RightSaidFred said:zensunni said:
Remember, Hotoka had TWO people who he could call father that died. The first from illness (His biological father) and the 2nd died because of the bad things he did in life, such as cheating on/abandoning his daughter.
Hotoka only had one father. No where in the story did it say he had two fathers.
Nikki did not kill her father, that was a dream sequence. I checked with the translator.
Everything in the story points to them being related. There's maybe a 1% chance that they are not related. That would be one hell of a middle finger to the reader if they are not. The story is far more interesting if they are related, than if they are not simply to allow them to be together.
zensunni said:Gelatina said:
Nop, He said that He saw his father dies 2 times, in his real death and second with is mother and family insulting his father and changed Yoshi surname.
No, he writes that he had two different people that he could call father:
The beginning of chapter 5:
Like that, I lost the person who I could have called "Father" for a second time. Children who have not lost it even once would surely find it hard to understand sorrow like this. Although, if somewhere in this world there was someone who I could share this sorrow with, I would like to find that person.
That is Niki remembering what Hotaka wrote in the magazine.
Then near the end of chapter 6, when Hotaka is carrying her, she tells him how she came to "look at him".
Niki: I knew you from long ago. A club magazine... There are articles in there, right? I like reading those.
Hotaka: Haha [She really read them.]
Niki: In the beginning it was by chance. I was waiting for my friend in the corridor next to the manga club. I was bored so I opened a random page. At that time, I read, "I lost my father twice." The first one died from an illness. The second one... when he paid for the bad things he did during his life. In our family, the "Father" became a figure that, even if you yearned for him, you could only recall your memories of him. Even though I was a child, I could not cry when I thought about my father. There was no one who understood my feelings. That's what Hotaka wrote. ... I understand, I thought. Because I also lost my dad twice.
Hotaka: Huh...?
Niki: My Father firstly threw away my mother and I. He left us... When it was just me and him, he suddenly told me, "I'll definitely come back, we'll meet again. Daddy will always be watching Niki." After saying that, he suddenly disappeared. I who was left behind felt so sad. I missed him, I hated him. But somewhere in my heart I believed he'd return like he promised. And so I continued living, clinging on to just that. But many years passed ... and I learned he had actually died. My mother went to his funeral by herself, I... I don't believe it even now. That promise connot be fulfilled anymore."I can't see my father anymore, it must be a joke", I thought. I didn't want that. ... I found Hotaka. The person I needed to find. That's all there is to it.
Niki lost the same father twice. Once when he abandoned her and her mother, and the other time when she discovered he had actually died. Hotaka's two fathers are seperate people, if I am not reading the part from the chapter 6 incorrectly, where Niki quotes from his article, from
memory, it must be noted, and says "That is what Hotaka wrote." That clearly implies two different people. One his biological father who died of the same heart condition that he suffered from and the other, as yet unidentified, who died "when he paid for the bad things he did during his life."
The part that Niki is remembering from his writing at the beginning of chapter five very clearly indicates two separate people, with one of them not being his biological father. The phrase "I lost the person who I could have called 'Father' for the second time." clearly indicates that one of them was not his biological father.
Unless the translation has issues, that is the correct interpretation of the story.
In any event, this chapter was a watershed moment for the series. When you look back, there were hints and signs all over the place, but I actually hadn't put them all together. At one point I wondered if they were related somehow, but I never associated the nightmare with Niki... Interestingly, when I was telling my son about this development, before I told him that it looked like they may have had the same "Father", I showed him the nightmare sequence and he immediately said, "That little girl is Niki! Just look at the hair. It's obvious."
I just stared at him and went on to show him this chapter and, basically, did a mental slow-clap as I marveled at how quickly he figured it out. I think he's smarter than I am, in the long run. (Damn... I hope he isn't reading this message board... LOL)