'The Parts That Live' is a poetically melancholic story about dealing with the death of loved ones. Rather than the over the top grief stricken moments, it portrays the quiet acceptance that comes with a terminal diagnosis and how not every moment is meant to be a grand over the top gesture, but a more grounded appreciation of the 'normal' time spent together, no matter how little may be left. I think what was interesting was that these characters are self-described machismo delinquents, but have matured into empathetic adults. I appreciated the little details about how one character has given up drinking for his family despite loving it, or how another one has a terrible taste in movies, makes them feel a bit more real.
The romance between the main character and the wolf can only be described as sweet, as their story is told through reminiscing memories and re-reading the poems that they wrote for each other when they started dating. The poems themselves really evoke a certain earnestness that you can feel through the characters, and how much they mean to each other. The time skip into after the loved wolf has passed really painted a sobering picture. I was particularly stricken by the final scene of the main character waking up next to his wolf and realizing that he wasn't warm anymore.
While the presentation is simplistic and effective, I don't feel like it fully utilized the visual novel medium, with the story and writing doing a lot of the heavy lifting. I did like how during the poetry portions of the story, it would change format to emphasize the importance of it. Creativity is a weird thing to gauge on a story like this, since it aims to be more sincere and grounded in it's expression, doesn't leave a lot of room to be experimental or outlandish, though the poetry was a lovely way to express it.
I think that of the things I was craving while reading this, a bit more of a focus on the wolf character is what I'd want. Since we learn about him mostly through the main characters recollection of him, I think it would've been effective to be witness to more of the wolf's personality and shenanigans. I wish the wolf had a bit more characterization/quirks and agency in this story. The theme of 'light in the dark' I think holds up well as a metaphoric through line in the narrative. Despite it's goal of evoking a somber and muted emotion, I interpreted it in this story as the terminal diagnosis as the 'dark' and the choice to focus on the time spent together being the 'light'. Overall, a very emotional story that pulled at my heartstrings and left me wanting