This story was too damn moving. Like Devilman: Crybaby it touched my heart as a story of how to live in an cruel, unfair, nihilistic world. Neither hide what life is like in idealism, things don't always work out for the better. No one is perfect. It may be weird to compare the two but the way they tell their story and the way they end are just so perfect at getting their message across.
For Kurosawa's life to end after fighting a battle that could be seen as meaningless from afar for one single old lady he just met is perfection. If it ended in grandeur it would go against everything Kurosawa stood for. He didn't turn into a symbolic dragon during a fierce battle, he didn't even get to take part in the victory, he solely tried his hardest and inspired his allies. He didn't become a demon or a dragon, he became an ant. I've seen the ant panel constantly and I always assumed he would run into ants being crushed as if they were nothing and hold one up and ask, "am I as insignificant as an ant" and with that preconception, it made what it actually stood for far more moving. Through Kurosawa's life he learned to face reality and fight, to make sacrifices and live, and by doing so he ended up relating more with the admirable ant who makes a critical hit in a hopeless battle over his younger self. We are all ants in this world, there's no promise it will have a glorious ending. No promise we will succeed in anyway. And the only way we can hope to get by this cruel existence is by trying our darn hardest and fighting! If we do that we can at the very least go out doing all we could have done to win.
We should respect everything fighting through life. That ant is darn admirable and if I can die an ant I'll be happy too. I'm amazed by this manga. It is so hard for me because I went back and forth on it. I found the beginning somewhat boring, I loved the Nakane arc more than anything, then I went back and forth constantly as we hit the Pro Wrestler, Attackers, and Hobo arc. Like Kurosawa said his life had no coherent plot, its messy narratively and Kurosawa was growing in ways he probably didn't even understand. But despite each individual part being harder to adore by itself like something such as Kaiji, as a whole the story of a man's misfortune leading to a rebirth, going from surviving to living and learning what to fight for is wonderful.
Kurosawa was awesome and so human he was hard to get a read on but always absolutely relatable, rash, and unique. He was like the essence of his ideals but with huge human flaws what made him nearly leave these homeless for his own safety moments before their fight. He has slip ups constantly. On the flip side, Nakane and Ono are morally gray brothers for life, one's a sadistic and idealistic brat who nonetheless is fighting in his own way, the other is a angry brute, both which idealize Kurosawa's samurai nature. Asai was adorable and him chasing after Kurosawa will forever be one of my favorite manga moments, Sakaguchi was an everyday reliable badass with subdued respect for Kurosawa, and Akane was adorable. This whole cast may be centered around Kurosawa more than standing out on their own but I think they all did a good job.
Even though I would argue the peaks were the rebirth of Kurosawa and the hobo war we just read, I would say the rest was awesome for making this manga feel as real as it did. It flowed, and it had constant lows and struggles. This is definitely a manga that embodies the whole is greater than the sum of its parts for me. As a reflection on how we ought to live through this existence and have meaningful lives, well I'd say only this and Crybaby touch it and both tackle very different but oddly similar aspects on my reading of them, especially empathy.
Lastly, I want to note that I had predicted Kurosawa would see a montage of his good memories but Fukumoto would never be that cliche. NO HE MAKES ME SEE AN ANTS ADMIRABLE BATTLE.
I wanted to give this an 8/10 but now I feel it may be a 9/10 and regardless I have to sit on it for awhile. If it stays in my mind and life influencing me it'll be a 9 for sure. My singular serious problem was how out of character Kurosawa's quick thinking intellect came from, especially in his battle of Okehazama.
Edit: I wanted to update this post to say over time this series has impacted my life in such a meaningful way that I've rated this 10/10. I can't separate what it means to be alive from what this text suggests anymore and it's measurably made my life better. Even though I had small qualms with it on my first read, they are water drops in the ocean now. |