I feel as though the art in this volume and the last has improved from some previous volumes. Or perhaps I’m just not remembering it well. But it really does seem like the mangaka’s proportions have improved. In addition to that, I really like how they draw their characters really changing like normal people do when they’ve gone through similar circumstances. Not just a change of hair but even their skin and body language changes. It’s something really impressive to see expressed in this sort of art style and I really appreciate and like it. Most noticeably of all are the changes in Jill and Mayu (and Tsukasa, who has seen the most frequent changes throughout the entirety of the series), but that includes the rest of the cast as well, even Kikuhara, and Anzai. Speaking of which, I enjoyed seeing their very unique and somewhat complex friendship, and the effects it holds on their actions and choices, as well as in how they go about treating each other from now on. Not only that, but there’s so many things from earlier on in the series to recall now that they’re coming to light in the second half. Besides that, there was an awful lot of romance in this volume. Perhaps because it was all about healing, and people tend to develop strong bonds under such circumstances, especially when shared. Sometimes all somebody may want is someone else to understand them better than anyone, sometimes they want a soothing and genuine presence by their side, sometimes they don’t want to be alone, and sometimes they just want to keep a special someone safe at all costs.
Is it love? Love is something hard to define and to pin down, and I like that the mangaka is showing us that while we know what love is from Tsukasa and Anzai’s relationship, not every love is like that, not every love is the same, and sometimes we feel things which appear like love but they’re not. People have to learn, observe, think, feel, and sometimes we’ll find out what it is we’re yearning for.
I do hope that everyone finds a happy end, including Kikuhara. I’ve begun to develop a soft spot for him, despite what we learned about him in Anzai’s memories from the last volume. It’s bound to happen when we see so much from one character. It’s easy to begin to see the good in someone. Perhaps Anzai did.