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Congrats on finishing! and hmm, interesting... I shall comment more in detail tomorrow. I'm still tired from going out shopping this weekend.

Thank you! =^_^=
And OK.

ok, I finally am able to sit down and think a bit. I agree with you that the ending was a bit unrealistic, and to some extent, even sloppy. And personally, the rough translations on Onemanga near the end of this series sort of added to this confusion. But even so, I had the impression that the curse/bonds were breaking somewhat haphazardly because so much time had passed, and what finally ended it was something about how the cat's wish was granted.... and yeah, it was all sort of vague and not very clear.

I wasn't very happy about Tohru and Kyo's extremely vague last appearance... Just how many kids did they end up having, and what happened to everyone else?? Did Saki get married to Kyo's (adoptive) father? What about Yuki and Machi? Or anyone else for that matter? We were just left with this vague "after the curse was broken, everyone probably lived happily ever after" sort of insinuation. Personally, a good ending is crucial to an anime or manga series. If I didn't love the Ouran anime or Furuba manga so much already, I would want to resent the endings a bit.

Even I have to agree that Tohru is an extremely unrealistic character. However, in my case... there's something in me the desperately wants to believe that there could be such a person out there, and it overrides the part of my brain that considers the actual plausibility/flatness of such a character. She's just pure love and pureness, to the point of being somewhat stupid.

Oh, you're such an idealist! But that's a good thing, i guess.
Anyway, I'm glad we agree on that.

Hey, did Ouran manga end?
If so, I think I just might have to start reading it. gonk

hmm, an idealist? I think that I can be awfully pessimistic and cynical, but at the same time incredibly trusting and startlingly idealistic. I don't know why. It's very odd.

the ouran manga is still continuing~ Haha, the last volume that I read was really good. Starting to get full of lots of LOVE LOVE heart confusion (and a very slight hint of angst?), though. xd Mostly confusion. Very cute, though. It's really starting to feel like a shojo manga. I'm not sure if I like or dislike this. On one hand, seeing Haruhi all flustered and confused is kinda cute, but I really miss her normal personality sometimes. And I heard that in the next volume, Tamaki starts acting cold, somewhat like a jerk towards her. Hmm. But I always can't wait until the next volume!

xd heart heart

oh, if you don't want to read the entire series, but just want to start where the story deviates from the anime, it's actually not too much to read. 3nodding

Ugh, I hate LOVE LOVE (rabu rabu ?) storylines when they're taken seriously and not played for laughs.

so, how would you rate Furuba on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being "Absolute masterpiece"?

LOL, yes, rabu rabu... but idk, it's half serious, half not. It's still funny overall, I think. What's next on your list of manga to read?

hey, I just thought of something after I finished reading this book called "A Wild Sheep Chase" by Haruki Murakami. I hate his endings. They're vague and you have no idea what happens next. It leaves me with a feeling of intense beauty and loneliness at the same time. Yet it doesn't change my overall impression of the book. A vague ending always makes me feel somewhat incomplete, but... I guess what happens in the end isn't important, huh? "It's not where you end up, but how you got there." I guess that's why the vague ending of Furuba didn't really change how much I love that series as a whole. I just keep on forgetting that, I suppose.

I believe that endings are very important, because if you have a "heart-of-gold-doormat" like Tohru, it's not the same having her end up in a happy marriage with tons of offspring, and having her get stabbed by jealous Akito. It sends two completely different messages.

I don't have anything on my reading schedule yet - I don't think I can afford to start reading another manga now.
Ugh, I have another completely idiotic captcha right now, but I'm too lazy to screencap it and upload it, so I'm just gonna refresh it. confused
How would I rate it - I guess 7. If 5 is average - I definitely liked it - it didn't leave me completely indifferent, but there are too many things that bugged me about it for me to give it a better grade. (For example, Japanese gender roles. It's not something present only in Japan, but Japan gives it.... a distinctive flavor, if you know what I mean.)
How would you grade it?

yes, I have to admit, having a good ending is part of the overall theme of the work, right? I mean, I totally understand where you're coming from. But I guess the Tohru-kun doesn't bother me the way that she bothers you. Maybe I'm trying to defend/justify Takaya sensei's poor ending too much, since it upset me also, but... maybe she really was trying to emphasize the fact that in life, it's not the destination, it's the journey getting there. I mean, in the end, we all ultimately have the same fate, but the paths getting there are what is truly interesting and important. ...Or maybe the end of the series just crept up on her and took her by surprise, resulting in that ending. rofl

I wonder, then, what you would say to this one quote that I once heard. It went something to the effect of "Rather than being strong, I want to be kind." It might have been from an anime. Or maybe it was the opposite way around. But I don't know how they are opposites. Do you think that by Tohru's streadfast heart-of-gold-doormatness, Takaya sensei was trying to say that you can do both at the same time?

But now that I think about it, I was wondering earlier on about what the manga-ka would do with that "Tohru being a complete doormat" situation. Didn't Hanajima say something about that? I mean, during the part when Tohru's scarf was being dirtied and run over in the street before Kyo-kun retrieved and washed it for her?

A 7... hmmm... well, now I feel really awkward about saying how I rated it. I'm somewhat more loose with my ratings, since I'm heavily influenced by emotions. I had rated it on myanimelist as a..... >_> <_< >_> ..... 10. On my profile's list of 5 top favorite manga series, it's at the #2 slot. (Ouran Host Club is #1, btw)

but as for gender roles... I definitely know what you mean.

Wow, I don't think we ultimately all have the same fate at all. Did you mean by that: "we all die in the end"? In that case, yes, we do have the same fate, but that's not something very informative about a person. We all die. But not in the same way. And we are not in the same condition when that happens. So I guess that I would call "fate" what you would call "journey". Because if you die in your 97th year of life surrounded by zillion of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, that is definitely not the same fate as dying when you're 5, because you were born with HIV.
About Tohru - the thing the author does with the doormat character tells us their view about such behavior (well, maybe not necessarily what they think is the case, but how they think it should be... well, unless they are portraying a dystopian world.... but, you know what I mean). Takaya Natsuki had conveyed the following message (whether intentionally or not, I don't know): Being a doormat will get you far in life. You will make everyone like you, and you fill find true love.

About the quote - I do believe that it's more important to be kind than to be strong. But being kind doesn't mean being a doormat. I guess we have different ideas of what "kind" and "strong" entail. For me, if you're not kind to yourself, you won't be able to be truly kind to others. You need to acknowledge the needs of others, but you also need to acknowledge and satisfy YOUR OWN needs. And those two things are not mutually exclusive. But in our culture (I guess it's pretty widespread, actually), the two main behavioral patterns that are offered to everyone is passive and aggressive. (They are often assigned to different genders too - men are expected to be aggressive and women are expected to be passive.) You either fulfill your own needs not caring about the needs of other people, or you let others fulfill theirs, without trying to fulfill yours. Neither are very functional. I don't think you can ever truly be happy if you stay passive and let people walk all over you, nor if you are aggressive and constantly walk over others. Remember Ouran episode when Renge first came to their school (I think it's episode 4)? She made them behave differently, so they would attract more customers. And Honey was supposed to be evil. There's the scene when Honey is chasing Haruhi and he is being all mean, and Mori tells him something like: "Stop. By hurting others, you're also hurting yourself." I believe that to be true. Aggressiveness can't make you happy either.

Back to Tohru - I don't think she's the character that demonstrates that it's possible to be strong and kind at the same time. Maybe strong in Yamato Nadeshiko sense (click the link if you have the time), but that's not what I consider "strong". However, that might be the only acceptable kind of strength for women to have in a patriarchal society.

Don't feel awkward about giving it a 10. We are different and you shouldn't feel the need to conform to my opinions.

sorry! I forgot to check back for your response sweatdrop

but hmm, I see. And I shall read that link when I have more time. And perhaps I'll add more when I have more time. 3nodding