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As I mentioned in the previous thread, this half of the chapter was wilding and has me reassessing some of my previous thoughts about where this is all going. I still think if it turns out a lot of the important people in her life are some kind of allegorical or time-displaced or multi-timeline thing that would actually suck a lot imho but who knows. I’m deathly curious as to why Abazure-san freaked out so much and why she didn’t just tell Nanoka why exactly but I expect it will be explained in time.
And now I am reminded that we don’t know the actual names of any of the friends. Minami-san, Abazure-san, Grandma. Or, well, we didn’t know them until now
Sorry you feel that way, because I think that’s where we are right now and I’d be surprised if it turns out to have a natural explanation. I’m enjoying it a lot and I don’t think it’s unsatisfying at all. It adds a lot of spice for me.
I mean, wouldn’t you freak out if you finally realized that the child you’ve been meeting for a while now is actually yourself from the time before everything went so wrong? Not telling Nanoka might be a combination of disbelief/shock, not wanting to freak her out, and maybe believing that it would be best to just slightly steer her towards the best course of action instead.
Ok I’ve turned fully around with this chapter and now I think that Nanami-san, Abazure-san, and Obaa-chan are Nanoka’s futures. Or perhaps possible futures. I my current feeling is that Nanami-san disappeared after Nanoka made up with her parents and stopped the future where her parents would have died, and thus that future path doesn’t exist for her anymore. If that’s true, it makes me a little sad but I think we might not see much, or any, more of Abazure-san.
But I suppose now that we might have a few guesses about who the artist friend of Obaa-chan’s might be.
They would have to do an lot of work to set it up retroactively imho. All the characters appear to exist in the world and have a proper history not withstanding we’ve only ever seen them interact with nanoka and the cat and if turns out eg nanoka has been hanging out in empty roofs, abandoned houses etc speaking to herself the whole time I would be hugely disappointed
I’m not opposed to magical realism (I mean Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors) but… Well, maybe we’ll see how it turns out before I critique further. But at the least I’m having fun reading, so whatever
Wow, I was done with this chapter before I even realized it!
So it looks like the future versions of Nanoka have to teach her the lessons she needs to learn to avoid becoming like them. I wonder if おばあちゃん still has a lesson to teach her. The conflict in her class won’t be completely solved even if she reconciles with 桐生くん, right? Perhaps she will help with that.
So… Are they dreams, and is the cat her “dream guide” or something like that? Is she in a completely different world while with her future self? I’m not sure if it’s even going to be explained tbh.
I have also turned fully around. They really seem to be possible futures of her. In the case of 南さん and アバズレさん, trying to prevent her from choosing their path. Not sure about おばあちゃん though. Is her path actually to be avoided? Or would that one be ok? I feel I do not know enough about her yet. Or possibly I simply forgot.
I am with @Jintor on this. I would have preferred a non-magical novel. It is still worth reading, so no problem, but unfortunately not my favourite turn of events.
While I’m okay either way, I realized that there’s actually something that I am disappointed about with the current development. I realized that I really liked that Nanoka was being such a good influence on Minami-san, and now on Abazure-san too, helping and healing them just by spending time with them and being herself. Abazure-san even mentioned that she was saved by Nanoka! But… if they are just reflections of a future that will never be, and even potentially vanish like it seems to have happened to Minami-san, then this feels rather meaningless.
Yeah, we’ll probably have to wait to find out. But at least Nanoka mentions in this chapter that Grandma said she is happy, so it might either be a future to strive for, or at least one that has less drastic regrets and need for change.
What really got me was Abazure-san hugging Nanoka (so her own younger self) and apologizing for being unhappy. Felt like something right out of therapy to me.
I expected these things to stay as subtext, that was quite a surprise. I wonder what will happen later.
Worries
Is the story headed towards all of them disappearing after helping Nanoka out in some way? Because… Nanokas only remaining friend will be the cat, which is really sad. When Nanoka had problems, who did she speak to? Not her parents but these friends of hers.
Also, I get that clothes and makeup can make a person look different, so I can excuse Nanoka not recognizing herself. But surely Minami and Abazure-san have seen pictures of themselves when they were young. How did they not recognize Nanoka immediately?
And does the grandma know? Her lackluster reaction to Nanoka talking about an “Abazure-san” makes me think that grandma caught on long ago
From what I remember after Minami disappeared, Nanoka forgot a few details of her interaction with her. I feel like we are indeed heading towards this direction, but that she will also forget pieces of her interactions with Abazure and grandma so that she is somehow less ‘hurt’ by them disappearing. On a more hopeful note, I feel that the story is suggesting that Nanoka will walk a different path and not make the same ‘mistakes’ as her future selves, and I can see a reconciliation with Kiryu and the others in her class happening, so that she isn’t alone anymore in school.
My belief that Minami Abazure and Grandma are all versions of Nacchan throughout her life has been majorly reaffirmed. But I am going to CRY if we have to watch Grandma dissappear
I think their goal is to lead Nacchan to a better life, one where she has friends and isn’t lonely. That’s basically what Abazure was saying throughout this chapter.
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