mangavoices-blog

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There are many ways to handle unrequited love. Especially one that has been going on for so long. For one, and this is especially when you are tired of smiling and swallowing that lump in your throat every time you see a picture of the man you love and a new girl, well, you can just decide right there and right then to throw in the towel, and forget all the suffering. As Cheryl Strayed says, “There are so many torturous things in this life. Don’t let the man who doesn’t love you be one of them.” And to some this quote is enough to wake them up from all of the fanciful reverie and decide once and for all to move on. I admire people who can do that and stick to such a resolve. I, on the other hand, decide that for a day, and the next day I’m pining again. I beat myself up over it asking myself “How can I be so dependent?” or “Am I crazy to hold on to this no-show guy for so long?” But I think everyone has their own way of handling unrequited love. I was especially touched when I read chapter 6 of Machida-kun no Sekai where Machida-kun addresses these guilty feelings a person who can’t move on just yet may be having but feeling stupid at herself about it:

“A person that you tried hard to win and still can’t release from your heart. Isn’t it okay to like them until you hate them?”

Takashima Sakura replies, which is the normal reply of anyone who is not crazy in love and can think rationally: “Wouldn’t you normally object to that kind of person? Since you can’t be happy?”

And again Machida-kun poignantly replies...

“It’s up to that person to decide what happiness is.”

I can’t believe I needed a manga to tell me this. But we don’t have to rush at all! If liking someone makes you happy even if they haven’t showed any signs of liking you back then you don’t have to stop liking them once and for all. Why not take things slowly and like them and like them until you find you can’t anymore. 

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From the manga ‘Tetsugaku Letra’ by Sahara Mizu

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Artist comments by Sahara Mizu-sensei from the manga My Girl. In this particular comment, she talks about self-doubt while doing her work as well as the insecurity she faced and had to cope with when all of her friends were settling down with stable jobs one after the other, and she was trying to pursue her dreams of becoming a mangaka. Good comment here.

Disclaimer: My Girl is not owned by me nor is the translation above, done by me.

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Talk and talk and talk and talk

About the meaningful things but also about the simple, everyday stuff 

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Mangaka of the moment: Hijiri Chiaki-sensei

If you are looking for a manga to read about strong, independent women, her works are filled with them. A lot of it has already been translated so they are available already on the net. A few series remains untouched however :| Kinda inspires me to learn Japanese now, no? ;)

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Artist comment by Hijiri Chiaki-sensei for the manga, ‘Heptagon.’ 

Manga, then, or any artistic creation for that matter can come from our questions about our everyday life, no matter how absurd those questions can be.

The manga itself is a short and touching read that delves into what-ifs, second-chances, time-travel, and traveling the path that was meant for you