勇気 (Yuuki)'s manga / #Psychological(4)

I would call this a dizzying bridge between individual and country, taken psychologically beyond Hetalia's original tales. I plan on purchasing the original. In hindsight, I don't know if I was crying because of the historical context, unconsciously turned to biographical backstory for America and England, or if I was crying because of the beyond masterful execution of the isolated relationship struggles, clipped and polished within the actual story itself. Beyond a good read - this is a masterpiece. If one were to read enough into the piece, one would find questions of patriotism, self-legitimization, immortality, and standards of evil as imposed by the Western canon. There are also brief echoes of Walt Whitman-like attention to Transcendentalism(that is, worship of the natural world) vs Realism (that is, the celebration of daily life in the industrial world). Look sharp and think deeply when reading. A very beautiful work.

The question of the human relative to its food is echoed greatly in Tokyo Ghoul, where the dietary regime of Ghouls is controversially a being that has the same level of intelligence and cognition - we, the human race. Although the ending is not the true ending, it did leave a lot undone. And I set the rating down a star for a certain lack of development I felt relative to the standards I set for the author, who has great storytelling ability and potential. Overall, I felt the main attraction of this manga is how the characters really seem to struggle genuinely, and not just in a way that seems to be fishing for feels from the audience reading. I look forward to the continuation.

This is perhaps one of the most incredible series I have ever read, hands down, of any genre or demographic of manga. It is a heartbreaking misfortune that the series is on an extended hiatus, possibly facing discontinuation on the part of Kyuugo, because I think this story is her best yet (though it must take a lot out of her, so I think she took a break). The paneling arrangement, coupled with her style, really made the piece stellar and heart-wrenching, so that the quietest moments are in absolute stillness, and the eeriest moments seem twisted and contorted, just like the inner space of these boys' hearts. There is much to consider in this piece: questions of existence, questions of personhood, questions of mourning, of death, and of redemption where there is none to be found. The charm of this series is the way in which each chapter quietly slips from violent insanity to simple, sorrowful conclusions about life, as though one is experiencing the 5 stages of mourning all in the wrong order, and all in the most distorted manner. I wish from the bottom of my heart that Sora o Daite Oyasumi will return; I have already bought the magazine in which it was last serialized, and there is no mention of when it will resume. But even if it will not, is is surely worth the read, for the beauty that now exists, even if it is no longer.