I won’t deny that I was expecting something extremely different from that beginning. A cheesy story about two guys meeting and falling in love with a happily-ever-after ending? Yeah, nothing groundbreaking. Big was my surprise when, suddenly, Kali was teletransported to another world, and with that, grim implications about what is happening to him, seemingly used to that occurrence.
The story knows how to manage its characters in a more than satisfactory way. Kali’s situation brings him into having a pessimistic and resigned way of seeing the world, but with an impressive determination and resilience to keep standing despite the despairing situation he finds himself in. A juxtaposition with El’s optimism and positivity with a pure heart of always helping whoever needs him, even if that supposes harm for him.
They create an excellent contrast of ideas, shown by their debate regarding the value of stories and their endings. One of them defends escapism in false happiness as a way to momentarily ignore the suffering, while the other sees worth in understanding pain and sadness via stories; neither of them is definitively correct nor wrong, as the story doesn't even end with a classical happy or sad ending, if not with an ending (this wasn’t intended to be a Simpsons reference, I’m sorry).
The presentation, despite being simple, works to transmit the situation clearly enough to understand what’s happening most of the time; it’s better to have a simple yet understanding image rather than a detailed but complex one.
I don’t really have a pointable issue with the story, it’s good in a general compendium. The only real moments that I could have an issue with are just moments where I felt like the story dragged a little bit, like the beginning. But again, just an iota compared to the feats the story has; one of my favorites, no doubt!