After Misaki, an upperclassman, forces Koume Sato to give him fellatio on their first date, she uses Keisuke Isobe as a rebound and asks him to take her virginity.

When Koume receives a camera as a present, Isobe gives her an extra SD card he found, on which she discovers pictures of a girl on the shore and later deletes them from his computer out of jealousy.

Koume writes a letter for him and buys a copy of Happy End's album containing the song "Gather the Wind" (which she had heard at his house), planning to give them to him at their school festival.

When she sees a cheerful Isobe a week later, he tells her that he met the girl in the pictures and got her email address, aiming to get into her high school.

[2] Shaenon K. Garrity of Anime News Network felt that the showing of pubic hair in the manga was "a sign of the changing times in Japanese publishing" because they used to be taboo.

[10] Amanda Vail of Otaku USA praised Asano's art, calling it gorgeous and detailed, and said that its contrast with Koume and Keisuke's relationship forms a "poignant, almost painful ennui".

He also called the manga "brutally unsettling and hard-hitting", concluding that its themes of loneliness and isolation are emphasized by Asano's "detailed backgrounds, dramatic perspectives, layout and use of space".

Club complimented the writing in its "ability to obtusely render complex relationships," saying that rather than descending into nihilism, Asano maintains a balance of melancholy and idealism.

"[21] Sean Rogers of The Globe and Mail compared the manga to the films Fat Girl and Kids in how it "deals explicitly and honestly with its young characters' sexuality", calling Asano's approach "raw and unblinking, but never salacious".

[24] James Hadfield of The Japan Times felt that the film adaptation uncreatively used its source material as a storyboard, losing the emotions and atmosphere of the original.