There are strangers within me...

This is without a doubt one of the most disturbing manga I've read in a while. I must warn you that some scenes may disturb you, and before you think I sound like those televisions warning about rating (which I do), I'm only stating the truth.

In every family certain secrets keep them together or tear them apart. When Yui's mother remarried to Okuda, Yui was lulled in the belief that she would have a new family complete with caring brother and father. What she eventually gets was a nightmare which she would never dreamed of.

Okuda, Yui's stepfather raped her one night when her mother's away visiting a relative. At that time, Yui was only 11 or so. In order to cope with the shock, a new personality named Mayu emerged to take Yui's place whenever she was being sexually abused. Mayu was a seven year old version of Yui, the part of her who still missed her real father and suffered from father complex. In order to maintain their secret relationship, Mayu demanded "pretty things" like teddy bears or a new room. Okuda realised that Mayu could be bribed, and so their nightly visit continued.

In any small house keeping a secret like this would be difficult and soon Yui's mother and step brother realised what was happening. Her mother was horrified, but believed that her daughter was a slut and that's all there was to that. Ken realised that Yui was ill, but he was unable to cope with the situation, he was after all only 3 years older than she was. The situation continued until Yui became pregnant when she was 12, though Yui herself did not realise what was happening.

Her pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage brought another character into being, Yu. An 18 year old boy who tried to protect Yui in a rough brotherly way by suppressing Mayu. He was able to keep Okuda away as well, and for a time there's a tense peace in the house. Then as Yui grew up, two more characters arrived Mae and Kyoko. They take over once Yui faces a problem which the previous personalities can not handle. These characters took over Yui's body for an indefinite period, of time, in Mae's case it was 3 years. It was no wonder that when Yui returned she often became disoriented. Gradually, the personality too began to grow, posing a danger to Yui herself and isolating her further from others. It was only when tragedy struck that people became aware of Yui's problem.

One thing which Shouji sensei managed to do well was the way she was able to shift the speech pattern and expression on Yui's face to match her personality. It was eerie seeing the same figure talk to herself or even hit herself with a different voice. There was a large amount of sympathy given to Yui, though the actions of her personalities may be at times disturbing, the readers never personally blame her for their actions. I'm not an expert with multiple personality disorder, but I have a feeling Shouji sensei did quite a substantial amount of research. It's fascinating to see how each of these personalities developed, subtle clues are dropped to let the readers deduce how their personalities were formed in Yui's subconscious. Yu for example was a rough version of Ken her brother, while Kyoko's nymphomaniac tendency came from seeing her mother with another man. Despite of the depressing theme, the author was able to inject a feeling of hope towards the end, with the awareness of her problems, Yui was able to hopefully start anew.

Okuda Yui, her life became a nightmare the night her step father raped her. As a self defence mechanism she develops personalities which took over her body when she felt threatenened.

Okuda Ken, Yui's step brother. Perhaps the only person in the family who fully understood what Yui was going through. Yui's personalities trusted him and often comes to him for help.

Okuda Kyoko - Yui's mother. I have mixed feelings about this character, on one hand she started of as a loving mother, but towards the end she deteriorated rapidly. She was trapped in an awful situation, and the shame would probably kill her, but I'm more than a little irritated with her lack of action.

Okuda - Yui's step father. Scum of the earth, bastard, debaucher of young girls and a few other names I shall restrain myself from saying. This man is repugnant, his every action oozes evil. He realised that Mayu, Yui's first personality was not the same person as Yui, but continued to use her anyway. The manga sympathised with his addiction, but I just find him pathetic.