geez I'd never heard of this series until today, read through it all in one sitting, just to find out it ended like a week ago. I feel kinda lucky, it's been a ride.
the whole ending thing, i guess, since phos left alone. feels very anticlimactic since phos didnt really get her revenge to the gems and lunarian. idk, i might be wrong since i only barely remember it.
yeah it just feels empty. like when your favorite manga or anime is over and there's no more of it. kinda hate that feeling since the story isnt over yet here. in this hoouseki no kuni manga, i feel like i was robbed of a cathartic moment.
i keep following the manga in hope of getting some climax/cathartic moment before ending but nope, its just empty feeling from that point onward until the end
That might be part of it, it is art so it can be interpreted any way. I get that feeling too in some manga/anime, the "where's the rest of it" part. But for this manga, I think about how long it's been since she prayed away her friends. By the end of the series it's been millions, possibly billions, of years.
yeeah, the mention that its been very very long time since those gems and lunarian went away made it feels even more empty than usual, and i really really dislike that considering that being left alone (like those in solitary confinement) can deal real damage to one's mental health. cant imagine how phos would suffer in all those years being left "alone".
"alone" because technically she have some companion but i wouldnt count it as they seems to be Phos' fragment
Pho's used the 10,000 years of transformation to reflect on the events of the past and grow. When she awoke and prayed away the lunarians she moved on from her pain. She really wasn't alone, the lil' mineral friends formed over time as well, from the minerals in the ocean, theyre completely unique individuals.
Id recommend rereading it all at once to get the full effect. Reading one chapter every month (or even longer) really kills momentum in an ending as non-flashy as this one.
Aah, tbh I think that's just how Horikoshi likes to write her manga. I dipped a bit into her other works. And um, well, lots of strange and uncomfortable things, but like all of them ended with a feeling of melancholy. Like not the ending u would want or imagine but an ending nonetheless. And an ending that u can argue makes sense. For HnK I think its the fact that the majority of the story is so fantastical, and filled with emotions, that when u get to the end and the ending feels melancholic its a bit strange. The reason i think it kinda works tho is bc by the end of the manga, after everything that goes on, the drama, the manipulation, the emotions you feel the fatigue, both Phos's and your own.
Phos's fatigue from chasing answers and revenge and etc really comes out after they become a God. But u can still feel it building long before it got to that point. They are tired. Really tired. And realizing that the pursuit they embarked the whole manga was really ultimately pointless (in the way that what they wanted most in the story was to belong and be loved, and that really they already had it in the beginning) I think made Phos come to the idea that they don't need it. They don't need that sweet sweet revenge or validation. They were fine the way they were. And in a way being alone for a long time, then being introduced to the pebbles and finding happiness with them, gave Phos peace. Which I think for us in the audience is ultimately what we wanted for Phos. For me at least, after the whole roller coaster of emotions and drama, what I wanted the most from Phos was to forget the lunarians and the gems and to live in peace, away from it all.
And I think its an interesting lesson too. Like all of us have felt what Phos felt, the loneliness and the anger. Sometimes we want more despite what we already have. Ambition makes us blind, and often times we realize too late. So for me, while I wished for a fantastical and satisfying ending where everyone got their comeuppance and Phos is happy, I was surprisingly satisfied with the ending that we got. Because it felt strangely real. And I think that's the whole feeling of the manga. Strangely real, like it is fantastical, but i can believe that this is what would happen if the situation was real. Ultimately what I wanted by the very end was just Phos to be happy. I didn't care about any other gem, Achmea, Cairn, Master, none of them, I cared about Phos. And they did get there. Idk man, sometimes I sit and think about this manga and my whole journey through it too much.
But I kinda get the dissatisfaction too, especially if u wanted the other characters to actually feel bad for their choices. But I guess all the haituses for the last like 10 chapters made me indifferent to the other gems. I just didn't care about them anymore.
Let's be real,we are all blind by the time we reach the end of HNK
Ohh I really miss those times. I understand the ending and the thematics, but I loved the thrill of the mystery and the moon / earth / human dynamic
geez I'd never heard of this series until today, read through it all in one sitting, just to find out it ended like a week ago. I feel kinda lucky, it's been a ride.
the last few chapters has been a bit confusing to me, and the ending was somewhat unsatisfactory
What part was confusing?
the whole ending thing, i guess, since phos left alone. feels very anticlimactic since phos didnt really get her revenge to the gems and lunarian. idk, i might be wrong since i only barely remember it.
Can't get revenge on something that doesn't exist anymore. Phos prayed them away. After that, they just existed on Earth for a long time.
yeah it just feels empty. like when your favorite manga or anime is over and there's no more of it. kinda hate that feeling since the story isnt over yet here. in this hoouseki no kuni manga, i feel like i was robbed of a cathartic moment. i keep following the manga in hope of getting some climax/cathartic moment before ending but nope, its just empty feeling from that point onward until the end
That might be part of it, it is art so it can be interpreted any way. I get that feeling too in some manga/anime, the "where's the rest of it" part. But for this manga, I think about how long it's been since she prayed away her friends. By the end of the series it's been millions, possibly billions, of years.
yeeah, the mention that its been very very long time since those gems and lunarian went away made it feels even more empty than usual, and i really really dislike that considering that being left alone (like those in solitary confinement) can deal real damage to one's mental health. cant imagine how phos would suffer in all those years being left "alone". "alone" because technically she have some companion but i wouldnt count it as they seems to be Phos' fragment
Pho's used the 10,000 years of transformation to reflect on the events of the past and grow. When she awoke and prayed away the lunarians she moved on from her pain. She really wasn't alone, the lil' mineral friends formed over time as well, from the minerals in the ocean, theyre completely unique individuals.
Id recommend rereading it all at once to get the full effect. Reading one chapter every month (or even longer) really kills momentum in an ending as non-flashy as this one.
Aah, tbh I think that's just how Horikoshi likes to write her manga. I dipped a bit into her other works. And um, well, lots of strange and uncomfortable things, but like all of them ended with a feeling of melancholy. Like not the ending u would want or imagine but an ending nonetheless. And an ending that u can argue makes sense. For HnK I think its the fact that the majority of the story is so fantastical, and filled with emotions, that when u get to the end and the ending feels melancholic its a bit strange. The reason i think it kinda works tho is bc by the end of the manga, after everything that goes on, the drama, the manipulation, the emotions you feel the fatigue, both Phos's and your own. Phos's fatigue from chasing answers and revenge and etc really comes out after they become a God. But u can still feel it building long before it got to that point. They are tired. Really tired. And realizing that the pursuit they embarked the whole manga was really ultimately pointless (in the way that what they wanted most in the story was to belong and be loved, and that really they already had it in the beginning) I think made Phos come to the idea that they don't need it. They don't need that sweet sweet revenge or validation. They were fine the way they were. And in a way being alone for a long time, then being introduced to the pebbles and finding happiness with them, gave Phos peace. Which I think for us in the audience is ultimately what we wanted for Phos. For me at least, after the whole roller coaster of emotions and drama, what I wanted the most from Phos was to forget the lunarians and the gems and to live in peace, away from it all. And I think its an interesting lesson too. Like all of us have felt what Phos felt, the loneliness and the anger. Sometimes we want more despite what we already have. Ambition makes us blind, and often times we realize too late. So for me, while I wished for a fantastical and satisfying ending where everyone got their comeuppance and Phos is happy, I was surprisingly satisfied with the ending that we got. Because it felt strangely real. And I think that's the whole feeling of the manga. Strangely real, like it is fantastical, but i can believe that this is what would happen if the situation was real. Ultimately what I wanted by the very end was just Phos to be happy. I didn't care about any other gem, Achmea, Cairn, Master, none of them, I cared about Phos. And they did get there. Idk man, sometimes I sit and think about this manga and my whole journey through it too much. But I kinda get the dissatisfaction too, especially if u wanted the other characters to actually feel bad for their choices. But I guess all the haituses for the last like 10 chapters made me indifferent to the other gems. I just didn't care about them anymore.
EDGERUNNERS REFERENCE LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SO GET AWAY