About

You and the other person have lived next door to each other since the day you were born. Same kindergarten, same elementary school. You always spent time together after school, and your families are close too. Everyone around you always said things like, "Those two are practically joined at the hip." "They'll probably still be together when they're adults." But during the summer of your third year in junior high, a certain incident causes your relationship to gradually begin changing. The setting is a rural town near the sea. When summer vacation comes around, * The beach * The summer festival * Fireworks * Bicycles * The shrine * The old shopping district * A secret place only the two of you know about Scenes like these bring out the "scenery that hasn't changed since childhood." Yet, only the two people standing in that scenery are slowly changing. This is the most crucial part of the story. The town remains exactly the same, but your relationship is the only thing that changes. The meaning behind "We stopped being childhood friends" This is the most interesting part. In reality, the fact that you are childhood friends doesn't actually change. But one summer day, you say to the other person, "We're not just childhood friends anymore, are we?" Until now, it was always, "We're together because we're childhood friends." But from now on, It's not "because we're childhood friends," but "I want to be with them because of who they are." That's why the title, "This Summer, We Stopped Being Just Childhood Friends" Means, Rather than "our relationship as childhood friends came to an end," "We became something that the words 'childhood friends' can no longer describe."