"Shima, who is an outcast at her school and unable to get along with her third stepfather, decides to move out to Sapporo and live with her biological father. There she meets Wao and Gen. Even though she knows she would be shunned by every girl in school for hanging out with them, there's nothing she can really do about it because she's fallen in love." Sounds cliche, doesn't it? I particularly hate these kinds of rewievs, because they don't cover the awfulness or, in this case, the awesomeness of a story. I don't want to sound too criticizing, because everything written in it is true.Although the story is not just another shoujo with a "girl falling in love with one or two boys while the others hate her tralalala..."

I think this manga's main point is it's characters. Shima isn't like the other heroines, who are often shallow and simple, so that it's easy for you to feel like you are in their place. Shima is quite a character and it's also cool that we don't always know that she's thinking because the author won't tell us. Also, I like her mother's letters, they give something to the mood of the manga. That's the key word: mood. I gave 9 for enjoyment rather than 10, because even though I adored this manga and its mood, it really isn't the happiest story out there. Quite depressing, actually. Although we still don't know what Wao's sickness is, it's obvious he's in real trouble. And don't be fooled, even if I say the story's not too "cheerful", it can make you laugh at certain moments!:) Really well-written!

The art is just great. Fantastic. I like this kind of art. Not typically shoujo, but showing the emotions properly, and the movements of the characters are also believable. I could compare it to the manga Six Half, but I can say this one's a bit better, although I adore that too. 10 for that!:)

Overall, I give it 10/10. You should give it a shot. It's refreshing after reading those cliche stories!:)

(sorry for my english, i'm not native)