I'm still 8 chapters out from the end, but since I'd skipped through the final chapter before I started reading it, I wonder if and how much my perception of and feelings while reading it has been influenced by knowing how incredibly bittersweet the ending will be.
I can't bear to read more than a few chapters at a time because I get incredibly HNNNNGGGG from all the adorable wholesomeness and fuzzy warmth, knowing at the same time how it ends and that the series is acutely aware of how transient we humans are.
I think it always had that melancholy air about it, this sense of gravity in its writing and pacing. It feels "true to life", in a sense. I haven't finished it yet, but I'd be very surprised if Marie's curse got lifted in those last chapters or Dr. Nazuna ever really got anywhere in her pursuits. It isn't a story about getting that perfect outcome and making everything right, rather it's about taking things in stride, about having the courage to change the things that you can and the strength to endure those you can not. Making the best of what you have, living the moment, savoring things while you can.
Heavy stuff.
I always get the urge to cuddle afterwards. I don't think that's a bad thing, and I'm pretty sure this has already become my second favorite Manga.