Story & Art by: Mia Delgado
A quick disclaimer before you read: I decided to be completely honest and look at this project through a deeply personal, raw, and philosophical lens regarding mental health. It touches on some personal themes, but writing this was a way for me to express how these struggles have shaped my identity.
Trapped in a broken household ruled by trauma, a quiet boy attempts to freeze his emotions, convinced that the world is inherently violent and cruel. But when his cold armor drives him to push away the only friend who ever loved him, he is forced into an existential crisis where he must choose between disappearing into the abyss or finding the courage to face reality.
Set in Tokyo, Japan, the story follows Sai Ishikawa. On a bleak afternoon, the Ishikawa family receives a phone call announcing the death of a family member in prison. Emotionally numb from trauma, Sai blankly watches his family collapse into grief.
As he begins to drown in bitterness, his best friend, Misaki Asakura, becomes his ultimate lifeline. When Misaki attempts to establish healthy boundaries and form new connections, Sai perceives it as a personal betrayal. He decides to leave the relationship and blames Misaki for betraying him.
With nothing left to lose, he resorts to self-destructive behavior. Driven to academic perfection by an emotionally neglectful mother, Sai weaponanizes disdain to mask his alienation.
Later, his path unexpectedly crosses with Misaki in Shibuya. Sai confronts him about the abandonment, but Misaki rejects the blame. He reveals that he was the one left behind. Unable to handle the truth, Sai collapses into a nearby alleyway.
‘Wings That Cannot Fly’ is a project I started in June 2026. It all began with a conversation with my mentor.
Since I cannot imagine more than what I have already known, I have a difficult time in creation. People love abstract ideas — anything that offers them reprieve from a stagnant world.
Because of this, I began to believe that I am not suited to be an artist of any sort. But then my mentor told me, “Inspiration confers creation. Nothing can be created within a vacuum; all the people you deeply inspire must’ve also had their fair share of inspirations.” Additionally, someone suggested that we should create more than we consume — and that’s exactly why I started writing this manga.
Despite being a semi-autobiography, this manga draws major ideas from Osamu Dazai, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and much more. I also draw great admiration from the storytelling and artistic expressions of artists such as Inio Asano, Tsutomu Nihei, and Shinichi Sakamoto.
In a sense, this project has become my emotional outlet — a way to conceptualize my own experiences and flaws in order to understand myself better.
The story that I am writing asks the question, “Knowing that we live in an inherently flawed universe, what is it that we can do instead of succumbing to absolute nihilism?” Well, I cannot provide a definitive answer to that since I am not a psychologist nor a philosopher myself, but I think that we all should try our best to continue to live in spite of our inherent struggles.
This manga does not try to sugarcoat anything; it shows the mundane, the raw ugliness of human nature, and shows experiences that no human should ever experience at such an age. The main reason I wish to create this story is because I want people to know about the truth of living with mental illness. Nowadays, people view mental illness as an inconvenience or simply an incapacity to cope with standard reality.
But to me, mental illness is like a stark reminder of the human condition — the realization that we cannot simply create a life consisting solely of favorable events. It reminds me that this is as human as it gets.
To learn to coexist with our darkness instead of getting rid of it is something truly admirable. Instead of viewing vulnerability as a weakness, we should see it as something beautiful. Because in essence I think that these flaws are essential to our human condition.
The reason I want to propose my idea to the people out there is because I believe mental illness has become prevalent now more than ever. And while my story may not offer a concrete solution for mental illness, it could definitely offer insight into why these things happen. More than anything, I want people to relate to my work.
My wish is for people with similar experiences to find a place where they aren’t judged for how they feel or why they choose to continue to live like this. To feel that they aren’t alone in their struggles — that they deserve to find some sort of belonging in a world that ultimately punishes them for being human.
Since this story is still in the writing process, there are many things that can still change. For example, while I have envisioned the ending, I’m still unsure on how to go about it. There is just so much freedom to it that it makes me anxious.
One thing is certain though; I don’t want to create a happy ending. To do so would mean that my experiences would have been in vain, and ultimately feel undeserving. While not necessarily tragic, the ending will be one where human nature eventually overrides ideology.
Something to keep in mind is that ‘Wings That Cannot Fly’ is not made for everyone. There will be people who reject and disagree with my ideas, and that’s totally fine, because what I’m creating is not meant for the general public. It will be uncomfortable, disturbing, or perhaps even mundane for those comforted.
