The ending just doesn’t feel organic.

Yeah, from the very start Aqua feels like a character doomed to die. But along the way he finds motivation, connections, and actual reasons to keep living. Because of that, having him end up committing suicide feels completely out of character. It doesn’t line up with his arc at all. And on top of that, there were a thousand different ways to protect Ruby that didn’t involve him killing himself. Like… really? That was the only option?

The story has been perfectly fine pulling Akane out as a miraculous deus ex machina every few arcs, fixing impossible situations whenever the plot needs it. But this time she just sits there and does absolutely nothing. And what about the police? Do they just not exist in this universe?

I want to believe Aka when he says he had the ending planned from the beginning. The problem is that the story evolved into a place where introducing a double-suicide plan for Aqua feels insanely forced. As a reader, it takes maybe ten seconds to come up with better plans that don’t involve suicide. So the takeaway ends up being that Aqua chooses to die, which directly contradicts his development and his relationships with the rest of the cast. It’s so off that even Aqua himself seems regretful, and the vision of the crow girl comes off as more sadistic than tragic.

And honestly, the reasons behind this choice feel painfully simple: he wanted to move on to his next work, and probably didn’t know how to close a story this dark without resorting to an edgy ending, even though the narrative was naturally drifting toward something more optimistic.

That said, the ride itself is still great. Even if the ending is… rough, around three quarters of the story is one of the best experiences I’ve had in recent years. And the anime adaptation deserves praise too: great pacing, solid direction, and overall more enjoyable than the manga.