The women carry the book

The women of this book carry its weight, and the book knows it. Natsuhi, Eva, Rosa, Maria — Ryukishi07 writes them with real interiors and real failures. The question arcs give you time with each of them, not as suspects, but as people whose grief the plot refuses to stay on top of.

I wish the Shannon/Kanon dynamic had been handled with more care. The answer arcs partly address what the question arcs leave dangling, but this one is on the book to carry honestly, and it doesn't always.