The doctor explains that Tacto changed his sex frequently, and says that the decision is Tacto's—who remains a man. When his father reveals what happened to Marble, he regains the ability to understand his feelings and knows that he loves Mori. "A, A Prime", as published in Japanese and English, is a collection of three science fiction short stories: the titular story, and "X+Y". "A, A Prime" was published in "Princess", an Akita Shoten magazine, in August 1981. "4/4" and "X+Y" were published in Shogakukan's "Petit Flower"—the former in November 1983, and the latter in two parts in July and August 1984. The stories were first compiled and published on November 20, 1984, as the last installment of a Shogakukan series of Moto Hagio's complete works. A "tankōbon" containing the three stories was republished three times by Shogakukan: on August 30, 1995 as part of the "SF Masterpiece Collection", on August 9, 2003 in "bunkoban" format and on August 25, 2014 in EPUB format. The English version of the stories appeared in the Viz Media magazine "Manga Vizion": "A, A Prime" in April and May 1995, "4/4" in July and August and "X+Y" in four installments from October 1995 to January 1996. Viz Media published the anthology as a graphic novel in October 1997. According to the back cover of the Viz Media edition, the Unicorn's "personal struggles" are a metaphor for human alienation in contemporary society. However, anthropologist Matt Thorn commented the Unicorns are the "eccentrics", a common feature in Hagio's works. Usually, wrote Thorn, Hagio's stories center "on a remarkable and strange character who [...] seems incapable of so-called 'normal' human interaction" until a "straight man", "unsure of his place in the world, and just trying to muddle through [...] forms a unique bond with the 'eccentric.'" In "A, A Prime", Regg Bone and Mori are those straight men. Although the cover says that "X+Y" discusses gender and sexual identity, Michell Smith of Pop Culture Shock wrote that all three stories explore "themes of gender and identity". Former Viz editor Shaenon K. Garrity said that it "is really about identity in all its forms: sexual identity, gender identity, cloning, lost memories, blocked emotions", and emotional isolation.