It follows an impoverished Japanese teen and a Chinese immigrant living as property guardians in late-eighties bubble economy Tokyo.

The English translation's prose doesn't sparkle. But it manages to stay transparent and to keep out of the way.

The language barrier between the characters runs through the VN itself.

It proceeds by vignettes, and its tone orbits a quiet desperation. You can watch the two protagonists each working out that the other sits, with them, on society's bottom rung.

And it touches on things like Jing Xiaoran's childhood memories of being sent with his father up to the mountains and down to the countryside.

A few elements strain my patience, and I was hoping it might go for a more eighties feel in its art and music.

But I find it pretty interesting. Haven't finished it yet, mind.