Chapter 50 [SPOILERS]
I'd be lying if I said I didn't see it coming. I've tried to remain optimistic about this, but I still couldn't shake off the little seed of doubt that Chapter 47 planted in me, as wonderful as the chapter was. I read the translations and couldn't stop going "oh shit, oh shit". It'll probably take a while for me to write down my thoughts on one of the most powerful and conflicted chapters in a long time.
Yoite's death flags were subtly placed everywhere, starting from the time when he revealed the piles of bodies along his walk, and all the way to the time when his back story is revealed. Perhaps the most prominent death flag was placed in Chapter 47: it was arguably the YoitexMiharu chapter, with the way they constructed their own world separate from the chaos of their reality, the way how it's nothing except for Miharu and Yoite, how emotional barriers and secrets were spilled out in the open in that chapter, and ends with the way Miharu slept on Yoite's shoulder.
But at the same time, it also carries with it the air of inevitable doom around them that also subtly lingers around in the next events, suggesting to you, yes, something is going to happen, and you need to be prepared for it when it comes. Yoite was simply too far gone; no matter how contrite he was or how much he grew to love, the body count behind him simply just didn't allow him to fully push open the door to a future with Miharu, and no one knows this better than Yoite himself. That's not to say Yoite didn't have closure: he finally accepts himself just as the clock begins to click his time towards death, and he saw firsthand the depth of Miharu's love for him.
I ached for Miharu, so desperate to keep Yoite with him, his aching words "We'll be together forever", are words that tell us what we already knew, but see, these are words that reflected the truth in his heart, for Miharu was utterly raw here, and his entire thought process is consumed with Yoite and how he didn't want to let him go. Emotions were flying around everywhere, only to gradually still to the very moment when Yoite's clock stopped ticking and vanished in Miharu's arms. I have to be honest, there were times when I questioned some of Kamatani-sensei's weaving of scenes, but this was truly a beautiful finish, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
This chapter may have been drawn to a close, but at the same time, it started off a new chapter for Miharu. Does this mean the end for Yoite and Miharu? The story can tell you otherwise, for Yoite's erasement did nothing to hinder the fact that he has made the biggest, most important mark on Miharu, the moment he uttered to Yoite "We will be together forever." The heartbroken Miharu may have to walk his path alone without Yoite, but there is no doubt Yoite will be the driving influence behind Miharu's rise to his throne in Nabari.
Yoite's death flags were subtly placed everywhere, starting from the time when he revealed the piles of bodies along his walk, and all the way to the time when his back story is revealed. Perhaps the most prominent death flag was placed in Chapter 47: it was arguably the YoitexMiharu chapter, with the way they constructed their own world separate from the chaos of their reality, the way how it's nothing except for Miharu and Yoite, how emotional barriers and secrets were spilled out in the open in that chapter, and ends with the way Miharu slept on Yoite's shoulder.
But at the same time, it also carries with it the air of inevitable doom around them that also subtly lingers around in the next events, suggesting to you, yes, something is going to happen, and you need to be prepared for it when it comes. Yoite was simply too far gone; no matter how contrite he was or how much he grew to love, the body count behind him simply just didn't allow him to fully push open the door to a future with Miharu, and no one knows this better than Yoite himself. That's not to say Yoite didn't have closure: he finally accepts himself just as the clock begins to click his time towards death, and he saw firsthand the depth of Miharu's love for him.
I ached for Miharu, so desperate to keep Yoite with him, his aching words "We'll be together forever", are words that tell us what we already knew, but see, these are words that reflected the truth in his heart, for Miharu was utterly raw here, and his entire thought process is consumed with Yoite and how he didn't want to let him go. Emotions were flying around everywhere, only to gradually still to the very moment when Yoite's clock stopped ticking and vanished in Miharu's arms. I have to be honest, there were times when I questioned some of Kamatani-sensei's weaving of scenes, but this was truly a beautiful finish, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
This chapter may have been drawn to a close, but at the same time, it started off a new chapter for Miharu. Does this mean the end for Yoite and Miharu? The story can tell you otherwise, for Yoite's erasement did nothing to hinder the fact that he has made the biggest, most important mark on Miharu, the moment he uttered to Yoite "We will be together forever." The heartbroken Miharu may have to walk his path alone without Yoite, but there is no doubt Yoite will be the driving influence behind Miharu's rise to his throne in Nabari.