勇気 (Yuuki)'s manga / #unrequited love(1)

Sora o Daite Oyasumi

Complete | kyuugou | 2009 released

This is perhaps one of the most incredible series I have ever read, hands down, of any genre or demographic of manga. It is a heartbreaking misfortune that the series is on an extended hiatus, possibly facing discontinuation on the part of Kyuugo, because I think this story is her best yet (though it must take a lot out of her, so I think she took a break). The paneling arrangement, coupled with her style, really made the piece stellar and heart-wrenching, so that the quietest moments are in absolute stillness, and the eeriest moments seem twisted and contorted, just like the inner space of these boys' hearts. There is much to consider in this piece: questions of existence, questions of personhood, questions of mourning, of death, and of redemption where there is none to be found. The charm of this series is the way in which each chapter quietly slips from violent insanity to simple, sorrowful conclusions about life, as though one is experiencing the 5 stages of mourning all in the wrong order, and all in the most distorted manner. I wish from the bottom of my heart that Sora o Daite Oyasumi will return; I have already bought the magazine in which it was last serialized, and there is no mention of when it will resume. But even if it will not, is is surely worth the read, for the beauty that now exists, even if it is no longer.