In early 2016 I was looking for new josei manga to read; I had just discovered & by Okazaki Mari and I was really interested in manga that explored more mature themes. I just sort of stumbled upon Koiiji which only had a few chapters back then and instantly fell in love with the art and the focus on character. It's a story about love and loss at its core but it has so much more going on. The characters are so layered and even though it's about love it explores all kinds of love not only the romantic kind. It's also painfully relatable - we've all been there. You're really gonna get invested in the characters not only because everyone's so pretty but because they're so real. I really recommend this manga and all other titles by this mangaka.