Koutetsu No Baby Leaf
Sekai Oni
Am I the only one who doesn't hate the epilogue? It's indeed anti-climatic but not bullshit enough. There were red flags for the mother. She never once checked on Azuma who's being mistreated. Child service was the one who gave Azuma to the uncle, not the mother so it can be concluded that she lacks the capacity to be her "guardian." "But she worked for 2 years for Azuma," yeah but failed to contact her for 2 years. It's not like she has a restraining order from child support. "Maybe she's busy from working," a call would suffice but she can't even do that. But I can't hate her mother, the manga doesn't give enough story for that. We just have to rely on the characters' points of view. They all believe the mother was "crazy." And didn't really like her. I still am not clear what does Azuma meant when she listed all the men that her mother was involved with, but we can tell a little that the situation is not that good, maybe not the worst but still not good. Maybe her mother does love Azuma but I still believe she is an irresponsible person. But what the epilogue highlight is Azuma's character. She evolved as a character but also stayed the same. She remained innocent or I would like to call ignorance. She doesn't think too much of something that doesn't affect her nor the people/animals/things she cares about. Because of the series of things her mother did, she hated her now, therefore she will ignore her now and run away with people she still cares about. And that what only mattered for Azuma. This manga is just about how humane humans are. No need for redemption for people who don't want to. No need for "happily ever after" because it doesn't exist. Life is just a series of events: Things you want to happen and things you don't want to happen. Like your "darkness," your "light" can and will change.
Kiraide Isasete