Breathtaking. I knew this book was going to be sad, I watched the movie first and I knew the movie would be sad even before that because of the topic. And yet, it’s absolutely beautiful too. And even though it’s kind of heart breaking I would watch it and read it again because it’s just so well done and so truly heartfelt.

Aside from the excellent story and characters, I loved the art styles and the way the story was portrayed. There was just so much detail put into each part, it really shows. The creator uses interesting ways to portray different chapters, for instance one chapter is depicted like the tiles of a popular game for the time and place. The art also becomes increasingly more scratchy and loose looking once the main character looses one of her hands and isn’t able to create art quite like she used to.

This is definitely one of my favorite manga and books. This edition includes all the volumes.

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I watched about half of the movie, but the story was slow, and probably would be more appreciated to people interested in Japanese history and culture.
It was how the "world turned upside down" in WW2.

It meanders quite a bit, but this odd look at domestic life in Japan during World War II gradually drew me in and then briefly enthralled me before its abrupt ending broke the spell. ( )