Kitchen is the story of a young woman named Mikage, after the death of her grandmother, who raised her since the death of her parents, she moves in with Yoichi, a young man who worked for her grandmother, and his mother, who is trans. Yoichi and Eriko deal with their share of grief, and Yoshimito tells a poignant story of coping with loss that had me pulling for these characters. ⁣
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Moonlight Shadow is about a woman who just lost her love, a more ethereal story with a hint of the supernatural. I was somewhat disoriented by the expectation that these two stories would be more connected than they were, but they do dovetail beautifully and build on the same themes. ⁣
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Reading these novellas was a rich way to begin the year, although heavy.