inochi
summary: of the suzuki twins, kotori was always the more obedient and reliable one, while nobara was the daring and outgoing one. born with the same genes, their parents wonder how they could be so different from each other. due to perhaps too much daring on nobara’s part, she slips and almost drowns during a family outing… but it is her dad who saves her and dies. “it’s all your fault. i wish he hadn’t saved you.” at about 12 years old, nobara is shocked to hear this, but knowing her fault and not wanting to cause her mother any more pain, she opts to live with her grandmother while kotori stayed with their mother. four years pass, but nobara and kotori are still quite close. in an effort to see her mother whom she still loves, nobara and kotori switch places for a few hours once a week – kotori pretends to be nobara at work, while nobara pretends to be kotori and spends her time baking with her mom… until one day, kotori is murdered while in nobara’s guise. seeing the tragedy that she has caused yet again, nobara vows to continue the charade and become kotori forever. “goodbye, kotori. goodbye, me.” there is only one thing that keeps the charade from being perfect, though – the one person who can truly tell them apart – and that is nobara’s boyfriend.
commentary: twin replacement is probably not a new concept (take “smile”, for example.. or obana miho’s “partner”), but this story steps up on the tragedy that surrounds the matter. i really and truly feel sorry for nobara and her family. how much death, tragedy, and guilt can a girl take? without all this, their family relationship is heartwarming to watch… even with nobara being content to take her sister’s place a few hours a week just to see her mother. kotori seems to be a really nice girl, but we’re not really given to see if she has any of her own friends… which is most likely intentional, since the story is told primarily from nobara’s pov. maybe we’ll see more when nobara fully enter’s kotori’s world in vol 2. interestingly enough, despite all that has happened to their family, i don’t feel the total angst and despair that i had rather dreaded from reading the back of the book (the type i usually avoid, so picking this up was a risk – but the girls were illustrated so nicely in the back cover…). there is the loss, understanding, and sympathy… and i really want to continue on to vol 2, where i hope she finds hope again.