[...] Yazawa’s addictive manga series had six volumes, 8-13, released in English in 2008. It’s a briliant blend of character [...]

[...] easily. Brilliant stuff, with books 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 out this [...]

[...] previously covered Book 10. [...]

[...] Diary and vol. 1 of Black Jack. At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson recommends vol. 10 of Nana but is less impressed by vol. 9 of Beauty Pop and the online version of Princess Ai: Encounters. [...]

And you reminded me of how Takumi sees Hachi in this volume. She calls to apologize for saying something to him, and when he thinks back, he doesn’t remember what it was. All he sees in his memory is her as a yappy dog bothering him while he’s on the phone. Very self-centered, he is.

I wouldn’t call their relationship one-sided, though. Each is getting what they need right now from the other. The question is whether that is, or should be, sufficient.

I might be too romantic, but to me, their love is not really love. There is more to love then romance, but sheer effort and circumstances bringing them together is hard for me to accept. IS THAT LOVE? Or is it just a deep bond that somehow transcends love altogether? Takumi and Hachi might be what each other needs, but they wouldn’t have chose each other otherwise, and that and the way their very relationship works make me dislike this pairing.

You know what I would love? Hachi to find something to live for. I wanted someone like Nobu, who makes her the best she can be, and gives her the support she needs to love those around her and move forward. Takumi is merely supporting his dreams, and she has to hang on to him. Maybe there is a joy in loving others, but not someone like Takumi, who’s still not treating her as well (Maybe not in this volume, but I vaguely remember Hachi eluding to other women).

It might just boil down the fact that I would never live this life. I can see how it might be rewarding. I know people who find it rewarding. But I would rather go out there and blaze my own path, and walk side-by-side, then support.

I find him so fascinating… And yet I can’t endorse him. Maybe I haven’t been through enough to become “cynical” yet. I still find myself unable to take Isettling for love, and building such an unconditional, forced, almost one-sided love, even if both are content as of now. Maybe I just can’t take so much realism… I can’t imagine Hachi forever loving this one-sided relationship, especially if she keeps growing as a young woman and Takumi keeps going the way he is. But they’re sort of stuck with each other, no matter how bitter their relationship are… Further fueling my dislike. *sigh*

And sorry for hijacking your review, Joanna. I just really wanted to reply. Sorry.

Hachi and Takumi are the story of so many lovers: thrown head-first into marriage because of pregnancy, hardly any familiarity with each other, and then the inevitable, “Do we want to make this work?” and learning to realize that relationships that dedication and effort, not just love and romance.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful story. The part where Takumi wipes out his ex-English lover’s name on the window (because Reira is trying to distract him from Hachi while he’s on the phone with her and almost seems to WANT him to cheat her) and the part with the baby shoes. I cried at both scenes. Takumi has a soft side to him that only Hachi brings out. :)

I know a lot of people got defensive over Hachi and Takumi’s story, but I find it personally relateable: not the pregnancy or being thrown into a relationship with somebody you hardly know bit, but the emotions of somebody who finds joy in standing beside someone who’s goals in life are higher are set ever skyward, who’s often completely oblivious and naive, but has the capacity to love and comfort those closest to them as well. It’s a strange dichotomy, and the kind of relationship that can actually be very rewarding . . . if you’re the kind of person who knows how (and wants to) handle it.

Hopefully I didn’t mix anything in here from volume 11 btw . . . >_>; It’s been a while since I read them.