Admittedly at first I expected this story to just be cute. Something light, something fluffy to "baw" at for a while. It is as sure as hell cute, but there is a hell of a lot more to this manga that initially meets the eye.

For one, it's PAINFUL. For all that the ending feels a little deus ex machina, there is a lot that is not idealized. Suicide, death, and loss permeate the characters' lives. There is a focus on letting go of loss, on being held back by past tragedies, and having the courage to keep living when you have to reconcile that your worst fears are, in fact, true, and are not going to change. Many of the characters have stopped LIVING because they do not want to let go of their pasts, and as Mitsuki discovers, the more you step forward, the more your past becomes detached from your heart. And it hurts, especially if that pain is the strongest link you have left.

At its core, this is a story about living one's life to the fullest and being willing to get go of the past for the sake of the future. Mitsuki gives the people around her, dead and live, the courage to let go of the tragedies chaining them to the past and move forward with their lives (or afterlives, as the case may be). Mitsuki's love for Eichi is heartbreaking, and anybody who has loved and lost has felt her gut-wrenching sorrow. This understanding of what she is going through makes her courage all the more remarkable.

I highly recommend this shoujo title to anybody who has ever known loss, who has ever wanted to give up, who has wanted to curl up in a ball and stop the world from turning while they stay in stasis. If you don't belong to that group, I have to wonder if you have experienced life yet.