I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention the possibility that the ghost might not be Natsu. She doesn't look like the picture and she doesn't stand over Natsu's grave, but rather a different one. Not to mention she brings up not really remembering Natsu, so unless she is speaking in the third person or somehow forget who she was it wouldn't really make sense. My interpretation is that ghost girl is actually a third character who has fallen for Chihiro and wants to comfort her after Natsu's death.
This post made me reconsider the meaning of the manga. However, after thinking about it for a long time, I'm certain your interpretation is wrong.
As for your evidence that she's not Natsu, it's not very compelling. She says she's forgetting Natsu's face, not that she's forgotten Natsu, which makes sense since she probably hasn't been able to look in a mirror since she died. The narrator speaks about Natsu in the third person in my translation because it's very difficult to convey the indirect way she's speaking. You can't just leave out nouns and pronouns in English the way you can in Japanese. Even in the original she does refer to Natsu in the third person a few times, but I think that's primarily to trick the audience. Same thing with the obscured pictures and the change in her haircut. And I don't think it really matters what grave she's standing on. She was just walking around the whole town, so she can probably stand on whatever grave she likes.
And the evidence that she is Natsu is more convincing. The last page makes very clear. The lines "Those words—no matter what's happened, they do make me happy. I'm still here," only make sense if she is Natsu thinking back to hearing Chihiro say that she loves her too. If she weren't Natsu, then what would that even be referring to?
The story would be pointless if she were just a random ghost. From beginning to end, the story is about how Chihiro can't let go of Natsu. At first we're lead to believe that the narrator is Chihiro's friend or girlfriend who's come back home with her. She wants Chihiro to forget Natsu. Then the ending reveal that she is Natsu makes us re-evaluate the rest of the story. Chihiro is not just metaphorically haunted by Natsu, but literally as well. Natsu's ghost wants Chihiro to move on not out of jealousy but because she wants the person she loves to live her life and be happy. But at the same time she's still glad to hear that Chihiro loved her back, since she died before Chihiro responded. The twist casts the whole story in a new light.
On other hand, if the narrator were just some random ghost then what would even be the point of that reveal? It would be a meaningless surprise, contributing nothing and changing nothing. And it would rely on a series of major coincidences. There just happens to be a girl who also knew Chihiro and who died around the same age as Natsu, and who also loves Chihiro, and whose grave just happens to be right next to Natsu's?
last edited at Jan 12, 2020 12:51AM
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