Okan: Tsuutenkaku no Yuuhi

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For those who haven't read it yet, it is quite good. If you are prone to crying or developing emotional attachments to characters, this is the one for you. It inspires me to be a better person, and I hope it does the same for you as well. Now onto my response to other critiques.

While I can understand and empathize with other's opinions on this work of fiction, I disagree with the very notion that this work is contrived.
By all means, this manga is not realistic. It doesn't intend to be. If you have read this mangaka's other works, such as Oyaji, you will ... definitely come to better terms with this narrative, most notably its ethos. Here are the main themes that I noticed:
- when people doubt their ability, they resort to desperate means in order to reach their goal(survival/comfort/escapism)
The drunkard father is not meant to resemble a real drunkard, in fact he barely shows up in the manga at all. The mother doesn't make the decision mothers tend to make in this scenario; she makes the decision mothers should make in this scenario. That way the reader can raise their expectations, and be the best person they can be.
- Be true to yourself, act on compassion, not on insecurity. A genuine person leads a genuine life.
self explainable throughout the manga. Since the mother works on being the best that she can be, and raises her son to do this as well, they both end up better for it, even though it is at times to the mother's detriment(which is also a warning throughout the story).
- Hold pride in those you love, ensure their safety and happiness by any means.
This is proven throughout the story through the gifts that the two main characters present one another. When people are truly sensitive around one another, they tend to cry. Not to this degree, but then again who could say that any anime or manga protagonist cries realistically? This trait within these modes of fiction is a means to express a hyper-saturated form of reality, one that is so far away from the truth, that we can safely empathize with the characters and develop emotional attachments, taking on their lives as our own. Instead of looking towards the characters as mirroring our circumstances, the intention is that we take their responses to intense moments in life and implement them when we face issues of our own. No one is a superhero, a hokage, a soul reaper, or a saiyan, and that's exactly the point. They are archetypes in a narrative that expresses the indomitable human spirit, and how like the characters face their own issues and overcome them, we can as well.

I respect the readers who think otherwise, and I hope that they move with the spirit that the mother and son have throughout their lives. To a degree, this narrative works like a propaganda piece. The perspective on conservative ideals and this "hard boiled" masculinity is most definitely the work of a particular ideology, and I question whether or not the market for this type of media was made to relay these ideals or was motivated by these ideals, but nonetheless its underlying message is a good one, so I don't believe that this con would interfere with the experience of a general reader.
All in all, it's good. Go read it if you want something wholesome.

Every so often I come across a short story like this which supposedly has a heart and presents a beautiful parable that inspires us to become better people. And more often than not it ends up being melodramatic to the detriment of its own message, hiding its shortcomings behind cheap emotional manipulation. Okan is, unfortunately, one of the latter. The poor family is bombarded with hardships, they cry in every second panel, and struggle, and sacrifice themselves, and endure, and prevail—all in a manner so blatantly overacted it borders on self-parody. Subtlety? What's that?...

Now, I don't mean to sound needlessly cold. I do very much ... empathize with the characters and their motivations. There were times when I had to live in near-poverty with my mother, and she died when I was still young. So, while I do understand the drama being depicted, I also have first-hand experience and understanding of how it can (and often does) unfold in real life. So I also can't help seeing how horribly contrived the story really is.

Here's the thing: the characters here actually have it good in their circumstances—way better than I've seen happen to real people like myself. They immediately choose to leave the alcoholic dad without giving it a second thought, and I know for a fact most families actually stumble over this step and never go further. He doesn't actively stop them nor pester them afterwards, which, again, isn't something that usually happens in abusive families. Mom and son remain reasonably healthy in both body and mind without succumbing to bad habits or medical conditions threatening to incapacitate them. They remain friendly and emotionally close to each other and don't form a toxic codependent relationship. Their income is small but stable to the point where they don't ever have to take loans. They don't fall for scams or otherwise get into the trouble that desperate people tend to fall victim to, aside from the shoplifting incident in the beginning that was resolved instantly and without consequences. The boy does well in school, actually manages to get what he wanted with his mother's help, and avoids bad company. He eventually lands a good job, builds a successful career, has a family with kids, yadda yadda. The point is, everything actually goes almost unbelievably smooth and works out for them in the end. The mother dies happy and without regrets. Maternal love: 1, reality: 0.

And that's not even the only problem—even if you consider that events, indeed, may develop this way in real life as well (and I don't doubt that *potentially* they can, even if they rarely do) and it's also equally important to show an uplifting resolution to a rather tragic premise. But therein comes something much more jarring: the characters are horribly shallow and completely fail to be relatable as a result. The mother is characterized by her love and self-sacrifice towards her son which give her strength. The son is characterized by his love and self-sacrifice towards his mother which give him strength. They have the same core trait, and zero personality beyond that. Absolutely none! We have virtually no idea what kind of people they would be outside the context of their familial relationship. This is disappointing: having characters in a character-driven drama being cardboard cut-outs undermines the entire concept of strong bonds that help a family prevail over their circumstances. It is degrading for the characters and readers alike as it turns what could have been a poignant story into a caricature on itself.

Honestly, I don't know what to think of this. On the one hand, Okan isn't horrible, and I don't want to bash the author for their storytelling choices that happen to rub me the wrong way despite a solid premise and worthy subject matter. On the other, the characterization is nonexistent, there is little effort made making struggles seem compelling, and I feel like despite this manga being very short and to-the-point, it's decidedly mediocre and ultimately a waste of time. Unless you really, really enjoy every bit of sappy melodrama you can get your hands on, no matter how poorly written it is.