A Silent Country
Awwww! What a sweet story. Always a surprise when it comes to this author, haha. The language used to describe the deaf people was slightly problematic here and there, though I don't know if that's a cultural difference or general ignorance from the mangaka. In the states, it's offensive in deaf culture to refer to deaf people as disabled, for example. But either way, this was a sweet, heartwarming story that made me cry. I loved the main characters so much. And on the topic of the main pair, I can see why some people might view it as shounen ai or romantic, etc. Personally, regardless of their genders, they just seemed like really close, sibling-type friends to me. But I loved their dynamic and how much they supported each other. A very sweet, sad, and heartwarming story. <3
Shii-chan
I mean, I knew what it was about and I still read it, so that's on me. Definitely made me cry. Poor girl. I get that the ending could go either way, with her actually being a ghost and her just being a hallucination. Maybe it's a mix of the two, that she's lingering even though her friend can't actually see her. Mostly based on the line about how happy she must be in heaven to have someone on Earth who loves her so much. Yeah... I guess that makes sense, so I suppose it does have that supernatural element, unless it's more of a metaphor. Either way.
Tsumaranai Ninomiya-san