know everyone's trying to kill each other to gain points and that's kind of a reason, but then again, why? why anything? i love slow burn, but not when it's so tedious and almost pointless. it was exciting at first, and i genuinely enjoy most of the fights because gege is really good at drawing them and making them interesting, the fight choreography is always great and i have lots of fun reading through it, but then the manga guy got introduced and i'm just like bro come ON, we really don't need any more characters or more pointless fights right now. and to look back on uro here, she literally came back to life after many centuries only to find out that patriarchy is still working. and got dropped right that second. by a man. that was so fucking foul. and frustrating. i want THIS type of stuff explored, not the man with a canon on his dead or a dude that's struggling to publish his manga. though his technique was kind of cool and i liked getting into it, but that didn't make that part of the volume, with hakari and him, any more interesting.
panda losing every part of his family, from his father to both his brother and his sister, and turning into a mini panda, was really freaking sad. and underwhelming. panda's sister was being left a big mystery for so long while also being the strongest of his cores (i think?) only to be instantly defeated by kashimo. misogyny is so real. and look, it's not like i really care about panda as much as i care about some of my favorite characters, like yuji or megumi, for example, it just sucks to see all the og characters being taken out and replaced by all the 'cooler' new ones. what's the point of having an original cast when almost all of them get replaced with someone else by the end? not all the character arcs need to end in death. "the three different souls keep an eye on each other to help keep panda stable. now that he's lost two of them, what will become of him?" gege, you monster. so what if i cried? i'm only human. but you know, at least hakari was there to save the day! this is his and kashimo's volume through and through. (that volume cover is fucking incredible btw, it's one of my favorites, for sure.)
the fight between hakari and kashimo! that's exactly when gege won me over once again. that was so much fun, i couldn't get enough. hakari especially is a lot of fun to watch, he's such a unique fighter and his technique + domain expansion combo is fucking broken. it was a lot to take in at first, with all the info dump, but it actually turned out a lot less complicated than i first thought it was when i was reading that one damn page with every single thing that could happen in idle death gamble, there was a whole presentation for it. "as you read on, feel free to skip over the explanation of hakari's cursed technique. just imagine something like a hands-on game in his domain, and if he hits the jackpot, he gets super strong." i should've listened to gege right then and there instead of trying to sit there and comprehend what the hell i was reading. god, but how stressful would it be to get stuck in hakari's domain? because first, he's boosted his energy by confusing you with his rules, then you get a giant pair of doors coming at you with different colors and you start to think about what he said earlier about those colors and levels, and realize that you probably should've paid a much better attention to them. i would've been so fucked, because my memory is shit and there's no way i could remember all that and think about what to do on the spot, while actually playing/fighting. and that doesn't even mention the fact that there are manga characters acting out scenarios in front of you, which would also be distracting as hell, especially if you recognize said characters. like, i'm half convinced that about 60% of hakari's domain is just psychological warfare. i'm terrified of him. i don't care about any of the big bads, hakari would be the end of me, personally. but the again, i just can't get over how fucking cool he is. like, with an automatic reverse cursed technique on top of his broken ass domain and him being fucking immortal for like four minutes when he hits a jackpot, and his physical strength/combat skills to match, it's no wonder gojo said that he would be just fine on his own. yuta is amazing, but so is hakari. and why aren't the good guys winning when they have those two on their side?
i'm so curious about kashimo's cursed technique though. he's so strong already and he didn't even use it yet. but he said it can be used only one time, so it has to be insanely powerful. don't know if he can match sukuna, i don't really think he can, but i am really excited to see them fight, if it ever comes down to it. as long as he's not in yuji's body at the time, i don't think i can take the pain of seeing that.
i didn't expect to see maki this volume, but i am so damn happy, because it's been so long. and noritoshi is with her! a team-up i never knew i needed. i'm very excited to finally see a swordswoman/archer duo in an action sequence, because i rarely see that kind of dynamic, surprisingly, plus both of them are physically powerful with their hand to hand combat, so this is by far the most exciting duo in the culling game for me. and the ceremonial 'chopping off your hair after going through a traumatic event' queer representation gege has given us this chapter is very much appreciated as well. good for them for cutting ties with their toxic ass clans, they deserve so much better than that bullshit.
Роман с самим собой. Как уравновесить внутренние ян и инь и не отвлекаться на всякую хрень by Татьяна Мужицкая
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
эта книга - подарок от моего лучшего друга, но я не думаю, что она для меня. я находила её довольно интересной, когда я только начала читать, но потом поняла, что я особо не задумываюсь о том, чему меня пытаются научить, так что это начало казаться бесполезным, к сожалению. может я вернусь к этой книге в другой период своей жизни, но на данный момент это просто кажется потерей времени.
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 20 by Gege Akutami
we got introduced to two new interesting characters too, ishigori and uro, just to kill them off within one volume. that's so very gege. but i guess they were fun while they lasted. ishigori's technique is kind of stupid, but he makes up for it with the personality. and it's the absolute opposite with uro. i don't really feel like mentioning anything special about them, because we'll never see them again and they don't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but i did want to hear about uro's past and whether she mistook yuta for someone else or she was actually talking about his ancestors who somehow wronged her. this felt like something worth exploring, but oh well. i can just hope that they didn't actually die, since we didn't hear kogane say that yuta got points for killing them.
by the way, gege is absolutely insane for giving takaba a powerful ass technique that can give trouble to even gojo himself, and then making him absolutely clueless about it. but i get it, that's the comedy of it all.
i forgot to mention the very beginning of the volume here, because i read it a few days ago and it slipped my mind, so let me come back to it for a second. we got the resolution to megumi vs reggie battle! it was a fun one, though i still find reggie's character quiet annoying. "outsmarted by a modern-day sorcerer and a kid to boot." that's what you get for picking a fight with said kid in the first place, reggie. but i guess i can't be too harsh on him, since he did give megumi all his points before dying, thanks for that. his "i have a feeling it'll be more interesting this way. just a hunch, really. so, please. after all, you're my executioner. let fate toy with you... before you die like a fool." was kind of ominous. hated that. it reminded me of that one chainsaw man scene with aki and the future devil. THOUGH ANGEL SHOWED UP RIGHT ABOVE MEGUMI WHEN HE COLLAPSED, SO I'M TAKING IT AS A GOOD SIGN, NO DEATH FLAGS HERE (i'm coping so hard).
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
i don't think i have a whole lot to say about this volume, there was just a lot of fighting (cool fighting though, some of the best), and even if i look at all my notes now (there is a lot, surprisingly), it's just me fangirling over yuta and rika. what can i say, i missed them! i still don't really get the logistics of human rika passing but curse rika remaining with yuta, even though there are some limitations to her power now. i wish gege would explain it a bit more, but i doubt they will say anything on the topic ever again, unfortunately. it's okay though, i'm just happy she's still here. and yuta. ah, my yuta. he looks so good now, i will never get over just how well he's grown into himself. the eye bags are a huge part of his charm too. and then there's this weird spirited away looking cockroach special grade, wanting to eat him ("devour", actually). i get it. it didn't get to devour him, but at least it got a kiss, teeth and all. that was the best part of the volume for me, i just love how much of a freak yuta is. he loves his special grades! it definitely runs in the family (talking about gojo and his continues flirting with jogo here). and the second best part of the volume was yuta saying "sensei... i won't let you kill your best friend a second time. i will kill kenjaku." i just love yuta so much, and i believe he will be able to do it. he beat that body before, he can do it again, even better now that he's grown and is more confident in his abilities. if anyone can do it, it's him. and, god, i'm so mad at gege for not letting us see his domain expansion in all its glory, i NEEDED to see it. i can wait though, so they better show it to us before this damn series ends.
we got introduced to two new interesting characters too, ishigori and uro, just to kill them off within one volume. that's so very gege. but i guess they were fun while they lasted. ishigori's technique is kind of stupid, but he makes up for it with the personality. and it's the absolute opposite with uro. i don't really feel like mentioning anything special about them, because we'll never see them again and they don't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but i did want to hear about uro's past and whether she mistook yuta for someone else or she was actually talking about his ancestors who somehow wronged her. this felt like something worth exploring, but oh well. i can just hope that they didn't actually die, since we didn't hear kogane say that yuta got points for killing them.
by the way, gege is absolutely insane for giving takaba a powerful ass technique that can give trouble to even gojo himself, and then making him absolutely clueless about it. but i get it, that's the comedy of it all.
i forgot to mention the very beginning of the volume here, because i read it a few days ago and it slipped my mind, so let me come back to it for a second. we got the resolution to megumi vs reggie battle! it was a fun one, though i still find reggie's character quiet annoying. "outsmarted by a modern-day sorcerer and a kid to boot." that's what you get for picking a fight with said kid in the first place, reggie. but i guess i can't be too harsh on him, since he did give megumi all his points before dying, thanks for that. his "i have a feeling it'll be more interesting this way. just a hunch, really. so, please. after all, you're my executioner. let fate toy with you... before you die like a fool." was kind of ominous. hated that. it reminded me of that one chainsaw man scene with aki and the future devil. THOUGH ANGEL SHOWED UP RIGHT ABOVE MEGUMI WHEN HE COLLAPSED, SO I'M TAKING IT AS A GOOD SIGN, NO DEATH FLAGS HERE (i'm coping so hard).
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 19 by Gege Akutami
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wow, this was such a good volume. and i don't know if it's because it was so yuji and megumi focused and i'm very biased when it comes to those two, but i just enjoyed it a lot. (i'm so mad at gege for separating them again. why do they insist on keeping them away from each other when it matters most? THEY'RE A SET. DO NOT SEPARATE THEM. STOP. BAD THINGS ALWAYS HAPPEN WHEN THEY'RE NOT TOGETHER.) the fights were really fun and we got introduced to some interesting and some not so interesting and unimportant characters. and i guess i should start with the one on the cover. beautiful, beautiful cover. i really like higuruma, i think he has a potential to become one of my favorite characters. just from his introduction (we've seen him before, but this felt more official), with him chilling in a full bathtub while wearing a formal suit. "haven't you ever taken a bath in your clothes? it feels better than i expected." i knew i would like him from that very first moment. and then we had to go from one trial, "itadori yuji stands accused of entering the maji vegas pachinko parlor on july 16, 2017, in sendai city, miyagi prefecture, despite being under the age of 18 at the time" to the other, "itadori yuji stands accused of mass murder in shibuya on october 31, 2018", and that gave me a fucking whiplash. the way yuji didn't even hesitate before saying that, yes, he was the one who murdered all those people... my boy, it wasn't you, it's not you fault. WHERE SUKUNA AT, I JUST WANNA FUCKING TALK with fists. god, the way yuji went from stunned and borderline triggered at the mention of shibuya, to resigned and accepting, and then ended up with a look of sheer determination with a hint of exhaustion. and even higuruma's look of slight surprise when yuji accepts the guilt in a matter of seconds said it all. i think it was the look of higuruma recognizing the similar circumstances between yuji and his clients. there's a resignation in yuji's eyes, because he believe in his (misplaced) guilt, and higuruma is used to seeing that guilty sentence hang over the heads of those on trial. much like the people that he's worked with for his cases, yuji's guilt was assumed by the system he's in from the beginning, even though he's an innocent person trying to do the right thing for the sake of others. i'm glad higuruma didn't fight yuji for very long, and just decided to sit down and have a talk with him instead. yuji needs a therapist. but, yeah, chapter 165, i will remember you as one of my absolute favorites, it was so good. i just hope that we gained an ally in higuruma and we get to see him again fighting on our side soon.
now, to the boy who gained back his number one spot as my favorite character during the culling game arc (and a little before it, even), fushiguro megumi. god, i love him so much, you have no idea. i love him using his shadows more and more, going in and out of them (I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM ANIMATE THIS! as long as mappa lets the animators have their time with each episode and lets them have a rest though. if they don't improve that shit, i don't want to see any of the jjk episodes ever again), i love how confident in his abilities he's become! since summoning mahoraga and surviving, he's been on some other shit, and i fucking love it. that's my baby! look how strong he is! especially when yuji's not around, he just doesn't give a fuck, he just starts going ham. it's actually chilling how different megumi is in yuji's presence and how different he is without him around. it's like he has two sides: reassuring one for yuji and cold for others, the only time we see megumi smile is when he's thinking about yuji. and megumi smiling because of yuji closely followed by megumi killing someone for the first time is the most megumi thing ever, good for him. but also, it's really nice to see him question desire versus necessity when it comes to killing almost immediately after taking a life, i'm hoping that we see more of this conflict for him, especially when it's kind of been a background dilemma for some time now. on the other hand: yes, megumi! fuck them up! go ape-shit! his fights have become so much more enjoyable to read since he stropped getting all suicidal. they were great before, but i feel less nervous and worried about him going into them. his fight with reggie was really fun to read, though i don't really care about reggie as a character. and i don't think i will have to, because something (the last page of the volume) tells me we won't be seeing him for much longer. even megumi gave no fucks about him almost the entire fight, usually he thinks about someone's technique to himself and we get to see that, and here we had reggie noticing that megumi figured him out, and megumi was just like "yeah, you manifest whatever's written on the paper or some shit like that" 😭 and then he hit him with the domain, and it was glorious. it looks a little different now, definitely a little creepier than before (which is very fitting), but i hope we'll get to see it complete by the end of the series. he used it like three times now, and it hasn't even been completed yet. but i swear, one of the side effects of megumi using his domain expansion is him going batshit crazy. megumi normally: deadpan vs megumi using chimera shadow garden: laughing maniacally, ready to kill a man. megumi really said, catch these hands and an elephant. (he looked so much like toji in this volume btw (he always does, but here especially), with his face all bloody and with his hair down because of water... those papaguro genes are something else)
oh, and takaba was a very fun character too, give it to megumi to meet all the weirdos! i hope we get to see him again soon, because he just dipped right after helping megumi out.
now, to the boy who gained back his number one spot as my favorite character during the culling game arc (and a little before it, even), fushiguro megumi. god, i love him so much, you have no idea. i love him using his shadows more and more, going in and out of them (I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM ANIMATE THIS! as long as mappa lets the animators have their time with each episode and lets them have a rest though. if they don't improve that shit, i don't want to see any of the jjk episodes ever again), i love how confident in his abilities he's become! since summoning mahoraga and surviving, he's been on some other shit, and i fucking love it. that's my baby! look how strong he is! especially when yuji's not around, he just doesn't give a fuck, he just starts going ham. it's actually chilling how different megumi is in yuji's presence and how different he is without him around. it's like he has two sides: reassuring one for yuji and cold for others, the only time we see megumi smile is when he's thinking about yuji. and megumi smiling because of yuji closely followed by megumi killing someone for the first time is the most megumi thing ever, good for him. but also, it's really nice to see him question desire versus necessity when it comes to killing almost immediately after taking a life, i'm hoping that we see more of this conflict for him, especially when it's kind of been a background dilemma for some time now. on the other hand: yes, megumi! fuck them up! go ape-shit! his fights have become so much more enjoyable to read since he stropped getting all suicidal. they were great before, but i feel less nervous and worried about him going into them. his fight with reggie was really fun to read, though i don't really care about reggie as a character. and i don't think i will have to, because something (the last page of the volume) tells me we won't be seeing him for much longer. even megumi gave no fucks about him almost the entire fight, usually he thinks about someone's technique to himself and we get to see that, and here we had reggie noticing that megumi figured him out, and megumi was just like "yeah, you manifest whatever's written on the paper or some shit like that" 😭 and then he hit him with the domain, and it was glorious. it looks a little different now, definitely a little creepier than before (which is very fitting), but i hope we'll get to see it complete by the end of the series. he used it like three times now, and it hasn't even been completed yet. but i swear, one of the side effects of megumi using his domain expansion is him going batshit crazy. megumi normally: deadpan vs megumi using chimera shadow garden: laughing maniacally, ready to kill a man. megumi really said, catch these hands and an elephant. (he looked so much like toji in this volume btw (he always does, but here especially), with his face all bloody and with his hair down because of water... those papaguro genes are something else)
oh, and takaba was a very fun character too, give it to megumi to meet all the weirdos! i hope we get to see him again soon, because he just dipped right after helping megumi out.
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 3 by Mokumokuren
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
"take this. it's half of my... insides. i just ripped it out." me and who. ME AND WHO, I REPEAT, ME AND WHO.
this manga really just does something to your brain chemistry, all of volume one and chapter sixteen in particular. i feel like eating coal and dosing my body on fire. eldritch horror but he's so fucking gay and dumb and is just happy to be here and be human. but also the identity crisis of it all. what's not to love?
"what makes a person who they are? memories? cells? experiences? if you look from a different perspective, is he hikaru? hikaru is alive in these guys' minds. what does it take for a person to really die?" & "what does it mean to have 'life'? it's not like you disappear from this world when you die. the form of your soul just changes. it's not like you become separated. they go through birth and death, but souls won't be lost. they're always by your side." all the talk about life and death. 'hikaru' feeling sympathy for the woman in a movie, but not understanding what he's supposed to feel for the people in real like. expect for yoshiki, of course. he was so ready to kill asako, and he probably would if yoshiki didn't catch up to them in time. and we're still not exactly sure if he was the one to kill that one old lady, but he didn't deny it when yoshiki asked him about it. he has so much love for yoshiki, even if he doesn't get it, but he finds it so hard to extend it for anyone else. i am so looking forward to seeing how it all progresses, especially now that 'hikaru' is weaker and people are actually hunting him. even if they don't know it's him they want, they'll figure it out eventually, and it won't be pretty.
and, when yoshiki stabbed 'hikaru' in an attempt to kill him and then asked him to kill him, i felt like screaming. like what do you MEAN. to be fair, the whole chapter was just insane, it was literal perfection. how am i supposed to just move on with my life when i run out of chapters to read?
this manga really just does something to your brain chemistry, all of volume one and chapter sixteen in particular. i feel like eating coal and dosing my body on fire. eldritch horror but he's so fucking gay and dumb and is just happy to be here and be human. but also the identity crisis of it all. what's not to love?
"what makes a person who they are? memories? cells? experiences? if you look from a different perspective, is he hikaru? hikaru is alive in these guys' minds. what does it take for a person to really die?" & "what does it mean to have 'life'? it's not like you disappear from this world when you die. the form of your soul just changes. it's not like you become separated. they go through birth and death, but souls won't be lost. they're always by your side." all the talk about life and death. 'hikaru' feeling sympathy for the woman in a movie, but not understanding what he's supposed to feel for the people in real like. expect for yoshiki, of course. he was so ready to kill asako, and he probably would if yoshiki didn't catch up to them in time. and we're still not exactly sure if he was the one to kill that one old lady, but he didn't deny it when yoshiki asked him about it. he has so much love for yoshiki, even if he doesn't get it, but he finds it so hard to extend it for anyone else. i am so looking forward to seeing how it all progresses, especially now that 'hikaru' is weaker and people are actually hunting him. even if they don't know it's him they want, they'll figure it out eventually, and it won't be pretty.
and, when yoshiki stabbed 'hikaru' in an attempt to kill him and then asked him to kill him, i felt like screaming. like what do you MEAN. to be fair, the whole chapter was just insane, it was literal perfection. how am i supposed to just move on with my life when i run out of chapters to read?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and Blood
Minor: Vomit
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 2 by Mokumokuren
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
how am i supposed to write a review now after that ending? as if i don't want to start the next chapter right away, so i could know what the hell happened there? okay, calm down, me. here goes. this volume chapters felt a little more chills and less emotional than the previous ones, but the tense atmosphere was still there, so i enjoyed reading it quiet a bit. there were some confusing moments, but i'm sure it'll all get cleared up when we get to it. one thing remained the same though, and it's my need to love and protect 'hikaru' at all cost. i don't know how i would feel about the real hikaru, but this one is my child. and speaking of the real hikaru, we finally got to see what the hell happened to him. and that was so unexpected, i literally burst out laughing, i'm so sorry. like, what do you mean he got distracted by a curvy tree and fell down the mountain? but to fair, that tree he saw was mad curvy, so i can't even blame him. literally got pushed down by the heterosexuality. i'm just joking here by the way, because his last thoughts were literally of yoshiki and how much he didn't want to leave him alone, he literally offered his body to the lord brainsnatcher just so yoshiki would still have him by his side. crazy. i wonder if hikaru even knew what it meant to go up that mountain, what was the ritual exactly? i'm so unclear and curious about that and how his family is involved, because his father also died there. i'm sure we'll get into it in the next volume, because they started to set it up a bit more in this one, and it looked like they asked someone outside of town for help. some expert, i guess? i don't like it already, they better leave 'hikaru' alone, he literally just wants to be human and be by yoshiki's side. and just like yoshiki said, "deep inside, i know that [this is bad]. but is danger all there is to him? it could be that 'hikaru' doesn't know anything... if... that's how it is... i'll just have to teach him." and he has been more patient with him now, i think. he's not battling himself as much anymore. though they had some pretty crazy encounters, like the very beginning of the volume, where 'hikaru' almost swallowed him whole, but they got over that pretty quickly. they just needed to talk about boundaries a bit more, what's the right thing to say and do and what's not, considering that this 'hikaru' has the same memories as his late best friend, but is not exactly him even though he keeps bringing up those memories that aren't supposed to be his. i understand how frustrating it must've been for yoshiki, so no wonder he snapped at some point. but he did apologize, and they did talk about it a little more, so that was great. i think the biggest moment of acceptance was the one when yoshiki was talking about how he found hikaru's body and never told anyone about it, because the time he got better from his sickness, 'hikaru' was back, and then him crying because he misses his best friend, and when 'hikaru' was getting up to leave and give him some space, yoshiki pulled him back down to sit next to him. that was just beautiful. (oh, and hikaru actually died in the winter, and not in the summer, so that's interesting.) and then that fucking ending. the freaking hair spirit (gross, btw) better stop messing with yoshiki's head, because that was actually shocking for me to see the flashback of hikaru and yoshiki fighting to then yoshiki trying to drown 'hikaru' in his bathtub right when i turned the page. that reminded me of chainsaw man in the most traumatic way possible. if you know, you know.
and, um. so. what if we made fried chicken in class and the raw chicken reminded me of the time i touched your insides, so we make plans after school for me to put my whole arm inside of your chest again? sounds good?
and, um. so. what if we made fried chicken in class and the raw chicken reminded me of the time i touched your insides, so we make plans after school for me to put my whole arm inside of your chest again? sounds good?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Child death
Minor: Homophobia
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 1 by Mokumokuren
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"who i am as a person and my body are both borrowed... but my feelings for you are real."
wow. just wow. i am so normal about this (lying). it hurt my heart but in the best way possible, this is so my type of story. like, what if you lived in a small town and had an unrequited gay crush on your best friend who went up to the mountains one day for reasons you don't know and disappeared for a week, but then a creature stole his body and came back from the mountain like nothing happened, and you're the only one who can tell that it's not actually him even though it looks and sounds like him, has his memories, but the creature just wants to experience the simple joys of humanity and it follows you around because you're the only person who's ever been kind to it. and it probably kills people, you think so, at least. it's the coming back wrong and haunting the narrative type of story, being queer in a small town and internalized homophobia (very relatable, this is the real horror of the manga), the codependent homoerotic friendships you had when you were fifteen (also, very relatable), and what it means to be alive or dead and navigating a world you feel like you don't belong to, and grief, and mourning, and obsession, and love. what's not to like? and, the most important moment of them all. "after school, i'll show you my insides." me when. ME WHEN. who's showing me their insides? and maybe consuming me by the void inside of them completely?
but! if you don't want to be devastated, this is not for you. because this is just so full of grief, full of longing for what's lost and conflicting emotions for what's been gained. there hasn't been a day where yoshiki hasn't experienced soul shattering trauma, just warning you here. he's constantly scared and confused, and seems to be a huge overthinker (i can relate), he keeps bouncing back and forth between accepting this 'something' as hikaru, his best friend, and then beating himself up for doing so and thinking it's disgusting, that he is disgusting. he feels he's being selfish for even entertaining this whole thing. all the flashbacks we get when yoshiki gets reminded of the stuff that 'hakari' keeps mentioning from the past, when he wasn't even there to witness it all, but he just knows it now, that's when it hits you its hardest. i can only imagine how yoshiki feels when it happens. it fills me with dread, personally. and i can just feel this not ending well for either of them. i feel like one of them, at least, will die in the end. i can already see it in my head. and i can feel my heart break, because i'm way too attached to these characters already. it's been six chapters.
last thing i want to mention, the art is absolutely fucking gorgeous. it's beyond beautiful. i spent so much time looking around all the pages, taking in all the details instead of moving on with the story. so damn good.
wow. just wow. i am so normal about this (lying). it hurt my heart but in the best way possible, this is so my type of story. like, what if you lived in a small town and had an unrequited gay crush on your best friend who went up to the mountains one day for reasons you don't know and disappeared for a week, but then a creature stole his body and came back from the mountain like nothing happened, and you're the only one who can tell that it's not actually him even though it looks and sounds like him, has his memories, but the creature just wants to experience the simple joys of humanity and it follows you around because you're the only person who's ever been kind to it. and it probably kills people, you think so, at least. it's the coming back wrong and haunting the narrative type of story, being queer in a small town and internalized homophobia (very relatable, this is the real horror of the manga), the codependent homoerotic friendships you had when you were fifteen (also, very relatable), and what it means to be alive or dead and navigating a world you feel like you don't belong to, and grief, and mourning, and obsession, and love. what's not to like? and, the most important moment of them all. "after school, i'll show you my insides." me when. ME WHEN. who's showing me their insides? and maybe consuming me by the void inside of them completely?
but! if you don't want to be devastated, this is not for you. because this is just so full of grief, full of longing for what's lost and conflicting emotions for what's been gained. there hasn't been a day where yoshiki hasn't experienced soul shattering trauma, just warning you here. he's constantly scared and confused, and seems to be a huge overthinker (i can relate), he keeps bouncing back and forth between accepting this 'something' as hikaru, his best friend, and then beating himself up for doing so and thinking it's disgusting, that he is disgusting. he feels he's being selfish for even entertaining this whole thing. all the flashbacks we get when yoshiki gets reminded of the stuff that 'hakari' keeps mentioning from the past, when he wasn't even there to witness it all, but he just knows it now, that's when it hits you its hardest. i can only imagine how yoshiki feels when it happens. it fills me with dread, personally. and i can just feel this not ending well for either of them. i feel like one of them, at least, will die in the end. i can already see it in my head. and i can feel my heart break, because i'm way too attached to these characters already. it's been six chapters.
last thing i want to mention, the art is absolutely fucking gorgeous. it's beyond beautiful. i spent so much time looking around all the pages, taking in all the details instead of moving on with the story. so damn good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Grief
Moderate: Child death