After the big events of volume 3, it was curious how the series would venture next. After all, Sunao told Nao she would be going to school every day, which was really the only reason Sunao would call her. One thing that’s really nice for this volume is that we get the perspective of Sunao for the first time, which adds a lot.
The curious thing is that she also ends up dragging Shuuya to school. We see both of the originals back in school. It is evident in how they interact because Sunao is more agitated when Yoshii interacts with her. While for Shuuya not a surprise, just being in school after never leaving his room, period, is a struggle, especially given the injury. One nice thing that is shown is how Satou and Yoshii connect to Sunao and Shuuya. No doubt this is thanks to Nao and Aki. The problem is that it isn’t due to their efforts, so is it something they should feel guilty about? Still, it is good for both of them to take the next step.
Nao is still dealing with a mountain of issues. Just seeing Ryou vanish before her had her in tears. Now she is home alone. While it is clear that this is a good move for Sunao, for Nao it just feels like torture. Why does she summon Nao at all? This is different compared to the summer when Sunao didn’t summon Nao at all. It is clear since the end of volume 1 Sunao has had a brighter view of Nao, but no doubt she is hurting.
It was nice for both Ricchan and Aki to come visit Nao to cheer her up. You can only imagine how much she needed it. It is good of Aki to push for a “school trip” since their originals would be on their trip to Kyoto. The trip to see Ryou’s home would feel right given the events of the last volume. Even if Ryou is not around, visiting her home is quite the least they can do.
Though in part it is thanks to Shun they do get to see Ryou’s grandparents. He is perceptive enough to realize they are actually replicas. But in reality that doesn’t matter. We get a clear insight that Ryou belonged to a home that loved her. Just being able to visit allowed Nao to give her respects to Ryou because back home only Suzumi was being mourned for.
The conversation with Shun is interesting because it is through his mindsight that we start getting ideas of what a Replica is. It is clear he does not have one. He mentions all the pain of losing both Suzumi and Ryou, but they were experiences worth living for. He is pushing forward. In respect, we know that both Sunao and Shuuya have run away from their problems, showing that replicas themselves provide an avenue to run away from your problems. Sunao not facing Ricchan after their fight as kids, Shuuya not wanting to face Hayase after his injury, and Suzumi not aiming to tackle the role of Evil Stepmother initially. Still, it is only a partial truth.
Though we get a good insight into Sunao because we see her having fun on the trip with Shuuya, Satou and Yoshii. Still, we see the behavior of being cold when a guy asks her out, and we are used to seeing Sunao like this. We finally understand her issues with Nao because she is envious of Nao. We have seen how kind Nao is in comparison, and it is a notable difference.
Furthermore, we all know Ricchan has known Sunao and Nao have been two different people. But what we didn’t know is that Sunao at first was called Nao-chan, and later she referred to her as Sunao-chan. Sunao’s original nickname belonged to Nao now. It is easy to see that Sunao tried to differentiate herself from Nao, but getting away from Nao’s kindness made Sunao act colder. Though in truth this just made things more and more painful for Sunao. It is why she seems so lifeless at the start of the series because she just regressed in that. Sunao brought up a point that Nao can’t understand Sunao’s experiences. Much like reading or watching a movie, you could see events, but you might not understand and empathize with those said events.
From her perspective, Nao stole her kindness. Now did Nao steal her kindness? It is hard to say. Is Nao Sunao as her ideal? We have seen Nao differentiating herself more, so it is hard that is true. It feels like a replica is close to a copy at their creation. After that, they each can evolve. You could say that Sunao used Nao to do the things she was afraid of. With any skill, if you stop using it, then eventually you will lose it over time. Sunao lost touch with what it means to be kind.
So when her classmates said she didn’t have a kind bone in her body, it really had to hurt. It is Satou who really picks up Sunao. Though the mention of her having a replica is an odd decision because it feels that a replica isn’t something unique to someone. She mentions, like Sunao she had a problem that she ran away from. She wanted to help her bullied friends, but the fear of doing that, of course, was what if she got bullied. This offers another hint into replicas, but it is vague.
The end of the volume is quite emotional as Sunao and Shuuya call both their replicas. The first interesting thing that we now learn is that you can’t perceive both the replica and the original at the same time. Obviously priority will be given to originals. This brings a use of the unreliable narrator when Ryou got caught by Suzumi’s mom. It is interesting that Suzumi’s mom was painted as a villain, but until after Suzumi’s accident, she never thought Ryou was real. She only first met her when she asked her to fill in for Suzumi. If the only time she saw her was that moment, then her choice of words makes more sense.
Still, Suzumi’s father and grandparents knew the truth as he brought Ryou to his parents. Which is why Takao knew that the replicas couldn’t live alongside their originals. They aren’t twins, as you can notice they look the same. You could only be visible if you were separated from your twin, much like it was for Ryou and Suzumi.
With the perception part illustrated, we then had Sunao confronting Nao. For the first time, she was open about her feelings to Nao. The key was them showing the practice exam scores because she never wanted Nao to see them because she might not understand the weight of these scores from Sunao’s perspective. The anticipation made Nao understand that Sunao worked hard to achieve her results. For once she didn’t rely on Nao but faced this even though it was hard for her.
For Nao she saw Sunao going to school all the time as something to torture her at first. After all, that was her life. But it didn’t hit her that Sunao was now facing her problems head-on. Satou faced her problems thanks to her Replica, but that was a one-and-done problem, unlike for Sunao and Shuuya. Neither communicated what they were feeling.
The mention of Nao stealing her kindness roots from the creation of the Replica is them gathering the strength that their originals lacked. As for Nao, the kindness to apologize to Ricchan. For Aki, the courage to face Hayase and go to school. For Ryou the creativity to give a great performance in front of everyone to make Suzumi proud. The replica’s purpose is to aid the original, which is why they are attached to their originals.
The one thing that is most curious: does the original get back that trait from their replica when they merge? Assuming that was the case for Satou and her replica. Still, in this type of story, the replicas are being used for an actual issue. Assuming the originals have to face their problems and Sunao learns how to be kind again. Of course, Sunao facing that means there isn’t much purpose for Nao.
Sunao offers Nao the choice. I would assume that not merging with Sunao is detrimental to her as long as she faces her problems. What will Nao do here? No doubt she loves Sunao, but she has her own desires now. While her life is tied to Sunao as Ryou’s life was tied to Suzumi. She can at least live her own life. Though even she does, what does that life look like? Because the school life that she lived was Sunao’s, not hers.