Needless to say, the end of Perfect World volume 2 was the sign that Kawana and Itsuki’s relationship was on the verge of collapsing.
Volume 3, sadly, proved that to be the case.
After Itsuki broke up with Kawana, both now have to pick up the pieces in Perfect World volume 4 as they try to figure out their next steps after this. However, other events force them to react — Koreda finally tells Kawana he loves her. She soon learns her dad has Stage 4 cancer, and she’s gonna have to consider going back home. This not only leaves her with a tough decision to make, but it also leaves Itsuki wondering what he can do or say to her, especially since he ended the relationship.
Have to admit, I hate that it progressed to this. The reasons this all works out — for Kawana to return Koreda’s feelings — has little to do with Kawana. It’s everything else: from family stress, to Nagasawa, to being in a relationship with a disabled person — all of that contributes to Kawana’s state of mind. The biggest however, is how Koreda’s acted to this point — as the kindest hawk. Mean, probably, but this was the chance he has been waiting for. And all the times he’s been able to help her out, and from how he’s acted towards her, was the difference, and why from a narrative standpoint, it makes some sense. Whether it should have happened so early is what I wonder about. That’s why for now, I feel like something is off with this relationship.
Now of course, the health of Kawana’s dad is now another major priority. This essentially leads to Kawana feeling like she has to go back home despite everything leading up to it, and that ultimately leads to whether or not she and Itsuki can build any sort of relationship again. It’s…it’s tough times right now, but Aruga explains it all simply, so nothing feels super complex or anything. But for now, we can only read along and see how Kawana handles all of this.
As for Itsuki, between this, his disability, Nagasawa revealing her feelings to him, and his job, he is also being affected mentally. That’s why it was interesting to have someone he used to be with before Kawana appear. I kept going back and forth on whether Miki should be back (after all we saw her get married, so that should be the end for her role), but at this point, she might just be his most reliable ally right now. So between that and Itsuki reading up on Akibe’s viewpoints regarding able-bodied and disabled people (as in, him trying to create something where both can be honest with each other), he’s doing what he can to change.
But the way things are going, it might all just be too late. And well, I’ll have to keep reading to find out what’s going to happen with all these characters.