Gosh the monologue at the ice-cream eating part was so so so so good
It was so impactful that I started smashing the like button on some YouTube video that was open in another tab out of the frustation that I can't express how good it was

last edited at Aug 1, 2021 10:13AM

am not crying, u r!!

This series has really good characterization, I like how the characters are being fleshed out while the mystery is being built up.

Gosh the monologue at the ice-cream eating part was so so so so good

Yeah I found the duel meaning/metaphor of the ice cream and their relationship was very effective. Looking forward to the next chapter.

It will be more depressing as fck during their teenage years :(

A romance where the love interest dies on the first chapter? looks like this will be one hell of an emotional rollercoaster!

In all seriousness, things like this happen very often it’s pretty much normalized at this point, but it’s quite sad when you put it into perspective, two people who are in love with each other, but can’t be together due to their own circumstances, most people eventually move on with their lives though so it’s not that big of a deal, but these two carried this for practically their entire lives, thats fucking depressing.

This has the makings of something really special.

Reminded me a lot about "Will you marry me again if you are reborn?" . This will be a feel trip!

last edited at Aug 4, 2021 12:09PM

I wonder if the mystery of the box will be as "simple" as that they kept each other's pinky, Mitsuba's gloves make it hard to tell whether she's missing a pinky or not.

This series makes me feel emotions.

I feel like once the story is complete I’m gonna have to read these flashback chapters in reverse order and bawl my fucking eyes out. In a way having the ending first and going back in time feels like the author trying to be kind to us and not just writing a slow descent into death.

I was having a nice day, and was starting to cheer up after a few crappy months. Better read the new chapter of The End of a Dream, before I get too optimistic about the world.

Aight

Aight

The plot sure is progressing but backwards

I was sort of joking before when I pasted in that GIF from Tokyo Story, but I feel a pretty significant Ozu influence in this story. Part of it is the Showa setting, but part of it is the depiction of the blunt brutality of life under traditional Japanese patriarchy, along with the fatalism of the characters. We already know how screwed everyone is in the end, and the way it shows how it got to that point is interesting enough to mostly offset how depressing it is.

Maybe because Ozu is the Other Great Japanese director and has this reputation of being especially Japanese, people discount him as worthy but not really relevant / gripping / alive. I've watched most of his movies, and in the season movies (Late Spring, Early Summer, Autumn Afternoon, Late Autumn) especially, nobody gets out unharmed, and it's both hard to watch and almost too real, despite his many stylistic idiosyncrasies. The big addition in this story is a stifled lesbian romance that seems like it starts as a Class S story that goes well past the logical conclusion of most of those stories. And also involves grievous bodily harm.

I like this story. It's sad and hard but not cruel in the telling. (Yet.)

last edited at Aug 6, 2021 2:12AM

This is so unique. A quiet, introspective, sad story told through vignettes progressing backwards through the lives of our main characters. I've read a few others ("Haru and Midori" and "Run Away With Me, Girl" come to mind) that have a similar tone, but none with such grand, era-spanning storytelling ambitions. I'm so excited to read the rest!

One thing I really appreciate about this is that it shows the depressing reality for lesbians, but also women in general, who spent most of their life in the post-war years. Living in a patriarchic society is already hard enough as it is, if you then are also in love with a person of the same gender it becomes only harder still. Of course, with more bravery and determination, these two might have found a way to be together, but the reality is that just a tiny minority of people would have the mental fortitude required to defy social expectations so radically.

And that's precisely why I think this story is great, we are lucky to live in a time where women are a lot freer in their choices and homosexuality is much more accepted (at least in Japan and most Western nations). However, it is important to remember just how difficult things were and to understand why it is so important to fight for and protect this freedom to be yourself. So while this story is sad, its sadness can be channeled into something positive, which I personally think is quite beautiful.

I went and read A Period of Bandaged Girls...I am not sure if I liked it, but I think I liked it more than this one.

If you want the option to pack maximum tear-inducing misery in a story , the teenage years of someone born in Japan around 1933 is a pretty good setting. Poverty, starvation, ruins, gangs of orphan children, shell-shocked homeless soldiers, the awareness you were raised in a world of lies...

edit: I (...don't...) recommend looking up a manga named Cocoon. It's a historically informed story about a class of schoolgirls during the Battle of Okinawa IIRC, slightly yuri and really fucking depressing.

last edited at Aug 6, 2021 1:27PM

If you want the option to pack maximum tear-inducing misery in a story , the teenage years of someone born in Japan around 1933 is a pretty good setting. Poverty, starvation, ruins, gangs of orphan children, shell-shocked homeless soldiers, the awareness you were raised in a world of lies...

edit: I (...don't...) recommend looking up a manga named Cocoon. It's a historically informed story about a class of schoolgirls during the Battle of Okinawa IIRC, slightly yuri and really fucking depressing.

The movie Grave of the Fireflies is gritty and depressing look into the lives of Japanese war orphans. I get a little teary eyed just mentioning it.

Reading the first chapter again after reading the third and I feel so depressed, though I believed this manga would leave me indifferent. This is gold writing

Wow. This is really rich. This is another level manga, almost a book. I would buy it, had it on English or my language.

If you want the option to pack maximum tear-inducing misery in a story , the teenage years of someone born in Japan around 1933 is a pretty good setting. Poverty, starvation, ruins, gangs of orphan children, shell-shocked homeless soldiers, the awareness you were raised in a world of lies...

edit: I (...don't...) recommend looking up a manga named Cocoon. It's a historically informed story about a class of schoolgirls during the Battle of Okinawa IIRC, slightly yuri and really fucking depressing.

The movie Grave of the Fireflies is gritty and depressing look into the lives of Japanese war orphans. I get a little teary eyed just mentioning it.

Barefoot Gen manga. So good, so sad.

I loved this chapter. It's impressive how the author is able to tell the story in reverse order and still give a satisfying chapter based around character development. The way Mitsu learns she needs to move on from her relationship with Kiyoko while at the same time (it seems) not developing a healthier relationship to her sexuality and still being kind of standoffish and mean is beautiful and heartbreaking.

I also really like the scenes between Mitsu and her mother. We see on the one hand how her mother's controlling and patriarchal attitudes, her heteronormative assumptions and her unemotive demeanor are harmful to Mitsu. It seems to me Mitsu's mom is concealing her emotions and is therefore not showing how much she cares about Mitsu. At the same time, we see Mitsu not being willing (understandably) to be open with her mom about what she wants, and how that hurts their relationship - her mom doesn't know she doesn't want to be with a man, and so isn't even in a position to accept that about he daughter. Furthermore, I think Mitsu also reproduces in her own behaviour her mom's coldness. She doesn't say anything warm to her mom and even accuses her of not caring about her - something which can be very hurtful.

One thing I really appreciate about this is that it shows the depressing reality for lesbians, but also women in general, who spent most of their life in the post-war years. Living in a patriarchic society is already hard enough as it is, if you then are also in love with a person of the same gender it becomes only harder still. Of course, with more bravery and determination, these two might have found a way to be together, but the reality is that just a tiny minority of people would have the mental fortitude required to defy social expectations so radically.

And that's precisely why I think this story is great, we are lucky to live in a time where women are a lot freer in their choices and homosexuality is much more accepted (at least in Japan and most Western nations). However, it is important to remember just how difficult things were and to understand why it is so important to fight for and protect this freedom to be yourself. So while this story is sad, its sadness can be channeled into something positive, which I personally think is quite beautiful.

Agreed. I really like how this series examines the time period it's set in.

edit: I (...don't...) recommend looking up a manga named Cocoon. It's a historically informed story about a class of schoolgirls during the Battle of Okinawa IIRC, slightly yuri and really fucking depressing.

Sounds up my alley, thanks for the (non?) recommendation

powerful

this chapter especially gave me big "Run Away With Me, Girl" vibes. it's so painful and bittersweet. The look of shock on Mitsue's face when she see's how obviously still in love with her Kiyoko is kills me, and the desperate plea to try out sex one time because "you aren't married yet" hurts me so much.

You can really see how Mitsue got ground down over the decades in this chapter. Compare the outburst of anger and feelings of betrayal when she finds out about the marriage in this chapter to the barely whispered "do you remember our promise" from after the divorce and you can see just how much she's changed over the years.

It's seriously heartbreaking.

edit: I guess it isn't really bittersweet, just kinda bitter now that I think about it

last edited at Aug 11, 2021 10:18PM