"I have this strange feeling that I'm not myself anymore. It's hard to put into words, but I guess it's like I was fast asleep, and someone came, disassembled me, and hurriedly put me back together again. That sort of feeling." 
 I'm just going to cut straight to the chase because I'm still trying to wrap my head around the ending. I enjoyed this, but I didn't. I'm not someone that likes open endings, I'm someone that when left to my own accord, will come up with something so painstakingly stupid, people will stare at me in utter confusion (my maths teacher had one of my personal favourite expressions). I like to know exactly what happened, and a glimpse to the characters' lives after a book. I don't like things being open for interpretation. I need clarity, I need solidity, I need decisiveness, I NEED ANSWERS. 
 This book was written beautifully, and it was a translation. If it wasn't for my immediate need to be good at everything the second I start it (and my laziness) I would learn Japanese just to appreciate his books exactly how they were written. The characters he creates are complex, there's always more to them, there's room for them to grow or revert, and there's a reason why they are the way they are. He writes human emotion so realistically you feel the fear, the lust, and the loneliness his characters feel. 
 I'm going to talk about a couple of the big moments in this book which will immediately spoil you so please, don't continue if you haven't read the book. If you want to read it, which I suggest you do, go into it blind and go into it open minded. 
 *Trigger warnings for Suicide, Self Harm and Rape* 
 (view spoiler)[ 
 The ending of chapter 5 
 In this chapter, Sumire rests her head on K's shoulder and illusions of him sleeping with her saturate his mind, he tries to push them out but they prevail. Though this is left as open, K does mention it being an illusion. 
 "The illusion grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I closed my eyes tight again and let a concentrated clump of time wash over me". 
 This has been interpreted by many as rape. I personally think that in a way, this was foreshadowing (not rape. But himself in a dream world?) alright, stick with me. Send pictures of the looks you have if you're staring at this review thinking I'm a complete idiot. Perhaps, the K on the other side, was sleeping with Sumire. Perhaps in that dream-like world his love for Sumire was reciprocated and not unrequited. 
 But before I talk about Sumire, I want to talk about Miu. Miu watched herself, her other self, sleep with another man. So, I don't think it's completely farfetched to think maybe K was doing the same thing. Sure, the situation was entirely different, but there were parallels: watching their selves doing something they knew they weren't doing. Miu knew she was in a ferris wheel and not in that room, Miu had tried to find a way out or a way to seek help. K knew he wasn't sleeping with her, he tried to push the illusion out of his head. They both looked in a mirror afterwards and noticed something different. Miu had white hair, K had a distinct look on his face. 
 Later in the book Sumire talks about falling in love with both Mius. The one on this side, and the one on the other side. She talks about how badly she wants to make love to Miu, but the Miu on this side, has no physical sexual attraction. Miu is aroused both mentally and emotionally, but her body is not. Sumire leaves before Miu wakes the next morning. Did Miu go to the dream world in the hopes of being with Sumire? Which I almost feel like brings even more questions to mind. Is there only one dream world? Because if there is, would K and Sumire have even been together like they were in K's dream? Because in that alternate world with a Miu that feels emotional and sexual attraction to Sumire, would she have be with K? Would she have met K in the end? Which brings me to the centre of my red stringed Stiles Stillinski wall replica with the ending 
 Is Sumire back on earth (well this earth) or is K in dreamland? Does Sumie love him? 
 K dreams of Sumire, he dreams of her the way she was before she met Miu. The nights where she would walk down to the phone box in mismatched socks and a coat far too big. Her hair a mess, and a cigarette in her mouth. Then one night she does. She's back... or is she? Dun dun DUNNNN. 
 Has K entered the dream world? Has Sumire truly returned? Has Sumire contacted K from the other side? Has Sumire returned to earth while K entered the dream world, and is she contacting him from earth?? Who knows????? Not me!!!!!! 
 I will say, instinctively, I thought K had killed himself because of the last sentences: 
 "I spread my fingers apart and stare at the palms of both hands, looking for bloodstains. There aren't any. No scent of blood, no stiffness. The blood must have already, in its own silent way, seeped inside." 
 Some people have concluded that he raped her in chapter 5 and that this is happening afterwards: 
 1. That wasn't in his bed. 
 2. That wasn't even in his house. 
 3. That was months before, unless his entire life after he left her apartment was a dream, then refer back to 1 and 2 and ignore 4. 
 4. The scent of blood would have been long gone so he wouldn't have bothered to mention it. 
 "And if Miu doesn't accept me, then what? Sumire had written. "I'll cross that bridge when the time comes. Blood must be shed. I'll sharpen my knife, ready to slit a dog's throat somewhere." 
 Then at the end: 
 "You know, somewhere-I'm not sure at all where-I think I cut something's throat." 
 K had explained to her that blood and dogs were just metaphors. But what if she had? I'm going to take a very morbid route and say, what if she cut her own throat to get to the other side? I know K and Miu had a feeling that she hadn't, but what if she did? And what if the feeling they felt - that she wasn't dead, was because she existing in another world? 
 "Did you ever see anyone shot by a gun without bleeding?" 
 is a question that's bought up a few times. I know I'm grasping at thin air at this point, but what if that was possible? ON THE OTHER SIDE? There are no blood stains or the scent of blood when K spreads his fingers apart. I'm not saying he shot himself, but why would he be noticing the absent scent of blood on his bed? There was definitely blood on that bed because "The blood must have already, in its own silent way, seeped inside" I kind have an inkling he would have slit his wrists with a mirror shard. How fitting would that have been? A mirror, in some cases almost a window to the other side. Sumire talks about cutting something's throat, if she has a knife, that could have also been reflective? but seeped inside where?? I DON'T KNOW. This book is driving me mad. I give up. 
 (hide spoiler)]