Tears and Manga
So, I picked up volume four of Pluto earlier this evening, anxious to dig in to the latest volume of my favorite manga series this year. My plans were dashed less than a chapter in, however, when I became so emotional that I actually had to put it down. Since this volume is new, I’ll avoid any details. Suffice it to say this was a fairly small incident (relative to the scope of the work as a whole) that just happened to hit me unusually hard. This isn’t a fatal issue, of course. I’ll pick it up again once I feel I’ve recovered, perhaps in a less vulnerable moment. Nor is it a criticism of Pluto, by any means. I want to be moved deeply by fiction. That’s why I read it. It’s a powerful testament to the craft of both Tezuka and Urasawa that the series is able to affect me so strongly.
What this experience brings to mind now as I remain here uselessly in my chair, not quite ready to pick up anything else, is other moments in manga that have brought me to tears. I’ve mentioned several times, for instance, the fact that I sat sobbing for a good half hour after reading volume four of We Were There. That’s a pretty emotionally wrought volume, of course, so I suppose it’s not surprising. Nor, I suspect, would it shock anyone to hear that I’ve shed tears over more than one volume of NANA (volume four, anyone? eight? fifteen?) or that I bawled my eyes out during volume fifteen of Hikaru no Go. More unusual perhaps is the first volume of Her Majesty’s Dog, which got me worked up over the deep pain felt by a dog who was recklessly sacrificed by the woman to whom he’d devoted his entire life. Will I ever fully recover from the final volume of Tokyo Babylon, AKA a hundred and forty-something pages of Moments Guaranteed To Crush Your Soul? What about volume two of Fullmetal Alchemist? The vast majority of Banana Fish? I suspect that I will not.
It’s all rushing back to me now–moments etched so vividly into my brain that I can see them as clearly as if I was staring at the page. I see Nobu crumpled up against Hachi’s bed, begging, “Make up an excuse… even if it’s a lie… I’d believe anything.” I see Hikaru sobbing wretchedly in a room of dusty old kifu, desperate to make a deal with God. “Can we do it over?” he cries at the top of his lungs, not even trying to hold back tears.
Not all these moments are sad, of course. Throughout the last few volumes of Fruits Basket, for example, I shed tears alternately for sadness and joy. NANA has offered a great deal of that as well.
I hesitate to say too much about any of these moments for fear of spoiling them for others, but I admit I’m dying to know what this brings to mind for all of you. So my friends, without giving too much away, which moments in manga have moved you the most? Spoiler-free as possible, please!
July 29th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Hmm… I think I tend to cry over more over happier things than sad. The last thing to make me cry was a novel, so I’m trying to think past that, but Yuki’s journey in Fruits Basket and how VERY far he has come makes me cry in practically every volume from, like, fourteen on.
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Oh, yes, I can totally relate to that. His personal story was incredibly moving!
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Michelle Smith Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
I also love it when people *finally* get something they’ve been needing, usually a place where they finally belong.
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July 29th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
While I’m not certain that it’s the most recent occurrence, this happened to me when I read the first volume of “With the Light,” when Sachiko questions her abilities and adequacy as a mother. For some reason it was a really heart-wrenching moment that touched on some of my own fears and I couldn’t help but cry.
But, as you mention, that’s what truly good literature does — it touches our souls in such ways that we can’t help but be affected by it. When an author creates authentic characters that you not only sympathize with, but also empathize with, how can your own humanity not respond?
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
I suppose it’s a bit masochistic, but I really love to be hurt by my fiction. :) Not if it doesn’t serve the story, of course, and usually that kind of mistake sucks all the effectiveness out of it anyway, but I think you know what I mean.
I haven’t read With the Light, though it’s definitely on my list!
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July 29th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
I haven’t read much manga in the past couple of years but I will always remember there were several moments in Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou that moved me to tears. Some were moments of sadness, others of joy and still other moments of sheer beauty.
I completely understand about the masochism. Provided it is not a gratuitous manipulation of my emotions, If I am moved to such lengths as crying or getting intensely angry then the author has done well by me.
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Oh, I have always wanted to read that, and now I want to even more.
Provided it is not a gratuitous manipulation of my emotions, If I am moved to such lengths as crying or getting intensely angry then the author has done well by me.
Yes, exactly! You said that much better than I!
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Michelle Smith Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
I really, really wish someone would license Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou in English.
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
It’s surprising to me that someone hasn’t.
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July 29th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I can’t think of many manga that have brought me to tears… I mean, not that I didn’t love and was moved by most of the moments you mentioned… but tears? Maybe Please Save My Earth, during some of the flashbacks to Shion. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I cried a bit at those.
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
I’m very easily brought to tears (by books, movies, television shows–even really embarrassing ones), so I’m sure it happens to me more than most people. :)
I can’t remember if I ever cried during Please Save My Earth, but I’d be surprised if I didn’t!
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July 30th, 2009 at 12:09 am
I think tears, or simply an emotional response, are an aspect of book that makes it a little more… personal. I tend to feel a little more connected to a book, movie, anime, or manga when it moves me. I also find it a sign of a good author/artist/mangaka when my emotions are roused (positively or negatively).
I’ve cried during Fushigi Yūgi (ep 33 anyone?), pieces of Tokyo Crazy Paradise, and the ending to Paradise Kiss. Same goes for my sister. I can remember her walking into my room after finishing Kara First Love, tears streaming down her face, to tell me what a happy ending it had.
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 30th, 2009 at 8:59 am
I’m about to re-read Paradise Kiss, so now I’m very excited to get to the ending and remember how it made me feel! :D
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July 30th, 2009 at 1:31 am
I didn’t used to cry at fiction I was reading. The first time I can remember was reading Dragon Dawn and Telgar was saying goodbye to her husband.
I didn’t cry at any manga until I started reading Shojo Beat, not long after the birth of my second child. One chapter of Baby & Me sent tears running down my cheeks (and I was at work at the time too). The other manga was Sand Chronicles v1. It did it to me twice!
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 30th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Shojo manga is the killer, really. And now you’ve gotten my psyched to finally dig into Sand Chronicles!
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Lori Henderson Reply:
July 30th, 2009 at 10:09 am
I’ve followed Sand Chronicles since it started in SB, but I don’t remember the chapters affecting me. It was only after I read the vol that I got all choked up, which does say something for collected vs magazine reading. Those collected vol. can really give you a punch!
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July 30th, 2009 at 1:36 am
I rarely cry at fiction, but One Piece has made me tear up twice. Wait, three times. All three were animal-related (if you count Going Merry-gou as an animal). That tends to be what makes me tear up the most, even in non-fiction, stories about animals always affect me more than stories about people.
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 30th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Yes, I tend to have my strongest reactions regarding animals too. That’s actually what happened in Pluto, though I’ve avoided saying so.
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July 30th, 2009 at 10:45 am
The biggest cry I’ve ever gotten from a manga is Barefoot Gen Volume 1. I somehow managed not to become a mess on the bus, but when I came home and finished the volume, the floodgates opened. And I still have not read volume 2. I’m waiting for when my heart is particularly strong.
Others … Boku-tama of course (the early volumes are so humorous than it really sneaked up on me), Rose of Versailles, Glass Mask … the Glass Mask scene that really made me cry was a train-wreck of good intentions. I could see it coming, but I had no idea that the consequences were going to be so drastic.
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 30th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Danielle keeps talking about Glask Mask. I really need to check that out.
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July 30th, 2009 at 11:22 am
I think I cried hardest at the end of Paradise Kiss, and I’ve re-read that series so many times and still cry pretty hard every time I get to that last double-page spread. Ai Yazawa does it to me in general, as I’m sure it’s happened more than once in Nana and I teared up two or three times during Neighborhood Story.
I’ve also cried at certain parts again and again through the two or three times I’ve read Let Dai.
I’m also sure I’ve shed a few tears while reading We Were There, and I’ve probably teared up at least a few times through One Piece, though that series is more guilty of purposeful manipulation. The first volume of Dokebi Bride made me cry harder than any other first volume ever.
Barefoot Gen did it for me, too, but that cry was harder than any of the other ones.
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 30th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Oh! Yes, I think I shed some tears during Let Dai as well!
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July 30th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Barefoot Gen definitely.
Pluto was definitely emotional for me too, sometimes in unusual places.
Banana Fish definitely killed me with its ending.
Please Save My Earth Also did a number on me.
I admit to being a sucker =)
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Melinda Beasi Reply:
July 30th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
I’ve tried to avoid talking at all in specifics about Banana Fish, because wow spoilers, right? But yeah.
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December 5th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Fruits Basket, volume 16, Kyoko’s story and Katsuya’s death. “He’s not here, he’s not anywhere. Anymore.” It always makes me cry. And the end with Kyoko makes me cry. I mean, it’s such a futile journey, her life, and yet in the end of that whole manga, “Repeat the good and the bad, pile on the years.” and “You did good” There’s somehow some peace in it.
I just wish she could see that that promise was fullfilled and Kyo could know that was all she ever meant in her last words.
Anyway, about everything in that manga makes me cry ^^;
I.S. makes me cry too. Fullmetal alchemist…has never really made me cry. I cried at the start of volume 2 because I knew what was going to happen to Nina just because my brother had told me. But the actual presentation of the story has never made me cry, which makes me wonder when I’ve heard people say the story lacks emotional impact. Yet…reflecting on the stories of FMA makes me sad…but actually reading it has never made me emotional.
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