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.