Satougashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai: A Lollypop or A Bullet

Rin here, and this one hits harder than its title suggests. A bored teenager with plans to join a military academy meets a strange transfer student who insists she is a mermaid and refuses to leave her alone. It starts as a quirky hook and slowly tightens into something uncomfortable.The tension is the strength. The school setting has a claustrophobic edge, and the lead's frustration feels honest. The story is not interested in neat answers, which keeps it sharp when it could easily turn sentimental. It trusts its silences, and that restraint is where much of the power comes from.The bleakness is hard to shake, and it can wear you down over a long session. A few conversations feel as if they were built to deliver a theme rather than grow out of the characters. That is a minor complaint against an otherwise strong, uncomfortable series. Good for readers who want school-life drama with a real edge, and less so if you need the mood to lift.