I'm glad that at least the worst case of ironic tragedy was avoided (Your Lie in April), but the way Shizuku's confession is dragged out, like a can being kicked down the road, again and again, even though Shizuku knows Kaori is dying, still feels manufactured to me. An arbitrary twist of the knife on top of a tragedy that would be plenty sad on its own even if the leads had been allowed to at least see each other face to face during the confession.

Hopefully after the last chapter there will be an anime adaptation announcement, there will be a little joy after the sadness of the manga's sad ending

I knew it was coming, I hoped despite that and now im crying like a little bitch. Yeah checks out

Well, we weren’t lied to.

No miracles this time, I guess. At the same time, as legitimately painful as this is, I also find it very cathartic and satisfying that they both got some sort of closure; Shizuku with finishing her novel and confessing, Kaori with her last wish being granted. Shizuku kissing Kaori's hand in a gesture that leaves little room for interpretation as to what this means, to me was particularly satisfying. I mean, that's the kiss that is the apex of every romance story, you know? I also especially loved how the kiss was tied into and how the "reveal" of the confession was done, even though it was rather obvious, or hell, especially since from the very beginning everything was already pretty obvious, it makes how good a story this is all the more prevalent. In all honesty, it takes every fiber of my being not to break down in tears, and it is exhausting.

Very much agree, the ending was super sad and my day is ruined but I'm still glad that they managed to both share their feelings and thus not leave any overtly open ends like that. It is a real beautiful tragedy and I'm curious about the next chapter(s) and seeing how Shizuku will deal with this.

I'm glad Shizuku was able to confess in person, but when she said she was gonna send the novel once she got home, I groaned because it getting dragged out again was getting so annoying. I hope it was Kaori who actually read the novel before she passed and not like her sister taking pity on Shizuku and responding in Kaori's place.

I absolutely adored the text messaging panels with their reactions drawn next to it. The brief moment of joy before the inevitable pain. Again glad Shizuku was able to confess in person and the symbolic hand kiss to Kaori placing her hand to her mouth was beautiful (still woulda preferred a full kiss, but I can appreciate the artistic direction). I just really wished they were able to spend some time together after the confession.

Argh my fucking heart T.T I'm gonna need a full anime adaptation of this pls, so it can rip me to shreds all over again

last edited at Jan 2, 2024 11:23AM

the way Shizuku's confession is dragged out, like a can being kicked down the road, again and again, even though Shizuku knows Kaori is dying, still feels manufactured to me. An arbitrary twist of the knife on top of a tragedy that would be plenty sad on its own even if the leads had been allowed to at least see each other face to face during the confession.

im 50/50 on this. the last like 1/4 of this series has felt like a death march towards an unavoidable conclusion, and in some ways I can see how that feels exploitative or manufactured but at the same time it really adds to the experience and matches a lot of the feelings of having someone important to you dealing with a terminal illness. each and every chapter for the last like 10+ has had me open it with a sense of dread wondering if this would be The One, in the same way every call from the hospital could be The One. Heartbreaking conclusion that we all knew was coming and would have felt cheap for it to end any other way, and reconciling with that is fascinating and beautiful in a pognantly cruel and twisted way.

Well, silver lining is I'm pretty sure we all thought Kaori'd go without ever seeing the end of the novel. So there's that at the very least.

Really makes you appreciate how selfless Kaori was, thinking of Shizuku to the very end. I think that after Shizuku takes her time to grieve, she'll still need someone to lean on moving forward, and Ruri is one of the few people who can be there for support now that Kaori can't be.

Well everything was pointless. All of that for nothing she dies, end of the story. It was too long for what its worth.

its so over

Fuck.

Kaori has to be the unluckiest name in anime/manga. This, Akira, Strawberry Panic, A Lie in April...

Honestly the story ends up being a lot nicer than I though it would have been because at least Shizuku gets to confess, at least she gets to finish the novel, at least Kaori gets to read the ending and it's all bound into one.

Now onto the epilogue. To see where Shizuku goes from here.

To ypassionnate's take, which is

Well everything was pointless. All of that for nothing she dies, end of the story. It was too long for what its worth.

I can only answer that no, it wasn't pointless: they were in love, and they got to make their love explicit if only for a moment. That's the point. Everyone dies, that doesn't strip people's actions and feelings of meaning.

last edited at Jan 2, 2024 2:52PM

This was one of the most poignant and beautiful pieces of manga I've read in my life. I'm glad I came across it. And I'm seriously glad this chapter didn't end in a cliffhanger.

As expected as this all was, still written so well and the lat page hitting so hard.

Don't mind me, just crying here in my corner...

...having My Friend playing while reading this certainly didn't help either...

Noo, they should had DONE it before :(

Fuck.

Kaori has to be the unluckiest name in anime/manga. This, Akira, Strawberry Panic, A Lie in April...

I mamed my siamese cat Kaori and it just got ran over.

Well everything was pointless. All of that for nothing she dies, end of the story. It was too long for what its worth.

Death comes for us all eventually, but it is never the point. The point is the journey we take before it, and the people we meet along the way.

Fuck.

Kaori has to be the unluckiest name in anime/manga. This, Akira, Strawberry Panic, A Lie in April...

I mamed my siamese cat Kaori and it just got ran over.

I’m so sorry for your loss

I knew it, I was expecting it... but, fuck. goddamn it fucking hurts and hits too fucking close to home.
This is one of the most beautifully writing manga I've ever read and has helped me tremendously. fuck, my naive self thought this could still have had a happy ending. can't even write right now

last edited at Jan 2, 2024 3:34PM

Well at least she read the end of the novel, I really thought she might pass before she did making everything even more ouch

Yep fuck, this was obviously coming but damn

Well everything was pointless. All of that for nothing she dies, end of the story. It was too long for what its worth.

Nah, I wouldn't say that. While Kaori's death was sad, Shizuku started the story borderline suicidal, but her bond with Kaori allowed her to heal, patch things up with her old friend and rekindle her love of writing

There's more to this story than just whether or not Kaori and Shizuku get together, there's all of the personal growth Shizuku went through as the story progressed.

Well that was a completely annoying and pointless story. Any love story in which the actual point of the story is to enjoy a romance and you kill off one of the major two characters is a completely pointless and useless story.