Cross Days was a fairly interesting side story surrounding the events and leading up to the conclusion of School Days, but also one that made me think twice about Makoto as a character. While Cross Days focused on fellow classmate Yuuki Ashikaga and his series of unfortunate (and sometimes comical) misunderstandings, in a subtle way it also gave the reader a different perspective on School Days main character Makoto Itou that radically changed the way I felt about him.

The true purpose of Cross Days, I felt, was to not simply tell a related side story to School Days, but give us a different perspective or a greater depth to the characters we knew and loved (or hated) from School Days. Even though his story has merit and entertainment in its own right, Yuuki Ashikaga’s true purpose in Cross Days is to uncover deeper moral issues of the School Days characters and observe and judge them from the reader’s point of view. He not only acts as the reader’s moral voice in the actions of all those involved, but also, oddly enough, becomes Makoto Itou’s conscience; something Makoto severely lacks and needs.

The art work reflects the same level of creativity and flow from the original series. Moments of emotional expression are well drawn and panel flow was done in a manner that was easy enough to follow with few exceptions. My only real complaint would be the penultimate conclusion of the story in the final panel which can potentially lead to confusing the reader as the character is drawn in such a way that makes you question the identity of the person in question. This point, while still shocking once I realized who it was, frustrated me because I had to spend a few moments in complete confusion until I figured out who it was.

Cross Days offers the reader a chance to see a side of Makoto they did not see in School Days. Yuuki’s comedy/tragedy of timing and misunderstandings is a pretext to a part of Makoto’s personality we did not witness from the main story line. While the primary love triangle story revolves around Yuuki Ashikaga, Kotonoha Katsura, and Roka Kitsuregawa the true purpose of Cross Days appears to provide the reader an opportunity to reexamine character personalities in School Days that were not fully explored in the primary story arc.