On the surface people will look at the story and think they've seen it before; a coming of age drama set in school. A boy dealing with his emotions and puberty. This isn't about maturing or growing up. It's a striking and disturbing look into the mundanity of life. The visuals hint at this. The beauty of the art style is how it contrasts the plain looking characters with the incredibly detailed backgrounds, showing how people go on with their lives, eventually fading away, yet the buildings and mountains persist. Many shots linger on the backgrounds and the ambiance fills the dead air. People you see on the street, each and every one feeling like the world has eyes on them and when the day is over, no one really noticed. The show feels real. It's raw and hard to watch. It attacks your psyche and doesn't care how you feel. The show lets you decide, it lets you perceive and give meaning. The main character goes throughout his days ready to burst with anxiety. In the big picture however, no one notices his plight. The story is claustrophobic, yet open ended. The atmosphere is immense and uncompromising, making the viewer uneasy. When the show is over, it plants a seed in your head, your days drift by and a flower blooms. You wonder if life and everything that has happened so far is actually significant.
