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Ludwig é maravilhoso mesmo, saudades. Nossa, Boy's Next Door é lindo demais. ;_; Amo tudo. Cain é meu preferido (acho que dá pra notar), acho incrível.
Angel Sanctuary é muuuuito bom também!! Mas lê com calma que esse tem muitos personagens e muita informação de uma vez, haha.

Haha, eu imaginei que fosse isso! Vi que tu tá lendo God Child, e nossa, meu mangá preferido. <3 Mas todos os mangás dela são ótimos. Quais tu curtiu mais? :3

Olá. :3

Is that Ial and Erin's child at the end?!

Erin's curiosity, her natural talent for observation, and her resilience. Such a wonderful girl. Watching her interactions with the bees and the beekeeper, Jones, it occurred to me that I didn't think to question as she did why the honey made by bees is so different from the pollen and nectar they collect. Then there were the scenes leading up to Soyon's touda trial execution, culminating with the moment she tells Erin that she was about to commit a crime in using the renditioner whistle so that Erin could persevere and find her own way to happiness...I admit it, I was moved. And how sweet was it to see little girl Erin crawl out of her bed in order to snuggle in under her mother's blanket and notice the scent of the outside world and the touda on her hardworking mother? I'm only 9 episodes in, but this and Seirei no moribito both show a storyteller who knows how to write children with their parents. I'm starting to see why you enjoyed them so much.

That's nice of you, only it's been 9 months since the last English translation release.

How dare you disappear :P Seriously though, no worries. You're showing a consideration for my wish to explore and discuss a story that I find hard to let go, even after several years.
You know, I was thinking the same thing about Maya and her issues, as you call them. There's these hints that when she was younger in that picture from high school, she wanted to become someone significant and weighty, too, if not exactly like Hidesuke who exuded youthful confidence, then in her own way. Yet by the time we see her living with Michiru for the second time, she seems to have deferred or surrendered that want. Those have been some of the saddest moments in the manga so far -- honestly, they make her beautiful, to me. But as you wrote, that surrender also makes her insecure and always afraid of hurting others, and the writer sends people like Hidesuke to remind her that it's okay to want to be someone significant even to one other person.
I think what you're saying is that you like Michiru despite her immaturity and selfishness, because even as she struggles to be responsible and attentive to others, she doesn't surrender the way Maya does; maybe that's what transforms her into the person who finally convinces Maya that it's not crazy to want to be significant? because Maya is a significant person to Michiru? Hidesuke couldn't do it, and Maya alone may not have been able to do it either. I suppose that even though Maya is written as the more likable character, Michiru may be the one driving the transformation. Huh. I think you just made me like Michiru :)

I had a feeling that the lack of romance might have been a draw for you, rather than a weakness like it was for me-- can't explain why, but there it is.

Ahh, Hiyori is the one who found the information to access Keiichi's audio message to Yuuta! It's nice that they are able to relate to each other as teenagers, and not such rivals for Hiyori's brother's attention. Even in the earlier chapters, Hiyori seemed to be won over by Michiru's attention. Those were some of Michiru's better pages, since she doesn't condescend or affect adult airs like Hiyori's stubborn grandmother. She was surprisingly charming and open-handed in response to Hiyori's childish closed-mindedness, taking that butterfly hair pin and playfully making it "fly" back into Hiyori's hair. It's lovely that Hiyori saw Yuuta's family in that warm yellow gem stone. I can see why that ending with the extra chapter and extra history would be both painfully uncompromising yet hopeful.
I can't wait to read more about Ootaki after reading your description of her. I think your interpretation of Hidesuke and Nico are spot on, too.
Actually, tell me more about why you like Michiru more?

You really enjoyed Seirei no moribito. I'm trying to decide if the great aspects of the story are enough to outweigh the lack of romance. I grew up thinking that there is no history without romance, so I can't quite overcome my bias that a good fictional story needs romance to...work. But Balsa and her dynamic with Chagoum was wonderful. And the presentation ceremony before the royal family and Balsa's exit from the palace grounds almost reminded me of Roman Holiday, when Gregory Peck's character walks out of that interview hall alone and in dignified desolation :P But having Balsa embrace Chagoum and watching him waver between his naturally affectionate nature and his identity as the crown prince worked, too, and in a different way from Roman Holiday's ending.

Did you like Hidesuke? Do you remember when he told Maya that she was his first love? He seems to care about Maya, but I remember reading Maya's thoughts that he was also recasting the past to shake off his discouragement after injury and divorce. She compared him to a soccer ball which looks round and intact, but closer scrutiny shows the scratches and deformities from use and wear. In one sense, Michiru is right about him: he's an adult who knows how to take care of himself, so maybe the writer doesn't want us to feel too sorry for him. But on the other, it wasn't clear that he understood that Maya and Michiru had been lovers until Maya breaks down in chapter 20 and admits that she loves Michiru. It sounds like he remains a reliable friend to Maya? along with this Ootaki person that I haven't encountered yet in my readings.

But the Nico drama! Maya is too astute for her own good, since it sounds like she prognosticated his "breakdown". Nico "sort of kidnaps Yuuta", acts like he might really hurt Yuuta but gives it up, only to attempt suicide later? Yeah, wow. I don't know quite what to think about him. I'm no clinician, but he and Keiichi seem to be written with some major psychological issues.

Your interpretation of the last scenes with their uncommon family reunited mirrors the early chapters nicely. So it sounds like Michiru and Maya reform a romantic relationship? Were you satisfied with Michiru's development in the second half?

I'm still not sure what to make of the fact that the extra chapter shows Yuuta distancing himself from this family. I suppose you are saying you found comfort that he feels no bitterness or hatred about his upbringing? and that is more important than a more standard, "and they lived happily ever after"?

Whoa, I'm so grateful that you took the time to respond to my selfish request.
That transient, "only today" feeling you describe is the dominant tone in chapter 21.
As for the second extra chapter with teenage Yuuta, that must be very last installment in the story? Ahhh, that's heavy. Let me reread and think over what what you've written -- i'll probably reread the earlier chapters, too -- so that I can properly continue discussing this story. Did I mention that I just love this story? Thank you!

What did you like about the series? I'm limited to the English translation, so I'm right at the halfway point, when Maya and Michiru are in the bath together going over the thorny barbs of a relationship. That Maya wants to give Yuuta only the kindest and best things, only she can't help but feel that loving Michiru would raise obstacles to that happiness is so sad, and for once, Michiru sounds almost mature when she talks about how being family is to accept the good with the bad. I love this story, and I can't quite seem to give it up despite the fact that I can't get the complete story in English; it's really too bad that I don't read Portuguese, since that may be the only way to finish it any time soon. You need to tell me what happens, please :)

Super jealous that you were able to complete Ohano holoholo.

Obrigado por aceitar ^^