 The manga has sold over 6 million copies, and won the 2005 Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.It also won an Excellence Prize at the 2005 Japan Media Arts Festival, with the jury saying, "The theme is not new, the composition is somewhat orthodox and it is true that there was criticism of the drawing skill.However, the story is told with such great conviction and pathos that these weaknesses are easily overlooked.