So sad to think of what this manga could've been. The opening chapters had the making of an utter classic, and then it just utterly derailed. I could feel the bitter, painful unenjoyableness in finishing this series. These last pages felt soulless.
We all know they were supposed to have feelings for each other, but that wasn't explored at all. The story unnaturally twisted itself into pretzels to avoid the obvious truth. It was truly weird, like the really old stories of the before-LGBT times that know they're stories about sexuality but try to normalize it in a heteronormative world. It was so cloistered.
This felt like a couple steps back. I'm saddened because I knew this chapter was coming--where they meet in Tokyo again, but even still they can't express how important they are to each other. Like something beautiful snuffed out in the womb.
This awkward fish-salamander talk is excruciating, I want to cry at how closeted this series got.