Right, listen. There are certain rules when it comes to storytelling. One of them is that you can’t just make readers deeply care about a character and then unceremoniously yeet them into the void. This, apparently, is a rule that Noda has looked at, considered for about three seconds, and then set on fire while laughing maniacally.

Because, really, this manga does not hold back. The deeper we go, the more tangled everything becomes, and suddenly, loyalties are unraveling faster than a badly knitted scarf which is both fascinating and deeply alarming.

Yusaku, a character who is barely there, manages to be the emotional wrecking ball of the volume. His presence ripples through the story, touching lives, shaping fates, and quietly breaking my heart into approximately 57 pieces. I’m a bit scared with the parallels with Asirpa. Thank you, Noda. I hate it. I love it. How dare you.

And now, now, I am teetering on the edge of the final volumes, caught between desperate anticipation and the kind of existential dread normally reserved for exams you forgot you had. This story has been huge and wild and unbelievably good, and soon, it will be over.

I am not emotionally prepared for this.