Illustrated by Kukka
Translated by Evan Ward
3 stars
A mysterious tunnel rumored to grant wishes, a pair of teens with troubled pasts, and an unexpected friendship born from the desire to know more.
I’ve been really loving the manga of this and enjoyed the anime so I figured I’d check out the original light novel. It was really interesting to see what details made it into the anime and/or manga and what was completely different.
The story itself and the characters remain the same and I really enjoyed them. Includes themes of loss, abandonment, grief, guilt, love, friendship, identity, and the desire to be remembered all wrapped up in a sci-fi/fantasy adventure.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but for me, the writing was hard to get into. I didn’t particularly care for Kaoru’s narration. I’m chalking it up to having been translated so it not flowing quite as well as the original.
The artwork is absolutely beautiful. The book opens with full-color spreads of the four main high school characters and some breathtaking scenery. Each chapter starts with a black-and-white illustration to introduce the reader to what’s happening. They are also absolutely gorgeous.
An interesting story with some truly memorable characters. Would definitely recommend reading the manga adaptations and watching the anime as well.