As the story progressed, I feel that the theme changed from 'illness and death' to 'isolation from society'. And with that came the question: what is happiness for those who have been excluded? Or more: what is happiness for those who were born with socially unfavorable conditions, being innocent victims of unjustly caused wounds?" Thanks for creating such an in-depth review on this series! I appreciate the author a lot more because of it. Being restricted by magazine publications or the author’s working conditions, adding to Oshimi’s agonizing yet simultaneous slow burn pacing, spanning weeks after weeks, has made me significantly lose interest in Happiness, and as of now it has happened with A Trail of Blood.

Reading between the lines, but not so much, it is easy to grasp the importance of what Oshimi says. The aforementioned words perfectly reflect the story of Happiness, indeed, they must be considered as the fundamental premise at the basis of the entire work. Once this is ascertained, it remains much easier to correctly interpret Oshimi‘s manga. Starting with how the author represents vampires in his story. Usually, both in folklore and in fantasy works, vampires can be killed either by piercing their hearts with a stake, or by beheading them. In Happiness however these methods are ineffective, the only way to eliminate a vampire is to destroy his/her brain. Fan Disservice: A pretty girl not wearing a stitch? Sounds nice. The same girl's corpse with her throat bloodily ripped out, or her being tortured by cutting her flesh? Not as nice. It's also hard to be be sure whether Nora is appealing or disturbing — she doesn't wear much (and sometimes she wears nothing), but she doesn't usually bother to clean the blood off, either. Okazaki no longer needs to be protected. By saving Gosho from certain death, he shows her that he has now found his way, regardless of how painful it can be. Gosho can do no more than let him go his way, and consequently abandon her crusade. One thing I especially appreciated about Three Days of Happiness is that Kusonoki isn’t written in such a way as to gain sympathy from the reader. He’s had options to improve his life before getting to this point and we clearly aren’t meant to feel sorry for him. I’m not sure we’re even supposed to like him. He’s balanced out well by Miyagi, who has a tale that does deserve sympathy and is far more likeable as a person. In many ways, she’s the perfect monitor for our protagonist, given their personalities and outlooks on life.Overall, the story could have been longer and built upon more things. But it was still enjoyable and pretty easy to digest. Daywalking Vampire: Makoto and others can walk around during the day, though it makes them dizzy and weak. What Oshimi wants to express through this last chapter is exactly what the same author expresses in the interview mentioned above. The vampire theme is a metaphor for the rejection of society, and Nora is the exact personification of this concept. A girl forced by her community to sacrifice her happiness for the good of the community, a common good founded on ancient dogmas. The only feeling that Nora can feel is hatred towards those who have snatched away her serenity, or rather, the refusal of a narrow community based on absurd contradictions. However here is the point where Oshimi‘s thought falters. Faced with the question: is it possible to consider true happiness what Okazaki finds in the end? Or that of Gosho? Or Sakurane? Reworking with other terms. Can becoming aware of oneself, realizing the contradictions of the world in which we live, going off the rails of a quiet social life, can it really lead to happiness? Oshimi stops, he still can’t give a precise answer to this question. Or, as I wrote a few lines ago, the author still does not want to resign himself to the reality of the facts, perhaps in the hope of experiencing a scenario like that of Sudo. A Murakamian revolution

Happiness 2". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016 . Retrieved 22 May 2016. Time Skip: The story skips 10 years after Makoto runs away from home and gets captured, Yuki gets taken in by Sakurane, Gosho barely survives her injuries, and the deaths of Shiraishi and her family. Hey you, were you once considered a talented kid but now you are a sad teenager? Then come read this totally relatable novel!”

Episode Videos

Green, Scott (21 May 2016). "An Early Look at New Horror Manga From Author of "The Flowers of Evil" ". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022 . Retrieved 21 May 2016. vampires through a "post-impressionist" artistic composition that values abstract sensations and emotions through efficient techniques of contrast and detail.