Saikano (Saishu heiki Kanojo) is an outstanding story of love, hope, war, despair, and companionship that takes places in a post-modern era. With a divine mix of modern realism and futuristic science fiction, Shin Takahashi brings a fanscinating world that envelopes the characters of the story with both light and dark elements.

Following the romantic relationship between Shuji and Chise, Saikano's story of a love-time story shows the complications of being apart when togetherness is the most important key of survival. While a bulk of the story is a sci-fi war story, the real focus lies on the struggles Shuji and Chise overcome to realise their love.

The artwork in Saikano contains a unique texture that embodies the characters with their background surroundings. The constant appearance of "blush" on all the characters gives off a sense of emotion while facial expressions serve strong to set a mood. Sharp and soft at the same time, the physical appear of Takahashi's work is one that is well suited to this type of story.

The characters are all prime in their sense of reality. Every character is well aware of the world around them and they work well in their situations. The lack of last names was included by Takahashi to allow readers to develop a sense of companionship with the characters. With every character developing equally through the times of struggle and depression, the reader can come to relations with at one character during the progression of the story. Even secondary characters are given great attention to show their place in the story, no matter how small it may be.

The manga itself is an excellent composition of a superb love story, great artwork, and outstanding character development. From the initial romance to the climactic conclusion, readers will never find a dull moment with the manga. This seven volume series is a must-have for fans of romance or sci-fi drama.

Readers should be warned of the graphic sexual content of the final volume. While attributing greatly to the story, it may be unsuitable for younger readers.