This comment thread was pretty entertaining to read, although I'm confused as to why nobody commented on the key element of the story that actually makes the actual symbolism obvious: the human character getting sick after the angel grows her wings, thinking "I want to remain a normal person, for what that's worth," cutting off the angel's wings, and instantly getting better.
The true fact of this story, the obviously author intended one single possible correct interpretation (:P), is that this is a story about being in a relationship with a drug user. Contrary to all the incorrect talk in this thread calling their relationship codependent (people don't know what codependent means and love to throw around that word, I swear. It's not when you're in an abusive relationship, it's when you enable a loved one's drug use or other harmful behavior out of love.), this is actually a story of someone REFUSING to be codependent: As the angel gets deeper into her addiction, to the point where she just sits there zoned out in the corner of the room all day, she has a terrifying moment (explicitly described as such by the human) where she appears to be about to leave this world. The human tries to accept and accommodate this for a short while, but it effects her terribly as well and she recognizes how harmful this is. Thus, she cuts off the source of "getting high" (the wings) cold turkey, causing them both immense suffering in the short term but results in them being far more healthy in the longterm (as shown by the former angel starting to put on weight).
There's definitely no other way to interpret this other than this way, I think :P Seriously though if you reread the whole doujinshi interpreting the angel as someone who's stoned, everything 100% fits. This is basically an episode of My Strange Addiction in doujinshi form.
You're speaking with a lot of authority and objectivity on something that is very, very ambiguous. There are no clear cut objectively true answers for what this means or represents. That's one interpretation of it, absolutely, but it's just that: an interpretation. An equally valid interpretation is that the angel has been a victim of intense trauma or depression which leaves her feeling inadequate, in spite of her constant assertions to the contrary (a commonly seen behavior in many—not all—individuals dealing with depression and/or PTSD symptoms is an insistence that one is fine, not suffering, when they are). Due to not living up to the expectations she has for herself, for her recovery, she retreats into a quiet, closed-off shell. The main character, in this reading, would ultimately try to take the source of the pressure away, removing it from the angel's wings, for better or for worse, so it's not a point of stress for her. Once that burden is lifted, the angel begins to improve, as even if she doesn't approve of the control being taken away from her, at the end of the day, that source of contention towards herself is, at least temporarily, removed. This isn't even my own interpretation, but it's one that can be drawn from the story using the same context.
Additionally, as someone who has struggled with addiction in my own life (thankfully now recovered, six years sober) as well as having been surrounded by it for almost my entire life, I can't help but see your assessment of addiction and drug use as incredibly shallow and judgemental. People often turn to drugs as a coping mechanism for hardship, trauma, or pain. Additionally, there is a huge genetic factor to addiction, meaning it can largely be out of the control of someone suffering with it. While the angel's behaviors could indeed mirror the effects of certain drugs, not only are they not all the same, but not even every person will react to the same drug in the same way—look at how alcohol makes some people belligerent and angry while it makes others depressed and mopey, and yet others are at least temporarily made (seemingly) more happy from it. At the end of the day, it's not as simple and concise as you make it out to be.
Also, you're not entirely correct where the definition of "codependent" is concerned. According to Merriam-Webster, codependency, as an noun, is defined as "a psychological condition or a relationship in which a person manifesting low self-esteem and a strong desire for approval has an unhealthy attachment to another often controlling or manipulative person (such as a person with an addiction to alcohol or drugs)" and by Oxford dictionary, as an adjective, codependent is defined as "characterized by excessive emotional or psychological reliance on a partner, typically one who requires support on account of an illness or addiction." While substance abuse is used as an example, it is by no means the only thing that qualifies codependency, which is instead based on a toxic over-reliance which does often but not always manifest in abusive ways.
All in all, please don't act like your interpretation is obviously the one single possible correct interpretation. It comes off as pretentious and dismissive and makes you look like an asshole.
last edited at Jul 2, 2025 6:00PM
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