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.

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.

Not like you know she was going to die since the first chapter. Hell, the other name of the manga is "The summer you were there"

Yuri Hime editors putting this one in the February edition while twirling their mustaches.

last edited at Jan 2, 2024 5:36PM

I don't understand how people would see this as pointless at all, it's just... puzzling. Does the story suddenly have no meaning now?

As for me, probably one of the best works I've read tbh

;-;

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.

There are a lot of types of romance stories with different endings, but if you care about people not getting killed off then don't read "The summer you were there" with the terminally ill girl which implies in the very first page that she is going to die.

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.

There are a lot of types of romance stories with different endings, but if you care about people not getting killed off then don't read "The summer you were there" with the terminally ill girl which implies in the very first page that she is going to die.

We had an idea since the beginning what was coming, we knew for sure since at least 3 volumes ago this was coming, but most of us, myself included, still weren't ready for it.
Tears...
Tears...
Tears...

im so sobbing emoji right now. normally I'm so
skibidi, so fanum tax, but damn this hits

I hate that my response to this chapter is living vicariously through Shizuku because I can't really give a (visceral emotional) shit about my loved ones dying for some reason lol, I wish I could connect with all the people in the comments legitimately actually being upset

It's ultimately a story with a purpose and a message, and because I don't personally have that link I can only engage with it in that intellectual manner of "the way this theme was expressed was spot on" and I hate that can I get a lobotomy so less energy goes there and more energy goes to my hypothalamus thanks

last edited at Jan 2, 2024 7:00PM

why do people feel like "it was all for nothing since she died"? it's just a different way of characters progressing. and let's be real, would you think it was all for nothing if your lover/crush passes away as well? you would know what you 'got into' if you knew they had something terminal as well.

I don't understand how people would see this as pointless at all, it's just... puzzling. Does the story suddenly have no meaning now?

As for me, probably one of the best works I've read tbh

In fairness, I’ve had moments where I’ve criticized a story with an ending that made me upset in some way, especially when I was holding out hope for a happier ending. A lot of times it’s less of a “here’s my well thought-out critique of the work” and more “fuck you for making me feel these emotions!” I can’t actually speak for the people calling it pointless, but that’s what it’s been sounding like to me.

I am absolutely devastated by Kaori's death, but I would have been disappointed if she'd survived. It wouldn't have made sense. A lot of the previous scenes would have lost all meaning.

I don't understand how people would see this as pointless at all, it's just... puzzling. Does the story suddenly have no meaning now?

Yes. As they betrayed the primary point of the story. I have the same opinion about Your Lie in April btw.

I don't understand how people would see this as pointless at all, it's just... puzzling. Does the story suddenly have no meaning now?

Yes. As they betrayed the primary point of the story. I have the same opinion about Your Lie in April btw.

What do you believe the primary point of the story is?

I don't understand how people would see this as pointless at all, it's just... puzzling. Does the story suddenly have no meaning now?

Yes. As they betrayed the primary point of the story. I have the same opinion about Your Lie in April btw.

Oh? Pray tell, what was the primary point of a story called “The summer you were there”, where one of the characters has been extensively and heavily implied to be terminally ill, besides what happened now? Please do enlighten us with your incredible literary analysis.

last edited at Jan 2, 2024 7:59PM

I don't understand how people would see this as pointless at all, it's just... puzzling. Does the story suddenly have no meaning now?

Yes. As they betrayed the primary point of the story. I have the same opinion about Your Lie in April btw.

Oh? Pray tell, what was the primary point of a story called “The summer you were there”, where one of the characters has been extensively and heavily implied to be terminally ill, besides what happened now? Please do enlighten us with your incredible literary analysis.

emphasis on "were"

Holy damn shit ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ......whaaaaale I'm just gonna be staring into the abyss for a while 〜⁠(⁠꒪⁠꒳⁠꒪⁠)⁠〜

Can someone explain what's the reason behind not staying with her in her very last moment? Shizuku got to whisper the words and just left to edit the ending she already wrote.
Wouldn't it have been much better to just do that where Kaori was, give her the story and get her response in person?

Like, she confessed alright, but they didn't exactly get to say goodbye? And I can't understand why you wouldn't want to spend every last minute with the girl you love when you know her every minute could be her last.

last edited at Jan 2, 2024 9:34PM

I personally like the way things turned out. Shizuku confesses to Kaori and realizes that her love was requited, but isn't able to actually go see her- when you lose someone close to you at such a young age, it's always too soon. It's also sad that Ruri and Seri didn't get to see Kaori one last time.

Speaking of their relationship, I also liked the progression of it. Shizuku starts off indifferent to/annoyed by Kaori, but you can see signs that Kaori is growing on her, some more obvious than others(for example, in Chapter 5, she doesn't care whether Kaori uses her first name, but in Chapter 11, she actually asks her to do it), and becomes more of an active participant in the relationship over time.

I also like the pacing, since while some chapters are more important than others, something significant happens in almost every chapter. The fact that there's a fixed duration for the story helps you tell how close it is to the end, and the fact that it's relatively short means that there aren't all that many parts when nothing of note is happening.

I'm looking forward to the final chapter, along with the Volume 6 extras, and personally hope that one of the extras reveals what happened to Kaori and Shiori's mother. She's implied to be dead, since Kaori says in Chapter 16 that she knows what it's like to lose someone, but nothing explicit is said about what happened to her.

I´m gonna be honest at first i had my doubts about this one, it felt like a weird mix of a silent voice and shigatsu wa kimi no uso, but as the story progressed it found it´s own identity and it came together beautifully.
Now if you excuse me i´m gonna go cry myself to sleep

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.

Incredible to read this... it's a dramatic story so realistic and sublime in its unfolding, that we know that Kaori dies adds tension to the story, it's not like in half the manga or film we guess the end of the story either...
This story is the saddest I have read, a masterpiece, you can perfectly imagine what each of the protagonists is thinking in such a realistic way that it's really poignant, poor kaori and unfortunate shizaku.. .. life can be very cruel with the right people, this story transcribes it perfectly.

speaking as a lesbian who's outlived a girlfriend, this story is not pointless. none of our love stories are pointless, even when they're bitterly sad. but this one was quite kind to its protagonists, i thought- they loved eachother, and it was both healthy and mutually supportive, they made a big difference to eachother, and in the end, they both knew it was mutual. sometimes life doesn't give you that final exchange, yk?

Can someone explain what's the reason behind not staying with her in her very last moment? Shizuku got to whisper the words and just left to edit the ending she already wrote.
Wouldn't it have been much better to just do that where Kaori was, give her the story and get her response in person?

Like, she confessed alright, but they didn't exactly get to say goodbye? And I can't understand why you wouldn't want to spend every last minute with the girl you love when you know her every minute could be her last.

... She can't?
Kaori is in a hospital and Shizuku isn't related, so she doesn't have visitation rights.
It's a huge part of why same-sex marriage is such a big issue in Japan.

Also I don't think she had her story saved in cloud storage. Which is... an issue, but the author probably just didn't think about cloud storage, and when they did, that can be justified by "Shizuku is a teenager in Japan, where computer literacy is surprisingly low."

edit: it's kind of insane to me that ergzay thinks every story in which characters fall in love is by necessity a romance; this is definitely a drama before it's anything else

last edited at Jan 3, 2024 12:26AM

Can someone explain what's the reason behind not staying with her in her very last moment? Shizuku got to whisper the words and just left to edit the ending she already wrote.
Wouldn't it have been much better to just do that where Kaori was, give her the story and get her response in person?

Like, she confessed alright, but they didn't exactly get to say goodbye? And I can't understand why you wouldn't want to spend every last minute with the girl you love when you know her every minute could be her last.

... She can't?
Kaori is in a hospital and Shizuku isn't related, so she doesn't have visitation rights.
It's a huge part of why same-sex marriage is such a big issue in Japan.

Also I don't think she had her story saved in cloud storage. Which is... an issue, but the author probably just didn't think about cloud storage, and when they did, that can be justified by "Shizuku is a teenager in Japan, where computer literacy is surprisingly low."

edit: it's kind of insane to me that ergzay thinks every story in which characters fall in love is by necessity a romance; this is definitely a drama before it's anything else

While what you said is true (about the fact that she doesn't have the same visitation rights as Kaori's family), I don't think that was the message. We are clearly seeing Shizuku being overwhelmed by the situation and her own feeling, and is unable to face Kaori properly after confessing. She is clearly running away, giving as an excuse the fact that she needs to send the novel.

I don't get the people that are saying this is pointless, looks quite like a childish reaction to me, especially when we knew from the start that Kaori would die. Next time, just don't read a story about people that are terminally ill….

The chapter was really beautiful. I like how the author was able to convey Shikuzu's feeling of not being prepared for her death. As readers, it looks like most of us were in the same situation, and it's a good parallel to what Shikuzu is facing. I hope the epilogue will be a long one. I'd like to see Shikuzu a few years later, and how that experience shaped her for the best.