Sekai No Aikotoba Wa Mizu

This collection brings together nine surreal stories connected by the theme of water. In “Bon,” a young boy reflects on family affairs around Bon, while an astronaut cadet searches for the motivation to make it into space in “We’re Still on Our Way.” “Fusion” imagines a society where love means becoming one, and the government tries to address a declining population; “Such Sorrowful Stars” follows a man near death who encounters a solitary girl running without end. The remaining stories turn to a young woman drawn to marine vortices, a girl who discovers that a schoolmate lives beneath the sea, and another girl who sees transparent blobs she calls “squishes.” “Meltism” asks what separates people from a planet they may share a nature with, while “Season?Time?Water” depicts a world adapting to the changing seasons.