I really like more heroic optimistic stories. I’ve been trying some grimdark and not been able to get into it as much. This story felt similar at the start. However by the end I felt very differently. I really liked all the main characters and even the cold takeru by the end. I also found all of the scenes with the really young children very cute. They were well written and narrated.
I don’t want to spoil anything but what happens with momoru can sometimes turn people off in stories, but I think it worked in this one. I will look into more stuff from this author and narrator.