What happens when you lose the one you love when your life together has barely even begun? Hajimari no Niina answers this question very simply - by coming back to see your loved one through reincarnation. Chitose comes back as a girl named Niina in order to be with Atsurou, despite the age barrier that now exists between them and despite the fact that he doesn't know who she really is.

The manga is great at weaving the emotions of the characters throughout the story, exploring the hard question of who suffers more: the one left behind, or the one who left? The story isn't very complicated and is pretty much what you would predict it to be in the summary, but that doesn't matter because the focus is on the characters. You can see that the love between Niina and Atsurou is heart-warmingly strong. She tries her best to be there for him while Atsurou is inexplicably drawn towards her even when he is constantly mourning the loss of Chitose.

Hajimari no Niina is like a cool breeze on a hot summer day - refreshing and liberating - and makes you believe in the power of human emotion again. It really touched me and I'll gladly give it a rating of 10.