I don't know how long these reviews can be but ill try my best to fit everything I have to say into this message. I first read this manga 2-3 years ago, it affected me a lot back then but because I have the memory of a goldfish I forgot a lot about it so I reread it today. The intense emotions this manga had made me feel came rushing back to me in an instant. I have many thoughts but I'll start with the significance of light. All the principle characters in this manga have their own form of light which radiates. To Natsume (and frankly anybody else who had ever encountered him), Kou had the fiery light of a god something so freighting but so beautiful that it's impossible to stay away from it. After being distanced from Kou, Natsume fell in love with Otama who had the brightness of the sun to her. His positivity and kindness was something she could never find in Kou and it radiated onto her. To Kou, Otama, and Natsume, Natsume's light was the one from camera flashes and silver screens, the same light which was her downfall. The other significance of light came from the fire festival where the 'incident' took place and left a permanent indent on the lives of Kou and Natsume. At the end of the manga when Natsume's attacker kills himself he also gets rid of the light of Kou who was once a god. Kou who shines so brightly in the fire festival in Natsume's eyes, like a 'god' was reflected in the mask the attacker wore when he lit himself on fire to kill himself. By killing himself he also kills the god inside Kou which probably had never existed at all. That's just one aspect though there's a lot more I could talk about (like the significance of the god's sea, the shack, the drowning, and kou's mom) but I think this is good enough for one comment alone.
I don't know how long these reviews can be but ill try my best to fit everything I have to say into this message. I first read this manga 2-3 years ago, it affected me a lot back then but because I have the memory of a goldfish I forgot a lot about it so I reread it today. The intense emotions this manga had made me feel came rushing back to me in an instant. I have many thoughts but I'll start with the significance of light. All the principle characters in this manga have their own form of light which radiates. To Natsume (and frankly anybody else who had ever encountered him), Kou had the fiery light of a god something so freighting but so beautiful that it's impossible to stay away from it. After being distanced from Kou, Natsume fell in love with Otama who had the brightness of the sun to her. His positivity and kindness was something she could never find in Kou and it radiated onto her. To Kou, Otama, and Natsume, Natsume's light was the one from camera flashes and silver screens, the same light which was her downfall. The other significance of light came from the fire festival where the 'incident' took place and left a permanent indent on the lives of Kou and Natsume. At the end of the manga when Natsume's attacker kills himself he also gets rid of the light of Kou who was once a god. Kou who shines so brightly in the fire festival in Natsume's eyes, like a 'god' was reflected in the mask the attacker wore when he lit himself on fire to kill himself. By killing himself he also kills the god inside Kou which probably had never existed at all. That's just one aspect though there's a lot more I could talk about (like the significance of the god's sea, the shack, the drowning, and kou's mom) but I think this is good enough for one comment alone.