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Hachimoku Mei strikes again, this time with a genuinely innovative romance and coming-of-age story. The bond between the two main characters arises organically from their characterization and motivations in combination with their experiences exploring the titular tunnel. However, what strikes me the most about this novel is that the two characters are not defined by their love for each other but rather by their pursuit of life's ever-changing goals, which naturally come to include a longing for each other. Its additional focus on a third character and her quest for redemption could have easily been omitted but adds a lot of depth to the overall plot. It's a story about learning to move on as much as it's about living in the here and now no matter what, and that's a beautiful perspective on life.

Despite starting off with an intriguing dilemma and some strong anti-war messaging, All You Need Is Kill increasingly struggles to decide what exactly it actually wants to be about. Over time, it devolves into a rather generic power fantasy with a relatively meaningless twist at the end. More than anything, I'm just disappointed that this is all there is to the story, because it feels like a ton of wasted potential. At least the English translation is pretty good.