I’m sure a lot of readers could relate to Nagisa at the beginning of the story. She’s matured enough to see that she needs to start living in this world and thinking of her future despite what her classmates are doing around her. In other words, she’s the typical pre-teen who’s starting to get a grasp of reality. Then, in drops this freaky transfer student who’s captivated everyone because she’s the daughter of a famous singer and has a pretty face. That’s not as relatable, but it’s quite typical to manga of the school genre: a new kid comes and changes the protagonist’s life.

Despite that little cliché, the story carries on with that borderline intrigued attitude that Nagisa has in regard to the newbie, especially since she’s so strange. First of all, she begins her spiel about being a mermaid after downing almost a whole bottle of a certain branded beverage, and on her way to her seat she trips and reveals a few bruises when her skirt rides up her legs. Whose interest wouldn’t be piqued after such circumstances?

Of course, the sensible thing to do would be to ignore this girl. Nagisa knows to mind her own business, especially since Mokuzu seems a little wacko. The problem is, she insists on following Nagisa around after school and even throws her water bottle at Nagisa’s head to get her attention! When Nagisa gives in and hangs out with Mokuzu, she begins to discover things about her that erase her previous impressions. While Mokuzu can indeed be a silly girl, she also has some adult-like insights. As everyone knew from the beginning, she isn’t normal.

A big driving point of the story is figuring out Mokuzo’s character. Is she lying or telling the truth? (I was a little bit ecstatic about whether or not she was a mermaid—I love mermaids.) If she’s lying, why is she lying, and what is the truth? Mystery surrounds Mokuzo’s intentions and beliefs, and I ate them all up. Even if she was lying, it was fun to think of what she really meant to say and why she came to choose the words that she did. Not to mention, the actions she chose were just as strange. I always wonder why she decided throwing a bottle at Nagisa’s head would be the best way to get her attention.

Nagisa herself is a pretty great character. She’s very practical and isn’t bothered by being by herself most of the time because she simply doesn’t care about them. That’s not to say that she hates everyone else, though, and she definitely does take interest in Mokuzu when she aims to clear up the difference between her lies and truths. I’d say she has a good head on her shoulders and can do the right thing when the time comes. She can be a bit put off by Mokuzu and reply with brusque comments, but she really isn’t a mean person. I always feel that her feelings are valid because I can relate to them so much.

While Mokuzu is still someone I’m trying to figure out, a lot of this manga revolved around her. It’s hard to say whether she’s a good character or not because she’s still a bit of an enigma at the end, though Nagisa does find out a lot about her. I suppose what’s good is that she brings light to the story in her odd mannerisms and words. As I found out more about her, I also found that she was deeper than how she appeared, and there was always more to discover.

The artwork for this manga is really quite nice. I thought it could pass for a shoujo, but the girls’ eyes are not as detailed. Bruises are depicted with a certain smeary shading that makes it easy to identify them as bruises rather than scratched up skin. The artist has a knack for drawing hard expressions that look off into the distance. Backgrounds are quite detailed and the scenes where the characters have lost hope are clearly portrayed through body language and downcast eyes. Even though the artist and the author are not one and the same, I think the artist managed to capture almost all of what the original author had written.

This was a pretty good read, I have to admit. It wasn’t something I had to finish in one sitting, but I think I preferred it that way to give me time to think about the psychology that was brought up in the story. The artwork is good and the plot is also. It’s the kind of manga that begs to be considered for more than the paper it’s printed on. In addition to touching topics that plague the minds of those who don’t want to grow up and face reality, it deals with people who are stuck believing in things that are unreal in order to escape. But in the end, life stops for no one; we must always go forward.