Hiraeth wa Tabiji no Hate
Hiraeth: The End of the Journey

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A friend of mine recommended me another manga drawn by this mangaka, and as I looked it up, the author's name sounded familiar. Turns out, I had already read "Shimanami Tasogare" which caught my eye because of the topics handled.

Starting "Hireath wa Tabiji no Hate", I expected the same breathtaking art alongside page compositions that made me go "oh" out loud sometimes. Kamatani has a very keen eye for creating pages full of the most beautiful art and so far the writing in both of the manga I read left an impact on me. Making me think about things.

The characters in this rather short ... manga are quite likeable, even though you don't spend a lot of time with them overall. For me, the writing was believable, especially for a young teenage girl confronted with death. Her travel companions kept growing on me with each chapter.

I can recommend this manga to people looking for amazing art, because it's worth reading for that alone. But all the more for people like me, who struggle with the topic of death; who'd want to read a perspective on different handling of grief, searching for or not believing in he devine and what mortality means to individuals.

This manga series is short enough to be a light read, but also long enough to go into its themes extensively.

The themes of death, letting go, and moving on are usually quite heavy. Still, this manga manages to weave through them carefully using lovable characters, beautiful visuals, wholesome events, and kind philosophical words that are easy to decipher and resonate well with the reader. This makes the manga expertly deal with heavy themes while not being triggering to sensitive readers.

I would recommend everyone read this manga to remind themselves why life is worth living. Readers who are not inclined to read fantasy should also pick ... this manga up since the story is set in the present real world and the fantastical elements are only there to aid in conveying the real-life message.

I would especially recommend it to teens and pre-teens who are dealing with the loss of a loved one or spiraling into suicidal thoughts.

I've majorly mixed feelings about recommending this one, feelings that lean towards actually not recommending the Manga. On one side, I'm quite understanding why this particular series ended up recommended for the "You Should Read This Manga 2024" list, which is, in turn, why I ended up reading this one in the first place. Whoever recommended it for the unique art and story wasn't lying, and for that, I must admit I did enjoy those aspects of the series.

On the same side, I can see this series appealing to anyone looking for characters whose sexual orientation isn't heterosexual.

The problem is -- ugh.

I can't get past ... this thought in my head that if a non-heterosexual teenager approached me asking for a series that involved non-heterosexual characters, this wouldn't be it. And yes, I know this series is Seinen, but that doesn't preclude teens from picking this up. The reason why I wouldn't recommend it for a non-heterosexual teenager is the same reason I wouldn't recommend this for a non-heterosexual adult I knew to have mental health issues, particularly if the mental health issues regarding their sexual orientation, such as having family reject them for their sexuality.

We are, after all, talking here about a series that dives into the topic of suicide, something thankfully alluded at in the summary here on MAL, so those going into the series are undoubtedly well-informed of the fact the Manga delves into the topic, but on the flip side there is absolutely no warning regarding the other part, of what the characters sexuality is, and alarm bells kept going off in my head regarding the message being sent, but by this I don't mean the endgame message which I do consider a positive message, but instead some of the unintentional messaging going on in here.

For example, how am I, the reader, supposed to interpret what is meant by soulmate at the end, given what we learn about the actual soulmate and why they're soulmates? What am I to think of the ambiguity of the main character's sexuality, given I felt the main character's feelings towards their dead friend could be interpreted as romantic rather than platonic? And what kind of message does that send, her going on a journey to meet her friend, as the summary suggests? What about the fact that her friend died is either non-existent or so obscure that I blinked and missed it, leaving even more questions that, as much as I'd love to recommend this, I've also found myself super conscious of who I'd recommend this to.

This, in turn, is the reason behind writing the review -- I think those picking up the series should be at least somewhat aware of before picking up this series that they may pick up on some narrative messages the original creator didn't intend to may make readers uncomfortable, which in turn may be a turn off for some, but for others may be what they need to enjoy this particular series.