After reading your rant about Alive, I was wondering if mangakas in general are put under a lot of pressure on how they think their story should end? Alive was a mess, I'll admit, but I've seen other stories where it ends the way the mangaka wanted it to, to see some fans complain that they didn't get "their" ending, making other mangaka feel pressured to write what the fans want instead of their ending. If say Saezuru ends in a completely different way than what fans expect.
Letās be clear. I have loved every minute of Harudaki until the last chapter. I loved Alive! Iwaki getting a real blood son was wonderful. Iwaki got a nice rounded life. Katou didnāt. Katou doesnāt have a blood son, but he did more work to make peace between Iwaki and Shou than anyone. He was content just being with Iwaki.
Katou was the epitome of everything that was good about Harudaki. Yes he did reckless things on movie sets like dashing into fires to save a can of film. He went to Iraq when people were being kidnapped and beheaded. He did his own stunts. He protected Iwaki from a bullet. He survived being buried under a building after an earthquake. If his head injury could have been something he sustained from a dumbass move in the past then at least it would be a better explanation. But it wasnāt. His leg was asleep, and he stood up and fell. SHE is a better writer than that and Katou deserved better.
Ironically, after all these years, she decided to bring back Yoshizumi, the ONLY other person that Iwaki fell in love with!! Now that heās single againā¦ wow, now that I say thatā¦ you would have to read Truth River to understand who Yoshizumi is if you hadnāt read the whole thing before. š He could cause more trauma than Katouās death! š³
In the past, before social media, the only way to voice our like or dislike was to write a letter to the mangaka, or ask her questions at conventions. Or rage around on our own websites. Sometimes they came to chat rooms and message boards (Takahito Koyasu, while he was trying to get ANYONE to watch Weiss Kreuz š). Now social media is instantaneous. Some mangaka like to interact with their fans. Some do it on a secret account (Yoneda Kou likes to draw fan art for other fandoms š), and some lock their accounts (Youka Nitta for a long time until recently) and some are straight out in the open (Niyama) / (Yamane Ayano). Not to mention how social a lot of the Chinese and Korean creators are with their fans. They probably interact more than anyone.
The manga will always end the way the mangaka wanted it to, whether we like it or not. But social media mixed with publisher pressure to please the fans can force a mangaka to give in. Youka Nitta caved to backlash because she devoted an arc to Sawa and Yukihito. The Japanese fans on Twitter were particularly brutal to her. She left Sawa and Yukihito at a cliffhanger, broken up, and she never went back. I love Sawa and Yukihito. I never blamed her for the fans being assholes. I would like to know if they ever got back together.
Death in a manga or anime will never be acceptable to anyone. Unless itās Hirata. Then DIE HIRATA BASTARD!!! But the death of a main beloved character scares people, especially when that death does nothing at all to enhance the plot. Because, if Youka Nitta can kill off someone like Katou, and still manage to sell the right amount of magazines, then Yoneda Kou can kill off Doumeki the moment he finally lays eyes on Yashiro or Yamane Ayano can kill Asami in a random accident that has nothing to do with the story (this fear is already making the rounds on Twitter.) Or Niyama can kill Chico!!!! NO NOT CHICO-TAN!!!!!??? š (Takahito Koyasu had Aya stabbed and he bled out in the street. Banana Fish was very popular then. And then sweet little Omi became a bad guy because eventhough he hated bad people, once he found out he was the bad guyās son, he just took up the bad guyās agenda!!!)
This is BL goddammit!! Not Ghibli!! š¤
As for Saezuru, there has been one flashback sex scene in the last 14 chapters. Yoneda Kou has turned Saezuru into a mainstream Yakuza manga. Itās only a BL in memory at this point.
Imagine the new crop of fans coming into the fandom expecting to see what they saw in the movie?! And they announced a second movie!! She may want to start livening things up a bit. š
Iām sure Saezuru will end the way Yoneda Kou wants it to. She has less years invested and less personal drama than Youka Nitta had in Harudaki, so maybe she can still finish this rationally. Any longer though and we might have trouble.
However they choose to end things, one thing is similar, they both said āI felt I have more to say, wait a few months for me!ā š (Yoneda Kou on Volume 6 and Youka Nitta yesterday)
And if I hate the ending, then Iāll use my blog to voice my opinion and I wonāt be using spoiler warnings!! āļø
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