Aiko

(Tanabata, 2024)

«Right to the very end, I wasn’t sure how to go about doing the last chapter. Among the possibilities I’d considered, I’d thought up an ending in which Punpun dies. [But] Living is harder than dying, see, so I thought this was the most painful, worst possible ending for Punpun.
[...]
The girlfriend I had before my wife —she might be an Aiko. [...] I was convinced that she was helpless without me, but it turned out that she’s surprisingly responsible after all, so after we broke up she just started working like a normal person. When I saw that she didn’t actually need me, I realized that it was actually me who depended on her, and I felt really embarrassed. [...] I think I wanted that girl to be in an unhappy position like Aiko, so I could save her.»

—Inio Asano